Yet in her developing years she was probably angry and somewhat lost. It is often easier to allow people to continue to believe what they already believe rather than try and prove them all wrong. When the pictures of her had appeared in the newspaper, pictures she didn't even know existed until then, her family had packed her away to Italy to cover up the embarrassment.
At that time Daniel had viewed her with contempt. The girl who had everything and yet chose to live as she did because she didn't appreciate just how lucky she was to be born into a family like the Hartington's.
His mind was racing as he tried to put his childhood knowledge into place using the broad perspective of his adult rationality and understanding. They had taken a tiny step into the difficult years they had been avoiding for so long and straight away all that he had held to be true was crumbling away as he was putting what he knew into new context. He had barely started coming to terms with this new paradigm when she hit him with the new bombshell which sent him reeling backwards on his heels.
"I don't really have a choice, not yet anyway. I've done a deal with my father where I pay off my debt and only then do I stop campaigning for the Hartington family and be allowed to become my own person."
"Deal? What deal's that?"
Emma was amazed at Daniels reaction. He was clearly furious at the mention of the deal his eyes bulging as he demanded an answer. What could have brought on that response?
Breaking into the difficult stuff of the past was something she thought they could do, given time, without causing too much trauma and heartache – yet the first foray into discussing the past had brought her heartache when she discovered that Daniel had somehow felt less than those around him at just the age of five. That had hurt her. She was beginning to realise that each time Daniel was wounded, it was she who would bleed. That was how it used to be a decade and more ago.
She looked at his face noticing a sombre frown and a tense jawline which made her think he may be grinding his teeth again. He looked so emotional she had to look around the room to check if anybody else could notice.
Daniel pulled her attention back to their conversation by leaning his head towards her, towering over her as she looked up to him straight into his eyes. "What deal?"
She couldn't understand why he was behaving like this. He was clearly annoyed and yet she couldn't see why his response would be so disproportionate to whatever the problem was that was bothering him. "Daniel please, can you just calm down?" She widened her eyes in an exaggerated way to emphasise her seriousness. "I don't see what-"
He let out a burst of laughter that had nothing to do with being amused, his hand grabbing her arm as he pulled her towards the door leading to the stairs. "If you're going to tell me it's none of my business, then don't."
Emma wasn't sure what the best action should be. She could feel herself getting angry and was ready to confront him but her intuition told her that it was probably better to calm him down rather than get angry herself. She tried to be stern but spoke in a whisper so she would also be calming. "Where are we going? I am the hostess for goodness sake you can't go dragging me away."
He stopped immediately and turned to her. "You want to have this out here?"
"Have what out?" They got out of view of the crowd and she yanked her arm to try and free herself. "What has got into you?"
His grip tightened around her arm as she tried to release herself, he just continued walking away with her. "Daniel please, let go, you're hurting my arm."
His eyes narrowed as he frowned and searched the area of her arm that he'd been holding. It was as if he wasn't aware of what he'd been doing, so he loosened his grip and his thumb gently stroked her skin to make it better. His face lifted towards hers and he spoke with a deathly calm in his deep, low voice. "Tell me what kind of deal he has made you agree to. Then we're going to take you away from it and make sure it doesn't interfere with either one of us ever again."
"Either one of us?"
Daniel looked around checking that nobody was within earshot. Wanting to be sure of their privacy he leaned towards her ear and spoke softly. "You think you are the only one he makes deals with?"
She took a step backwards onto her heel so she could get a good look at his face, her eyes and mouth opened with astonishment. "What?" It was only one word but her face offered a thousand more questions. Daniel knew he had her attention and let go of her arm as he turned his face away, so she saw the throbbing pulse of his temple. He turned his head slightly and glanced at her sideways.
"He likes doing deals does your father."
The revelation was all-consuming to Emma as she forgot for a moment that she was a hostess at the opening of her gallery, something more important needed to be dealt with.
"What deal did he force you into?"
Her stomach started churning with the sickness and pain which was new to her. She could see the look on Daniel's face and whatever it was she was about to hear she knew it was a big deal for him. His wounds were causing her to bleed.
She was going through a similar process that Daniel had gone through just five minutes earlier. She had been given the piece of a puzzle and she didn't know where or how it was going to fit but the possibilities were racing in her mind. He was an independent, wealthy man so this deal must have been a secret for a long time.
"How long ago?"
Daniel paced around in front of her cursing as he looked down at the floor. "I was sixteen."
"Sixteen? And it was about money? Why did you need the money?"
"I wasn't after money, if that's what you are asking. It was him who came to me."
"And what did he offer to pay for?" She was using lots of energy and self restraint to keep herself calm. If anybody knew just how manipulative her father could be then it was her, she had had to deal with him all of her life. But had he been manipulating Daniel at just the age of sixteen?
Had he really stooped so low?
