Chapter 44: Chapter 44

DRAYA

Going to work with Daniel after starting a BJ wasn’t exactly the evening Draya had in mind. It was supposed to be an evening filled with moans and releases. Not an evening of work calls and conference speeches.

She sighed as she settled uncomfortably in his office. Not because the office was small or had uncomfortable seating; it was quite big with a magnificent view. The option of clear or privacy glass was only a button push away.

Draya was uncomfortable because this was where his assistant worked. Where they had…~interactions~ etc.

Daniel had left the office and walked to the conference room, clearly just as annoyed to come in on such short notice. He said he would’ve rather spent the evening with his new housemate cuddling, fucking, and convincing her to live with him. But business got in the way.

When stocks dropped, investors grew restless and anxious. It was his job to set their minds at ease, and oftentimes that meant lengthy phone calls and all-nighters.

Irritated about being alone but aware of the gravity of the situation, Draya pulled out her phone and scrolled through her text messages. Most were automated, but she had one from her best friend.

Reece

Chris kissed me.

Draya’s eyes bulged from their sockets. She hit the call button so fast she nearly sprained her finger.

“What happened exactly?” she asked as soon as her best friend picked up. She’d never been curious about one of Reece’s dates before—not to the point of excitement anyway—but this one felt different.

“Calm down, Dray. It’s no big deal. Just a kiss,” Reece said nonchalantly. “Usually, I would’ve done a hell of a lot more than that, but he seems to want to forget about it, so whatever.”

Draya’s smile deflated like a balloon. “He doesn’t seem like an asshole, though. He even warned me about dating wisely.”

Reece giggled dryly. “Girl, he’s a guy. A guy who’s rich and has probably never heard the word ‘no’ in his life. Of course, he’s an asshole. Lucky for him, that’s usually my type.” She paused. “I don’t want a relationship anyway—you know this. It was a good kiss, though. Very…~different.~”

Draya had always hoped Reece would settle down one day. In the back of her mind, she hoped that they would each get married and have kids and that their kids would be best friends and always protect each other. But Reece never showed signs of interest in that sort of outcome. She much preferred to be free.

Relationships could be painful, even with family. So, Reece stayed away, far away, from anything and anyone who could hurt her again.

With a sigh, Draya changed the subject. She told her about the house Daniel had bought and his plans for her to move in with him. She barely finished explaining before Reece began screaming in her ear.

“If you don’t move in with him, I’ll personally kick your ass!”

That was certainly not what Draya was expecting her to say. Confusion spread across her face. “You’re agreeing with this?”

“Girl, I groomed you, taught you, fed you, protected you, and provided for you for many, many years. And believe me, it was my pleasure to do it. But…you can leave the nest now. I know that Daniel will do a great job of taking care of you. Not as good as I did, though, obviously.” She giggled at her self-praise.

Draya felt a bit sad, but she was happy too. “I don’t know how I feel about leaving you. Even if I love the guy. It’s always been just us, Ree.” She almost sniffed. Talking about their special friendship always made her feel emotional.

“Baby girl, I know you love me, and I love you more. But I can’t fuck you. Well…that’s not true. I can. But somehow, I don’t think you’d be into that.”

“Ew, Reece!” Draya shrieked.

Her best friend laughed. “My point is, think of me as your sister. I’m not going anywhere. From what you told me about the area, I probably live about thirty-five minutes away. I can drive to see you, and you can drive to see me. It’s not a big deal. Be happy and focus on staying happy. Don’t get sidetracked or distracted by anything else. Life is too short.”

Reece always gave the best advice. Draya wondered if a day would ever come when she would give her best friend a pep talk or relationship advice.

Hearing hammers in the background, Draya asked, “Where are you now anyway?”

“I’m at the store. The opening is right around the corner, and everything is going well. I can hardly wait.”

Reece sounded so happy, and God knows she deserved it. Draya made a mental note to buy her a great gift for opening night.

“I gotta go, Dray-Dray,” Reece said, smacking her lips to send a kiss down the line. “Tell Daniel I said congrats on the house.”

When she hung up, Draya spun around and around in Daniel’s office chair until she became dizzy.

A little while later, his office phone rang, startling her. She looked around for his no-good assistant, but the lobby was as empty as a desert.

The phone rang three more times, and Draya finally decided to answer. “Daniel Jackson’s office—how may I help you?”

