Chapter 46: Chapter 46

DRAYA

Several weeks later, Draya sat with Reece in a restaurant across the street from her shoe store. The owner had been eyeing her best friend for a couple of days, and after they briefly met, he invited her to visit anytime without a reservation.

Draya could admit that the manager was handsome. He had that trust fund kid, surfer dude kind of face—the kind of face that’d never known hardships—and she knew Reece normally would’ve enjoyed playing around with him. But ever since she closed the deal on her building and began working on her store, the only man she’d been hanging out with was Chris.

“So, where’s your boyfriend?” Reece asked.

“He’s at work. I promised to take food over to him when we’re done here.”

They ordered two seafood platters and a pitcher of mimosas.

“Where’s Chris? I haven’t seen him in a while.”

Reece hadn’t even spoken about him in weeks. Granted, she’d been distracted with the store, and Draya had been distracted with furniture shopping. But this was girl time, and she wasn’t going to let the conversation go before finding out what was on her best friend’s mind.

“That makes two of us,” Reece answered dryly. “He doesn’t exactly call to chit-chat with me. He’s my investor—that’s all. After the store officially opens, I’ll buy his share and be the sole owner. That’s been my plan all along.

“Right now, I’m doing online orders, and I’m surprised at how fast I’ve had to restock inventory. I have to fly to Paris to meet with some designers this week.”

Reece had mastered the art of deflection, but Draya didn’t mind. She also had things that she wasn’t ready to talk about.

They ate the meal comfortably, occasionally making small talk about hair, nails, and outfits. They pushed the heavy conversations to the backs of their minds.

When Draya finished eating, she raised her head to find Chris Lannister walking into the restaurant with two girls on either side of him. She didn’t know why she was surprised; Daniel had warned her many times that he wasn’t the type to date seriously.

“We should go,” Draya rushed her friend, dropping some money on the table. She began tugging at Reece’s arm to get her up.

“But I’m not done eating,” Reece complained. She shoveled another bite into her mouth as Draya continued pulling her arm, not giving up until her best friend was standing beside her. “Damn, Dray, I was still eating that.”

Reece stumbled backward—landing in Chris Lannister’s arms. Draya was horrified.

Chris held her best friend longer than necessary, and for a moment, Reece relaxed into his hold. Then she wiggled until he released her. Draya could tell she wanted to slap herself for thinking she could be safe with anyone else.

Without a word, Reece pushed past the women Chris walked in with and hurried across the street to her store.

The man pulled himself together quickly, plastering on a poker face and pointing for the girls to take their seats. He then walked Draya to the exit.

“You look good with black hair, Fuzzy. I like it.”

Chris smiled, but this smile was different from the one he just gave Reece. Draya couldn’t tell which was real and which was fake. He was certainly not as simple as he seemed.

Draya crossed her arms. “You look good too, but I haven’t seen you in a while. I was beginning to take it personally.”

Chris walked side by side with her until they stood on the sidewalk across the street. He pushed his chin toward Reece’s store. “Your friend seems angry with me.”

Draya glanced behind her to make sure no one was listening. “You don’t know each other well enough for her to be angry.”

“I think I know all I need to know about your friend. Thank you for not telling her I already signed the store ownership over to her; I plan on letting her know on opening night.”

Chris seemed so pleased with himself that it was hard for Draya to believe he was a player. How could he be after such a sacrifice? He and Reece weren’t dating; they only kissed once a long time ago. Why would he do something that big if he didn’t care? Was he always the type of person to issue out gifts of this magnitude to strangers or business partners?

Draya decided to test the waters. “I’m your friend too. How come you’ve never given me anything?”

Chris laughed loudly. “We both know your boyfriend wouldn’t like me buying you anything, let alone giving you money, so let’s not even go there, Fuzzy.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong. Daniel would lose his shit. “Fair enough,” Draya agreed.

Chris ushered her toward Reece’s store. “Go on in. I have dates waiting for me.”

He turned around and crossed the street. She watched as he disappeared into the restaurant.

***

Daniel had spent the last couple of weeks doing damage control. Tying up loose ends and handling scandals as soon as they appeared.

Whenever he received emails from talk shows asking him to comment on his relationship and on Draya’s mother, he told them all the same ruthless line: ~No one ever mattered before Draya came along, and no one else ever will. Now fuck off!~

It was a statement that silenced everyone. Even Camille Lannister. Daniel wondered if Draya had noticed how quiet the rumors had been lately.

He didn’t care what anyone thought; none of those people mattered. His life with Draya had officially begun, and he wasn’t about to let anyone ruin it.

A knock on his office door forced him to look up. Josh entered with a big smile on his face, and when Daniel stood up to greet him, he was pulled into a bear hug.

“I’m so proud of you. In a couple of months, you’ve completely erased the asshole you used to be. You’re an amazing guy and boyfriend now.”

Daniel chuckled and reclaimed his seat. Just then, Gloria popped in to serve coffee and walked back out immediately.

Josh pointed behind him and asked inquisitively, “How’s she taking this?”

