Daisy's Choice (A Tale of Three Hearts) (24 page)

“
Thank you, mama,” Amy said, but didn’t look up.

“
I didn’t mean to yell. Mama was wrong to fuss. I just… hey kiddo, you know mommy loves you.” Daisy noticed the administrator’s impatient scowl and the tears brimming in Amy eyes when she finally looked up. Could she feel any worse? No. “Mama’s sorry.”

Amy gave her a one shoulder shrug. The teacher released her from her seatbelt. “Then I can have it? The rabbit and the turtle?”

“
Give me a kiss, and I’ll think about it,” she said. Amy kissed her on the lips and grinned. “Now I got lipstick!” she giggled, puckering her lips.

“
Be a good girl today, okay?”

“
Bye, mama.”

“
Bye.”

“
Goodbye, Ms. Locke,” the Administrator said, closing the door. Daisy drove off looking back in her rearview mirror at her daughter joining the line with the rest of her preschoolers. Maybe she should go and give her another hug and tell her she loved her so she could have a good day.

She nearly ran into the car in front of her. Slamming on brakes, she put both her shaky hands on the steering wheel. There was a definite need to calm down. She had to get herself under control. Priority was to deal with Pete once and for all. But first, she wanted to deal with Clara.

****

“
You need to get someone to check that.” Donovan shifted in the back of the limo, his cane resting between his legs. The car idled in an empty parking lot with him and Aiden inside. It didn't take long for Aiden to understand Donovan's concern. The reddish-purple swell to his knuckles told the story of his anger.

“
Where is he?” Aiden asked in a dry clipped manner.

“
Soon my friend. He’ll be here soon,” Donovan answered.

Aiden tapped his fingers on the inside door panel. The phantom feeling of his missing coin caused them to play at movement that wasn’t there. He stared out of the smoky tinted windows looking at nothing, seeing everything. He hadn’t said much to Donovan or anyone. The flight into LA was a quick one; he spent the remainder of the night tending to business. Sleep never came. He didn’t look for it. They drove to Mango Grove with Donovan shuffling contracts for his review; deals he’d put off for weeks while chasing his tail. Chasing Daisy.

He set that to order. Now he’d set Daisy in order too. He arranged for Mathew Sterling to bring him the folder he so easily handed over to Daisy. It was the one of the little girl he knew nothing about.

“
Do you want me to stop the sale of Jahi back to Daisy Johnson’s attorneys until you decide on the matter?”

“
No. The company doesn’t mean anything to her. Now I know why.”

Aiden watched a blue Ford pickup truck circle the parking lot, then park two spaces ahead. “Why do you think she’s my daughter?” Aiden asked, his tone far off, almost whimsical. Strange to hear the word slip from his lips:
daughter
. “Was there something else I should know? Something you saw that confirms it?” he asked, his gaze turning to his friend.

“
Confirmation? Is it really needed?” Donovan chuckled. “Think of the timing, Aiden, and her hiding from you, her family. She’s fighting mighty hard to keep this little girl from being discovered. It fits.”

Aiden lowered his gaze and Donovan continued. “Never really made sense why Daisy Johnson dropped off the face of the earth. You find her and so what? She can easily walk away from you if she chooses. I do suggest you get the child tested, DNA, and all, then handle Daisy as you see fit.”

“
She’s mine. I have a daughter,” Aiden sighed.

Donovan frowned, “Then why ask me?”

“
I wanted to know why
you
thought she was. I already know why I do.”

The door to the pick-up was thrown open. Sterling got out, folder in hand. Aiden remembered Daisy’s panic at the sight of that folder. He remembered how she laid on the conference table and gave him pussy just to keep him from reading it. The lengths she went to confirmed all he needed. Still, he had to see this child.

He tried to push the memory of their tryst from his mind. The way she shuddered in his arms and clung to him when he was on her had him battling with his hatred toward what she’d done tenfold. He warred with destroying her or—he wasn’t sure of the ‘or’.

A kid? He’d never even been around children. They weren’t allowed in his casinos. He had no friends with them. When Donovan had his little girl, he observed her from afar but barely said two words to the child.

“
Mr. Keane,” Mathew Sterling nodded as he entered the limo. “Good morning, sir.” He handed over the folder. Aiden accepted it. He stared down at it for a brief second, but didn’t open it.

“
Where is she now? Daisy?”

“
That’s why I was late. I was tailing her as you asked. She dropped the kid off at school and went to Jahi. She’s there now.”

“
What school?” Donovan asked.

“
Grove Academy.”

“
Get out,” Aiden said, glaring at the folder.

Donovan handed over an envelope. Sterling accepted, opened it, and ran his finger over the stacked 100-dollar bills. “Mr. Keane, it’s been a pleasure. If you need anything I can—”

Aiden lifted his eyes to the investigator. Whatever the man saw reflected in them silenced him immediately. He gave a curt nod and made a quick exit.

“
Aren’t you going to open it?” Donovan asked once the door slammed shut with a touch of impatience in his voice.

Aiden ran his hand over the folder. Then he opened it. He looked down at the school picture of Amy Locke, her eyes shining up at him. “I want to see her. Now.”

Donovan nodded. He pressed the pad of his finger into the button on the arm of the door and lowered the driver’s partition. “Mango Grove Elementary.”