Daniels sudden calmness was something she found worrying. "Was it school?"
Emma was clutching at ideas as they entered her mind but the knots in her stomach made her feel sick and hurt. She knew that Daniel's mother had always wanted him to get a good education, just as any mother would. Daniel had always been clever, and she'd never given it a second thought how he's been able to go to the same quality school as her brother.
She took on another deep breath and leaned forwards as she put her hands on her hips. So her father had paid for him to go to that good school. But rather than just pay for it because it was the right thing to do, and because he could do it so easily, he had had to extract his pound of flesh by striking some deal. And Daniel, who was already feeling an inferior had no choice but to swallow his pride so that he could get a good education, and a good start in life.
Her breathing was shorter and sharper as her body suffered in pain in reaction to these new revelations. Daniel had been hurt, and right now she was bleeding.
When she turned towards him and looked into his face she could see that he was standing tall and proud, he was making the most of every inch of his masculine frame. It was as if he felt he had to. And it caused her pain once more, because he didn't need to do that with her, especially with her. He was a million times better than her father and he should know that.
She stood upright. "And you didn't bother going to university so you could pay him back quicker, didn't you?"
"That's right."
She nodded "And I bet there was interest on top?"
"You made sure he would have no hold over you ever again?"
"I told him directly and frankly. I think I use the phrase, “ you will rot in hell before I use your help again” and I think I called him “a stuffy old bastard” just to be clear."
"Well good for you, I'm pleased to hear it." And she meant it. She was so proud of him for standing up to her bullying father. She thought just how amazing Daniel was.
She smiled at him and he stood there gazing back which made it quite cl
ear that there was even more to be revealed. As she looked at him she realised he was waiting for her to ask the obvious question, as it slowly dawned on her the second part of the deal. She hesitated because she'd already worked it all out, and she really didn't want to ask and have it confirmed. There was only one thing her father could have used to emotionally blackmail Daniel.
Her voice croaked as she spoke the words. "What did he make you do?"
She already knew the answer and she could see it in his eyes without him even speaking. She was bleeding all over.
"He turned you into my guardian, didn't he?" She nodded her head, agreeing with herself. She didn't need an answer because she already knew that was the truth. "I was already in conflict with him as I had started to rebel. He knew he would never be able to control me so he put you on the payroll before I went totally off the rails. He knew we were close and that..."
She began choking on her words forcing her to gasp more air. It had always been Daniel who was there for her. Each time she got into trouble somewhere and didn't want her parents involved it was Daniel she had called to help her. Every time she'd been at a party which got out of hand, or she'd got out of hand at a party, it was Daniel who had dived in and rescued her.
All that time she had thought that Daniel was there because he was the only one who cared enough to be there. It was why when they had first kissed she had known straight away she had lost the one person who truly mattered, the one person she really loved. And now she was discovering he wasn't there because he cared, but because he was in effect a paid bodyguard.
How could he have cared? She was the one constant reminder of the debt he owed to the Hartingtons. If only she hadn't rebelled and had followed the life being mapped out for by her family.
The deal arranged by her father wasn't just about business, it was using the fact that Daniel did care about her and her father would have accused him of the betrayal if he turned it down. That's how Daniel would have seen it. He'd have seen it as sacrificing his own pride so he could protect her from her own father.
It was all beginning to make sense. It wasn't just the fact that she'd humiliated him, she also emphasised the fact that he'd had to sell his soul because he was nothing but the housekeeper's son. The housekeeper's son who had his wings clipped by Princess Hartington because she needed to save face in front of her la-de-da friends.
Was it any wonder that his loathing of her ran so deep? And could he even really, genuinely care for her in the future after all he had gone through because of her?
Her skin went cold as if a front of cold air had passed right through her but it was nothing to do with the surrounding temperature. She lifted her hands and rubbed her arms as she looked at Daniel directly in his broad chest.
He took a step towards her, she stepped backwards.
What was she to think with this new information? Should she blame Daniel for allowing her father to force him into a deal which meant him acting as her keeper? How could she blame him? He was only sixteen. Should she blame him for not telling her all about the deal? If he had mentioned it she would have rebelled all the more whilst rejecting him at the same time, wouldn't she? She may have gone totally off the rails and never found her way back.
Daniel stepped towards her once more, she stepped back again. She looked up at him her voice managing no more than a whisper.
"Don't. Please don't." She reinforced her plea with a shake of the head.
His voice was deep and husky with an undercurrent of optimism as he spoke. "Whatever it is you owe him, I will pay it and we can end this for good. You can stop all this campaigning for the Hartington family and tell the manipulative old bastard to sod off. Do you hear me?"
"No." She shook her head. "It's just transferring my debt to you and we have enough problems we need to work through, don't we?"
"There are no strings attached, Emma."
She carried on shaking her head, it was all she could do. "I can't, Daniel."