Daniel shrugged. “She’s an employee; she’s here to work, then go home. Anything between us from the past is irrelevant now.”

“Did you apologize to her?”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “More or less. Why are you here?”

It was true that he had changed; he treated his woman and the people associated with her very differently. But the jury was still out on everyone else.

“I haven’t seen you since your birthday party,” Josh complained. “Which by the way, doesn’t even count because Patricia and I didn’t even get a chance to talk to you before you cut the cake and dragged Lexi upstairs.”

Daniel smirked. “You’re married, so you should understand my possessive behavior.”

“You might as well get married too if you can’t even bear to be ten feet away from the poor girl.”

Daniel didn’t blink. “That’s the plan.” Daniel didn’t blink, not even once when he said it.

That rendered Josh speechless. He stared at his friend, seemingly at a loss for how to continue their conversation.

“What’s with that face?” Daniel finally asked.

Josh stuck a finger in his ear, acting like he was trying to clean it out. “Did you just look me in the eye and say you plan to get married?”

“We live together, and I’m pretty sure she’ll get pregnant soon since I don’t intend to put her back on birth control. I’m looking forward to seeing what my kids with her will look like. Isn’t marriage a part of the deal too?”

Josh pinched his own cheek, still obviously shocked, but he changed the subject. “When are you going to have a housewarming party? I saw photos of the place, and it’s beautiful.”

“I’m never having a party there. Well…maybe our kid’s birthday party.” Daniel smiled at the thought of little auburn-haired kids running around the massive yard.

Another knock on the door caught his attention. When he went to come in, his sweet girlfriend did, smiling brightly.

Daniel had made it a priority to never let that beautiful smile leave her face.

Josh stood up to pull Draya into a hug, but before he could touch her, Daniel held him by his collar and forcefully shoved him into the glass window. Any harder, and ribs would’ve been broken.

DRAYA

The last bit of furniture had been placed, wrapping up several weeks of interior design, and Draya felt proud to have done this with Daniel as a team. No professionals were hired; they simply sat and discussed what they both wanted in their home, bought the items, and decided where to put them together. All the heavy furniture was delivered and placed by the men who brought them in, but other than that, the couple took the initiative to furnish their home themselves.

Daniel poured a glass of fruit juice for Draya and bourbon for himself. “You did good, kid,” he complimented her, ~clinking~ their glasses.

Pride settled in Draya’s chest, as well as other emotions she’d felt all too strongly in the past couple of months. ~Is it possible to love someone this much?~

“How come you’re the only one drinking?” she complained, frowning at the glass of freshly squeezed fruit juice in front of her. “You’ve been doing this for weeks. I want wine or something.”

As they furnished the house, Daniel refused to let her even lift anything heavier than three pounds. Her job was to simply tell him when something worked in each spot and when it didn’t.

“Did we not do a pregnancy test, Draya? Was it not positive? Twice? Don’t piss me off about having fucking wine.”

Daniel left the kitchen.

Shaking her head, Draya followed him into the living room. He had already settled into the sectional couch, his glass in one hand and the remote in the other.

“You’re so mean,” she complained as she sat beside him.

“You think I don’t know you had five sips of a mimosa with Reece the other day? If Chris hadn’t shown up, would you have finished the glass?”

Draya didn’t know what was scarier: that Daniel knew she had five sips of a mimosa or that he waited until now to let her know that he knew about it.

“It’s no big deal. And don’t even think about blaming Reece or Chris because neither of them knows about my pregnancy.”

Daniel flipped through the channels, apparently trying his best to ignore her. After ten minutes of silence, Draya caved. She crawled into his lap and curled up tightly.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I did research and learned it won’t harm the baby to have a couple sips. It’s just champagne and orange juice, and I didn’t even finish it. But I’ll drink fruit juice and water from now on. Just don’t be mad at me.”

Daniel closed his arms around her and placed a kiss on her forehead. He tapped her gently on the back.

“I forgive you, and I accept your apology. Just don’t do that shit again. If anything happens to our child, I’ll lose my fucking mind.” He paused. “I don’t exactly deserve to be a father, Draya, or have a happy ending either. I’m terrified that something will go wrong, and I’ll deserve it because of everything I did in the past.”

Draya’s heart melted. She knew that Daniel never really forced anyone to have an abortion. He was very clear before getting involved with anyone that he didn’t want children and birth control should be used at all times. The women, on the other hand, did not want to use birth control for whatever reason and when the babies presented themselves a month or two later, the result was always the same: they got rid of it willingly.

No wonder he was so terrified. Draya could hear in his voice that he was worried the past would somehow come back to destroy his present and future. He feared the love of his life would miscarry as punishment for his past decisions.

She knew that would break his heart.

Unlike his past flings, Daniel loved her, and having a family with someone you love is just different. Especially to a man like him. A man who changed so much it made the world dizzy.

“Everything will be okay, baby. I promise,” Draya reassured him softly. She laid her head in the crook of his neck. “I love you.”

Daniel sighed with what she believed to be relief. Then in a raspy voice, he replied, “I love you too, always.”