A raspy voice responded, “Hey, P.I. here. I tried calling Jackson Sr. but no answer. Tell him to ask his father to give me a call.”

Draya remembered the man from Daniel’s father’s house in California. For no reason in particular, she introduced herself. “Hi, I met you not too long ago. I’m Daniel’s girlfriend.”

The P.I. paused momentarily. “I see,” he said cautiously.

The silence felt loaded, so Draya decided to quickly end the call. “I’ll give him the message,” she muttered with every intention of hanging up.

Before she could, he said in an urgent tone, “Wait.” He cleared his throat and asked, “What do you know of your roommate’s birth parents?”

It was a worrisome question for a P.I. to ask. Especially given the fact that Reece was never one to be celibate. Had she slept with someone dangerous, someone married? Were they looking for her? And what did Reece’s birth parents have to do with Daniel’s dad?

“I know nothing of them,” she eventually responded.

All she knew was what Reece knew: that her foster parents had died. They had revised her birth certificate to change her name, and the original was nowhere to be found.

Reece’s birth parents had always been a mystery, one that Reece was determined to avoid. She figured if they were heartless enough to abandon a newborn without a care and shove her helplessly into the foster care system, why should she care about finding them? If they didn’t want to know her then, they didn’t have the right to know her now. That’s how she saw it.

“I see.” The P.I. sounded as if he wanted to say something else but decided against it. “Please give this message to Daniel to pass on to his dad: I found the person he’s looking for.”

The call ended without another word.

~Weird.~

Looking down at her phone, Draya noticed tons of Facebook notifications were pouring in. It was odd given the fact that she hadn’t posted anything in a while and the media frenzy seemed to be slowing.

She was about to click on one when her phone rang. An unknown number flashed on the screen.

“Hello?” Draya answered cautiously.

“Thank you for embarrassing yourself.” Draya recognized Camille Lannister’s voice immediately.

Scowling, she asked, “What the fuck do you want? How did you even get my number?”

“Wrong questions, Lexi. I just want to say thanks. Thanks for being the reason Daniel started treating me differently, thanks for being the daughter of a crackhead, and thanks for putting the information into my hands so I can share it with the world. Now everyone will know the monumental mistake he’s made, and I can drag him right down with you.”

After spitting her malicious words, Camille ended the call. With a racing heart and shaking fingers, Draya clicked one of the many notifications on her screen.

Too many photos of her birth mother had surfaced online. Apparently, she had given an exclusive interview and talked about everything. They even had photos of her showing up outside Draya’s job when Daniel came to pick her up.

Draya suddenly lacked the confidence to read any more of it. She lacked the opportunity to even suck air into her lungs properly. With a panic attack fast approaching, she dropped to the ground and pressed her knees to her chest.

She wept. “This isn’t happening.”

~Where is Daniel? It’s been hours, and he still hasn’t come back.~

Now that night had fallen, the marble tile was as cold as ice, and the AC had kicked itself into high gear. The office was quiet, aside from the sound of her sniffling. Draya stayed on the floor until her butt went numb.

~Where is he? Did he leave? Is he done? Wouldn’t it be easier for him to stop the relationship here? Why would he stick around now? Why would he want to be involved with someone who has a mother from the worst of situations? Rumors were already making our relationship heavier than it needed to be. And now this?~

Draya wept again as these thoughts swirled around in her mind.

Eventually, she checked the time on her phone, ignoring the countless emails and Facebook notifications that continued to pour in. It was ten thirty p.m.

Deciding not to avoid Daniel—or let him avoid her—Draya rose on shaky legs, left his office, and walked shakily to the conference room. If this was a breakup, she’d make sure he at least told her to her face.

~I don’t want to break up.~

She hugged her body for courage before pushing the conference door open. There, with his head resting on a large oak desk, Daniel lay sleeping.

A small smile forced its way onto Draya’s lips. ~Oh, thank God.~

Gently, she shook him, and his eyes fluttered open. He smiled the most innocent and adorable smile she’d ever seen, and her heart melted. Without hesitation, she climbed into his lap and curled into his arms.

DANIEL

“How long was I out?” Daniel rubbed his eyes and checked his watch. “Shit, it’s ten thirty? How could you let me sleep here this long? What time did the employees leave?”