"Then go and ask Toby to pay your father off. He wouldn't attach any conditions either; I don't know why you didn't go to him in the first place. Why not?" His voice showing his inward frustration.
All of her defences were down and she was speaking in a completely matter of fact way with no intention or desire to hide or disguise anything from Daniel. "I was trying to let my father see that I was facing up to the consequences of all I had done. It was like I was paying a debt back for all the humiliation I had brought on the family name. When I went to Italy they didn't give me any money, because I wanted to do it by myself. But when I wanted to open the gallery the money I had saved wasn't enough and when he offered to give it to me it seemed such a small price to pay when all I have to do was join in with my Hartington smile."
But things have changed now hadn't they? That's how she had thought before all this.
He took a deep breath and she saw his chest rise. "You must talk to Toby, promise me you will."
She looked up at him and looked away briefly, before looking him straight in the eye and nodding silently.
"Good."
She spun round and headed to the door leading back to the crowded party. She felt so calm outwardly but inwardly she felt as if every wound she had ever suffered had joined up with Daniel's and she was bleeding to death.
She had her hand on the door handle when she turned and looked back where Daniel was standing watching her. She stared first at his torso and chest, before moving her eyes to his neck, she lingered on his mouth for a few seconds before meeting his eyes.
She was aching and longing for Daniel as much she ever had but it was confused with the feeling of pain. "It's going to take me a while to deal with this."
He smiled softly and in an understanding way. "How long?"
"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders and tried to smile back the best she could, but it wasn't a real smile. "There's just too much to think about, Daniel."
"I'm not sure how long I can wait for you."
It wasn't his fault if he moved on from her, was it? Not now she knew everything that had happened.
"I see now why you wanted to keep our affair secret. If we had gone public we would have met all kinds of problems, my father would probably have used it to break us up."
"He could have tried to break us up."
She turned back to the door after nodding in agreement.
"Think about everything, but don't take too long, Emma."
"I will, and I won't be long." She said the words that she was convinced were true. She felt she needed to put some distance between them because even if they managed to deal with everything else, there was just no working through this one. It was something that they would never want to be mentioning again.
Emma was going to have to break it off.
Chapter 13
Daniel was getting close to the edge being unsure just how much time he was going to allow Emma to get back to him. As she had pieced some of the history together he had seen her face, holding back on the rest knowing the full story would have been a step too far. He wasn't going to let that happen, it had happened before and he was determined it would not happen again.
He wasn't going to let her run away again either. She'd done it before, but this time he would be going after her wherever she went.
His mind and body were suffering due to Emma's absence so to keep them occupied he threw himself into working wherever a job was short of manpower. This had been his remedy the first time he had broken with Emma, he threw himself into work. He felt a great therapy as he knocked down a wall with a sledgehammer and kept himself entertained as he worked with a crew who weren't aware that he was the owner of the company.
He was a different man from the guy who had made that deal which had led him to creating this very successful company. The young men around him put in double the effort once they knew the boss was there. But he was no different to that young man he once was, because it was still the one thing that he wanted more than anything else
.
Two months ago he would not have confessed to wanting Emma even under torture. He even did a good job of persuading himself that his love for her was not real, didn't he?
He was over her.
But now, he knew differently. He could not persuade himself otherwise and probably couldn't have since the morning he discovered her crying in his garden. When they had broken up the first time he had been too impatient to work through it all and find a solution. Not that he was more patient now but if patience was what was required then he could always work at it. Hadn't he been patient in keeping their affair secret for so long?
And he had already given her eight days. Eight days, surely that demonstrates just how patient he could be? But that was long enough, one more day and it will be time to act and put his plan into operation.
He opened a newspaper and suddenly his plan fell into insignificance when he saw Emma's face smiling up at him beneath the headline:
HARTINGTON FAMILY HONOURS FAMOUS FATHER
This would be the last time. One more round of flashing the Hartington smile and she was finished, it was over. It wasn't just the shouting and arguing she had with her father when she told him this would be the last time, it was also the fact she could not carry a false smile around family functions while she was surrounded by all the memories of Daniel.
Piling on the agony was the fact that both of their mothers got on so well and seemed to delight in telling anybody who would listen every Daniel and Emma story they could think of.
She was intrigued that their mothers seem to get on as well as she and Daniel did but it took a giant enormous effort for her to smile her way through listening to their conversation.
She was missing him so much it was as if she had suffered an amputation, and that was in little over a week. How was she going to feel in two weeks, or a month or two months? The knots in her stomach were not going to go away, she knew they would just get worse over time, not better. Now she knew what it was like to be with him in the way she had, watching him wake from sleep as she lay beside him; teasing him and getting that gentle laughter that she loved best; cuddling on the sofa as they talked for hours and kissed for twice as long; knowing what it was like to have him inside her as her body shook with pleasure...
Secret Affair With A Billionaire Page 17
