Chapter 51: Chapter 51

DANIEL

A few days had passed since Draya told Daniel about Camille’s new plan, and he reached out to the family P.I. to see what she had been up to. According to him, she was having a hard time getting investors to help with her new chain of hotels. It was a costly project—it would take billions of dollars and staff—and the investors just weren’t pouring in the way she needed them to.

~No wonder she hasn’t leaked anything yet. She’s been busy with this.~

Now that Reece was back from her trip abroad, she was dealing with the stress of having inspectors constantly stopping by her store. It hadn’t been opened to the public yet since many changes needed to be made to bring things up to code, but at least her merchandise kept getting sold out online.

Daniel wanted to help, but he could only take care of one problem at a time. His wife came first. Once the situation with Camille and his wife’s birth mother was under control, he’d see what he could do.

~Wife.~ Daniel wasn’t joking about marrying Draya as soon as Reece returned. Last weekend, they had a backyard wedding with only six guests: Carlos, Reece, Josh, Patricia, Johnson, and Chris Lannister. Draya had invited Chris, and Daniel was surprised he showed up and stayed till the end.

Still, he doubted the man had much interest in their vows or lavish decorations. He caught him staring at the maid of honor for the majority of the evening.

Daniel didn’t know why he was so adamant about separating them. He just knew that since childhood, Chris had only loved and protected one woman to the point of shielding her from everything, even the public, even his family. Daniel didn’t want Reece getting her hopes up just for things to end badly; she deserved to be happy.

Now Daniel was at the Lannister building in SoHo, New York, and Camille was being dramatic by denying him entry.

As the breeding ground for many business deals and the rendezvous point for many of his flings with models, New York always had a unique place in Daniel’s heart. He’d flown here several times in the past couple of years, but this was the first time he was unhappy about it.

But things were different now. He was a bachelor back then, and now he was happily married with a baby on the way.

~My family means more to me than any past flings or business acquisitions. I’m determined to explain that to Camille, and if that doesn’t work, maybe my offer will convince her.~

Camille’s personal bodyguard, Daryl, kept Daniel waiting in the lobby. The lobby that was almost packed to the brim with reporters. They didn’t hesitate to snap photos of Daniel while he waited to be seen.

Camille must’ve been watching the security cameras from upstairs with confusion on her face. Daniel had deliberately chosen this day because he knew she had a press conference. He knew he’d be photographed and asked a million questions.

Daniel managed to avoid questions about his bride. The public didn’t know about their marriage yet, and as odd as it was, he knew Chris hadn’t told his sister either. He seemed to cherish his friendship with Draya—or maybe he was trying to impress Reece by not egging his sister on.

Daryl grunted at Daniel and used hand signals to let him know it was okay to go upstairs. The elevator still had the same passcode for several years now, so there was no way he could forget it.

When he reached the penthouse, the doors opened to a renovated foyer. ~At least something’s changed.~

The sound of heels rounding the corner caught Daniel’s attention. Before he could blink, Camille was standing in front of him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Nice to see you too.”

Her facial expression changed from discomfort to annoyance at his nonchalant tone. ~Yeah, well, you annoy me too.~

Camille crossed her arms and huffed angrily. “Cut the crap, Daniel. You haven’t spoken to me in a long time. What are you doing here?”

“Well, first of all, take your attitude down a notch. You’ve made things difficult for me plenty of times over the past couple of months, and I still managed to come here with a smile on my face. The least you could do is be civil for a few minutes.”

To Daniel’s surprise, Camille accepted his truce and walked to the bar. He followed her over, and she poured them both a drink.

After chugging hers, Camille turned to look at him. Her expression had softened, and she seemed a bit more familiar now. Like the girl he used to be friends with.

“Why are you here, Daniel?” she asked again.

“I want to make a deal with you.”

Her brows furrowed. “What kind of deal?”

“I’ll pay for your project if you leave Draya alone. That includes talking about her or her affiliations: her birth parents or any other person you’ve dug up. Do that, and I’ll help you.”