****

Daisy threw the door shut behind her. The glass pane rattled within its frame. Clara whirled, folders in her hand. “What do you think you’re doing?” Daisy asked. pointing to the folder that Clara immediately lowered to the desk.

“
I was just getting my things.”

"Those aren’t yours. They are my client lists. I know you’re not stupid enough to try to steal from me on top of everything else.”

“
No, Daisy, God no! These are just my personal papers. See for yourself.”

Daisy stared at her but said nothing.

“
Let me explain.”

“
Yes, Clara. Please. I really want to hear this,” she said, walking toward her. Clara fidgeted, her eyes going past Daisy to the door. She nervously tugged at the front of her suit jacket. “I didn’t know who Aiden Keane was to you. You never told me.”

“
Un huh?”

“
I… I… they cornered me. Told me that you were doing business under a false identity. That Jahi was illegal. That we could be fined, charged.”

“
How much?”

“
What?”

“
How much?”

“
Daisy, I had no choice.”

“
How much was our friendship worth?” Daisy asked.

“
Three million dollars and… the land in Arizona with an investment from Keane Corp to start my own spa,” Clara confessed.

Daisy nodded. “I’m impressed.”

“
It wasn’t personal.”

“
Save it! Don't waste your breath. You came in here with nothing. But you were hungry. I did recognize that. This is my fault. I know greed. Hell, I’ve been you before. I should have seen your price tag hanging around your neck the moment I met you.” Daisy stepped in closer. Clara nervously pushed back into the desk. “You don’t know Aiden Keane. When he buys you, Clara, he thinks he owns you, and when you sell off your pride, he does. Good luck, because there will be a day when he wants to collect. And Aiden Keane always gets his due. Now get the hell out of my place and don’t you ever, ever look my way again!”

Clara reached behind her with hands to both sides of the box. She lifted it and turned to leave. “I’m sorry, Daisy. I really am.”

“
Don’t even think about it!” Daisy snatched the box from her. “Get the hell out! I’ll mail you your things.” She fought back the urge to kick off her heels, snatch out her earrings and show Clara what a country girl did when a conniving bitch went after her. “Leave now!”

Clara left, quickly, the door closing shut behind her. Daisy paced, her breathing shallow and her nostrils flared as her heart beat wildly. She could kill Aiden for what he did. She was still furious with him over it. The man just bulldozed over lives and people without thought. She looked at the door her once trusted friend was thrown out of.

“
Ten million dollars? Damn.” She rolled her eyes. Without reserve, she released a bitter angry laugh that ended hollowly as she hugged herself and shook her head in disgust. “Hope she’s worth it, Aiden.”

****

Mango Grove Academy was a four-story campus with palm trees circling it. It looked to be more like a resort than a school. The circular drive to the front had several late arrivals. Preteen kids jumped out of the parent’s cars, in uniform, running for the doors. Smaller children were walked up steps holding tight to their parent’s hands.

The limo circled. It slowed at the side of the building with a perfect view of the playground where some kids ran, jumped and swung from bars and cubed mazes. Laughter filled the air, which could be heard through his rolled down window. Aiden stared.

Donovan ended the call. “We got to make that meeting with the Commissioner. He’s about to rule, Aiden. I need your help on this one. He seems to be wavering again.”

Aiden heard broken parts of the conversation but not enough to draw him away from the little Daisy staring up at him on the photograph. A school picture, her hair, which was possibly groomed that morning, was a tangled puff on the top of her head, with loose strands pulled out and dropping to the side of her round face. She smiled too wide, leaning forward as if she’d fall off the log she was seated on, showing all her teeth. In fact, her happiness was so infectious that he felt himself smiling without knowing it.

“
Did you hear what I said? We could be back in Vegas in an hour, meet with the Commissioner, and then we’ll return tomorrow to settle things. Give you a chance to lay down a plan.”

“
Don’t need a plan,” Aiden said, dryly.

Donovan frowned. “That’s where you’re wrong. That little girl could be yours, but Daisy is still her mother, and you can’t just walk into their lives without setting things.”

“
I handle this my way,” Aiden snapped. “Do you understand? I will deal with Daisy, and… and… Amy,” he said closing the folder.

Aiden opened the door.

“
What are you doing?” Donovan called behind him.

He was on the asphalt, heading to the pavement before Donovan’s question reached his ears. Donovan, for his part, worked frantically to catch up with the aide of his cane. “You can’t go in there,” he shouted a warning. He ignored him. Stepping into the school, he looked around for direction. There was a sign that indicated the hall that led to the front office. Aiden continued on hearing the soft pants of Donovan's labored breathing as he walked fast to catch him. Aiden's stride never broke. His heart's patter accelerated with adrenaline as he focused on what was his. A kid? His very own child? No one would deny him what was his. She had made a big mistake thinking she could.

“
Wait!” Donovan caught him by the sleeve before he turned the doorknob. "Don't do this. You have no legal rights to her yet. Think of the consequences. Do you want to spook Daisy to run? I'm not your friend now. I'm your attorney. Let's handle it the right way. Trust me, Aiden."

"Can I help you?" A short woman with reddish hair asked. The men looked back as she approached from the other end of the hall.

Aiden cut her down with his gaze. "Amy Locke. My daughter. Bring her to me now!"

The woman blinked, confused. Donovan stepped to his side and lowered his voice. "Aiden, Not this way."