It wasn’t until he felt Draya’s tears on his neck and her gentle shivers rocking her body that Daniel paused, tilting her head so that she had to look at him. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

As soon as their eyes met, Draya spilled her guts. “I know that you know a bit about my past. I don’t remember my dad, but my mother I will never forget. She was an awful person to me. Basically, left me to die, Dani. She didn’t care about me at all. Why should I care about her? Why should I let her ruin my life again?”

Draya wailed, crying so hard that her nose turned red. Daniel eased her onto the table in front of him, making sure to spread her legs so that he’d have a view of the lips on her face and the lips between her legs. He made a mental note to thank Reece for helping him pick out pants that showed the curve of Draya’s pussy so perfectly.

“What does your birth mother acting irresponsible have to do with your life or mine?” Daniel knew he could’ve worded his question a little better, but at the moment, he didn’t care to try.

Draya looked as if she wanted to smile, but he couldn’t tell for sure. She wiped her eyes and handed her phone to him.

He swiped the screen and tapped one of the notifications. He read for about a minute, then put the phone down.

“So what?” Daniel asked dryly.

Draya frowned at him. “What do you mean, ‘so what’? Daniel, they’re trashing me. Did you read that? Did you see it? Camille had me followed. She had someone take pictures of that awful woman and even got her to do an interview, which I’m one hundred percent sure she was high for.

“How can I even begin to explain this? Or even defend myself? This is the person who made me, Daniel. They’re saying I’m trash just like her. They’re saying…”

Daniel shushed her with two fingers to her lips.

He reached for her phone and asked for her Facebook password. After three minutes, he handed the phone back to her and said, “There. Done!”

“What did you do?”

“I deleted your Facebook. Problem solved.” When Draya didn’t respond, Daniel asked, “Sorry, did you want to save your high school pictures or something?”

“What’s deleting my Facebook going to do? The information is already swirling out there. It’s only a matter of time before you have to face it too. The investors might give you a hard time again and—”

Again, Daniel shut Draya up, this time with a kiss. When she was good and speechless, he began, “Listen to me very carefully.” She nodded slowly. “I love you. I know that you know what that means. I’ve never said that to any woman except my mother, and that was a different kind of love.

“I can’t even begin to explain why none of this crap matters. Your mother showing up won’t change my mind about you, just as my shitty past didn’t change your mind about me. How could you think I would be swayed by this?”

Through tears, Draya said, “But…that’s different.”

Daniel shook his head. “It’s not different, Draya. Even if it was, my past is different in a bad way, and you’ve chosen to love me despite it all. How could I sit here and blame you for something you didn’t even have control over? How is that bitch abandoning you your fault? I vowed to protect you, not bash you.

“And where does Camille get off thinking she can call you names? She’s been promiscuous all her life. You’ve only been with me. Now who’s the trash, baby?”

Draya looked shocked. “It can’t be that simple.”

Daniel cupped her cheek and massaged it lightly. “It is. I love you, and I will live with you and protect you. I bought a house for us, for God’s sake. What else should I do to prove this isn’t a joke to me? You’re not a joke to me. What do you want? Marriage and kids? If that’s what you want, we can do that too.”

Draya giggled and wiped her eyes until the tears stopped flowing. “Okay. Stop. Enough. You’ve made your point.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes mischievously. “I’m serious, Dray. I’ll put a baby in you tonight and marry you in the morning. I’m not playing.” He reached for her waistband and began pulling her clothes down.

Draya screamed and tried to get away from him. “Stop it, babe. I get it.” She tried to get off the desk, but his grip only tightened.

“The P.I. called,” she said, clearly trying to distract him. “He said he found who your father is looking for.”

Daniel didn’t stop removing Draya’s clothing until she was naked from the waist down.

“K. I’ll let Dad know,” was all he said before shoving his face between her thighs.

Inhaling the drug-like scent that came from her, Daniel thought he might come from that alone. He closed his eyes to revel in it.

“Babe, c’mon…we can’t do this here,” Draya whined, but she no longer tried to stop him.

“This is my office, my table, my woman, my dick, and my tongue. I can do whatever I want.”

Draya smiled. “Okay, but don’t come in me. I forgot to take my pill yesterday and today. I’ll make an appointment in the morning to try shots instead.”

Daniel removed her from the table, spun her around, and bent her over. He undid his pants and pulled his boxers down.

“Guess we’re gonna be parents then,” was all he said.