Chapter 59 I can do better
Daxton
When it came to the hotel staff, I could never catch a break with them. I had a simple rule—if it can be handled, don’t bother me. But, that meant nothing to them as they would call me at the slightest inconvenience. Those who worked at the strip club didn’t stress me this way.
I was just glad that I had my phone turned off.
Riley dropped the half-eaten strawberry from her mouth, disposing of it in the trash the moment she saw me. “Daxton—” Her smile was bright.
The expression on my face remained the same as I moseyed over to her, shaking my head. “I thought the Doctor told you to avoid strawberries until your prescription is over?”
She tilted her head to the side, still grinning. “What strawberry?” She blinked.
My face was blank.
Riley gave up, raising both hands in defeat. “You win, Daxton. Did you come here to check on the niece you almost killed, or to grill me?”
“Kill is a stretch!”
“Well, I told you that Laufey doesn’t need a car until she is accepted into one of the Ivy League Schools she applied to,”
I folded my arms over my chest. “What did you expect me to do when she keeps bugging me about owning a car? And she is seventeen. You have to stop being strict,”
“You do know that the accident could have ended far worse, right?”
“And it didn’t,”
Riley chuckled, slowly slanting her head as her eyes narrowed on me. “Your eyes—” Her fingers folded gently against her mouth. “They are full of light. I see sparks in them,”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means you have something interesting going on in your life that I don’t know about. You’ve got a girlfriend?”
She wouldn’t let me speak when she continued. “I mean, that is impossible. You don’t date people and…” Her words trailed as she stared harder at me before her eyes widened, her hand flying to cover her mouth.
“You have a girlfriend!” She half-screamed.
My face broke into a smile. “Yes, I do,” warmth bloomed in my chest, and a sense of pride overwhelmed me.
Her hand dropped from her mouth, shock boldly written on her face. “Come on,” I elbowed her.
Riley blinked continuously, almost as if she was thrown into a daze. “It almost sounds unbelievable. Like a Lucid Dream. Tell me, is she beautiful?”
Again, I couldn’t help but smile. “Breathtaking,” I breathed, my heart pounding just from the thoughts of Verena that crossed my mind.
“You’ve got a picture of her? Let me see,”
“Sure,”
I turned on my phone, swiping away the multiple message notifications from Emily and Gavin that flooded in. What the fuck was going on? It was about time I changed numbers.
I scrolled through multiple photos, showing Verena to Riley. “Aww…she’s so pretty—” She turned to look at me and there was this slight flicker of confusion in her eyes.
“But she looks familiar. I feel like I have seen her somewhere,”
I exhaled sharply. “She is Kian’s ex-wife,” The words left a bitter taste on my tongue.
“Kian? As in Neil’s son?”
I nodded. “Yes, your nephew”
Her lips parted. “Wow. I keep saying it, you are messed up but as long as you both are happy, then you have my support,”
“Never asked for your support,”
She sneered at me, slapping me on the back. “You are still annoying,”
Of all my half-siblings, Riley was the one I was closest to. My dad, a notorious philanderer, had children with multiple women. While I stayed in touch with some of my siblings and barely knew others, Riley was the one I held most dear—probably because she was just a year older and had the knack for driving me crazy when we were younger.
“So tell me, what do you like about her?”
My heart fluttered with excitement and I could feel all sorts of things floating inside of me.
“Everything. She is stunning, bold, can be quite rude and—”
The buzz of my phone in my hand interrupted my thoughts, anger flaring in my chest, my face slowly contorting into a frown when Emily’s name appeared above the screen.
I sucked between my teeth, exchanging fleeting glances with Riley before taking a few steps away from her.
The moment I answered, Emily’s exhaled relief filled my ears. “Sir!”
“Go on,”
“We’ve been trying to get in touch. Something serious happened and Verena is being accused of stealing an expensive wristwatch. She is currently being held in detention,”
My heart stopped, the world around me fading away as the air got sucked out of my lungs. “What did you just say?”
“She was accused of stealing and the craziest part is that I have seen the wristwatch with her multiple times. I tried to tell Mandy but she threatened to have you fire me if I didn’t keep my mouth shut,”
My blood ran cold, my pulse suddenly picking up its beat the same time my heart started thudding so hard that it rattled my ribcage. “What police station was she taken to?”
I was on the brink of madness. At the edge of starting a war.
“The downtown precinct, sir. Station 9,”
I ripped my hand through my hair, feeling the anger consume me slowly. I didn’t know which enraged me the more—knowing that she was framed, sitting in a cell all alone, or knowing I was the reason she ended up there.
Verena’s P.O.V
Cassandra came prepared for me. She had the receipts for the wristwatch, all the lies warped perfectly so when I was called in for questioning, I hadn’t uttered a single word.
I had mentioned it before. I wouldn’t be the one to exonerate myself, Daxton would.
If he had heard that I was the one accused of stealing, I wouldn’t be here but it was all good.
With my back pressed against the cold wall, knees pulled to my chest, memories of the victorious smile on Mandy’s face came alive in my head. The smug look that never left Cassandra’s face.
Although, they didn’t know each other. They had the same goal—to get rid of me.
And the worst part, I had done nothing to these two women. Yet, they came for me.
I was done being the bigger person. Three could play the game.
Daxton would be here soon. I knew it. I believed it.
I could still feel the dry blood underneath my nostrils, crusted on my skin and I felt the handprint welt on my cheek—from Mandy’s fingers—slowly disappearing.
But I needed it to be there. I needed Daxton to see it.
I lifted my gaze to the surveillance camera mounted on the wall, staring intently at it before raising my hand, steadying my breathing, and striking my cheek with my palm.
My skin lit up like fire, the sting worsening with every second.
However, this wasn’t enough for what I wanted to achieve.
My breath became uneven and with my eyes shut, my hand struck across my face again, my cheek inflaming harder than before.
That was more like it.
I went again and again until I could feel that familiar hardening on my cheek.
Good.
Just what I wanted.
At the same time, the sharp jingle of keys pierced through the ringing in my ear, mingling with the crescendo of footsteps approaching my cell, and slowly, it hit me that he was here.
Daxton had come for me.