Camille must have been in shock because she just stared at Daniel for five full minutes. Five minutes with no words, with hardly any blinking or body movement.

The silence was deafening; it almost seemed to suck the energy out of the room. Daniel began to feel drained just waiting for Camille to respond.

Finally, his old friend poured herself another drink. She chugged it again and then turned to face him.

“My project would clean you out if it fails. Hell, it could clean you out financially even if it doesn’t fail. There’s a reason I wanted a big group of investors. One person would have too much to lose by taking this on. What’s your angle here? Are you toying with me?”

Daniel chuckled. “I have Draya and a baby on the way. I can lose money and make more, but I can’t lose them.”

Camille’s eyes bulged. “You hate children,” she pointed out acidly.

That was never quite true. Daniel never hated children; he just refused to let his guard down enough to love anything or anyone. He was determined not to feel, so determined that he didn’t care who he hurt in the process.

But Draya changed him. She opened him up like a wound until he bled out all that shit he used to hold onto. Now he was filled up with new purpose, and he couldn’t let her down.

“I love her,” was all I could say.

Camille poured herself another drink, but on instinct, Daniel reached out and took the glass from her, pouring the contents down the drain. “Getting drunk before your press conference is a bad idea.”

She crossed her arms again. “Why do you care? You stopped caring about me a long time ago.”

“And haven’t you done the same?” Camille seemed confused, so Daniel continued, “You used to love me. Even if it was more than the friendship I thought it was, I believe that you did love me. I believed at one point that you knew me better than anyone.

“We’ve known each other since we were kids. If anyone tried to hurt me, you would’ve stepped in and created a scene, but now it’s you who’s been hurting me. It’s you who has trashed our friendship. It’s you who has given up on our trust in each other. You’ve chosen to be my enemy and not my friend.”

Daniel doesn’t have time to beat around the bush. “If that’s the way you want it, I can live with that. Just stay away from Draya, and I will give you all the financial help that you need.”

Camille ran shaking hands through her hair. “You could lose everything if you do this. All you’ve worked hard for.” Her voice was so low he barely heard her.

“I don’t care.” ~I just want Draya to be happy. What doesn’t she understand?~

Camille paced the same spot for a minute, then turned to Daniel again, whispering, “She means that much to you?”

He didn’t hesitate. Not even for a second. “Yes.”

More pacing. At this point, she was beginning to look like a caged animal.

Daniel tried to rush her along. “Do you agree or not? I’ll have to call my accountant before the bank closes if we’re going to do this today.” He knew he’d worked extremely hard for all he had, and so did his father, but he was sure Carlos would understand why he gave it up; he was sure he’d support his decision and encourage him to find a new way to provide for his family.

Camille walked over to the door and opened it wide. “Just go,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“What do you mean?”

She raised a hand to wipe her tears before any had the chance to fall. “Just go, Daniel. I don’t need your money. I’ll get the investors some other way.”

He was about to protest, but she interrupted him. “I’m done,” she promised. “I just hope she doesn’t hurt you. I’ve never seen you like this…so devoted…and I hope it doesn’t blow up in your face.”

Daniel must have been moving backward in time because his brain couldn’t comprehend what Camille was trying to say.

“I won’t bother her anymore, but I won’t apologize either. I’m not that nice.” She forced a weak smile.

“Why’d you change your mind?”

“You were right; I do know you. Or at least I used to.” She looked him in the eyes. “You’ve changed. You’ve become the man your mother would be proud of, and I’d hate myself if I managed to destroy that. Even though I don’t like your choice of partner, I guess for the sake of who we used to be, I’ll let this go.” She looked me in the eyes and spoke as genuinely as she was able to.

Daniel could tell it took a lot out of Camille to say those words. “Thank you,” he told her on his way out.

When he reached the hallway, she held the door open. “I hope you’ll be happy,” she said in an even softer whisper.

Daniel smiled. “I hope you will be too.”