Page 12 of My Daddy Valentine

I feel something stir in me, something dark and possessive, and I try to push it down. I don’t want to hurt her. I don’t want to make her feel small. But at the same time, I can’t ignore the truth of what I’ve learned about her. She’s not just some naïve intern.She’s powerful. She could have anything she wants, including my job, my gallery. She could havemeif she wanted to.

I step closer to her again, too close, until the air between us feels suffocating. My heart pounds in my chest. The tension between us is unbearable.

“You’re not like the others,” I mutter, my voice low. “You act like you don’t care about your last name, but everything about you screamsprivilege. You think you can hide who you are, but I see through it.”

She takes a shaky breath, and I can feel the tension in her body as she stands there, frozen. Her eyes never leave mine, and I can see the way her chest rises and falls with each breath.

And then it happens.

I reach for her.

I don’t know why. I don’t know how it happens. But before I can stop myself, my hand is cupping her face, my thumb brushing over the curve of her cheek. She’s so soft, so damn beautiful, and for a split second, I almost close the distance between us. I almost kiss her.

But I don’t.

I can’t.

I pull back sharply, my chest heaving as I try to steady myself. I can’t lose control. Not with her. Not like this.

“Leave,” I say, my voice strained, low. “Go. I can’t... I can’t do this.”

Ella’s eyes flash with something—hurt, confusion, maybe a little anger. She doesn’t say anything, just turns and rushes towardthe door. She opens it quickly, then pauses before stepping out into the hallway.

“Goodnight, Simon,” she says quietly, her voice breaking the silence between us.

She doesn’t look back as she walks away, and I’m left standing in the middle of the room, my heart pounding so loudly I can’t hear anything else.

I should have stopped. I should have never touched her. But now, I don’t know if I can ever go back.

I feel like I’m losing myself. Losing control. And it’s all because of her.

Ella Williams.

The daughter of a man who could buy everything I’ve worked for... and yet, here I am, wanting her more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.

8

Ella

I can’t stop thinking about what happened at the gallery.

The moment Simon looked at me like that—like he knew everything about me, like he could see through all the layers I’ve carefully built around myself. The way his touch burned my skin when he cupped my cheek. I don’t know what came over me, but I felt something shift in the air between us. Something raw, something unspoken. It was like we were both standing on the edge of something we couldn’t control, but for some reason, I was the only one willing to step off.

But I didn’t.

I didn’t kiss him. I didn’t push any further, even though every part of me wanted to. And when he told me to leave, I felt like I was being sent back to my place—back to where I started. Like I wasn’t enough.

But it’s not just about Simon, is it? It’s not just about the way he makes me feel when he’s near me, the way I can’t stop thinkingabout him. There’s a bigger picture here, something I’ve been avoiding for years.

I walk into Ava’s apartment later that night, still replaying the scene in my head. She’s already on the couch, the TV flickering with some mindless show she’s watching while scrolling through her phone. When I sit down beside her, she doesn’t even look up.

“So, how was your day?” she asks casually, her eyes still fixed on the screen.

“Eventful,” I say, leaning back into the couch and staring at the ceiling. I can’t get the image of Simon out of my mind, and it’s driving me insane. “You wouldn’t believe it.”

Ava looks at me with an exaggerated raise of her eyebrows. “I’m listening.”

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “I ran into Simon again. In his office. I dropped off an invoice, and we... we had a moment.”

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