The Valquez Seduction

Daisy didn’t care for the snide expression on her father’s face. Suspicion began to chill her blood until every hair on her head pulled away from her scalp. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I told him what I’d do with him if he didn’t do the right thing by you.’

Something heavy lurched in her belly. ‘You…you threatened him?’

‘Not much, just enough to make sure he toed the line. I wasn’t going to stand by and watch him trash my little girl’s reputation with a one-night stand. He knew which side his bread was buttered. I made sure he ate it.’

Daisy couldn’t believe it. Didn’t want to believe it. The whole time Luiz had been with her he had been acting out of fear of her father? Had none of it meant anything to him—not one kiss, not one caress, not one passionate interlude—except as a way to save his own back? The man she had thought so gallant and kind was acting out of cowardice? How could it be true? It couldn’t be true. He had been so convincing. She had fallen so hard and so fast. Was she really that naïve?

‘I don’t believe it. He wanted to be with me. I know he did. He wanted me to stay longer. He asked me to but I said no because—’

‘He won’t see you again,’ her father said. ‘He’ll have someone else in his bed by now. You mark my words. Before you know it, someone will post a photo of him on social media with a new lover on his arm.’

Daisy didn’t want her father to be right. It was too painful to think of Luiz replacing her before her plane had got off the ground. But what else was she to think? He had only been with her because of the pressure her father had put on him. It tarnished everything they had shared. Every moment they’d had together was tainted. Spoiled by the machinations of her father, who wanted to control every aspect of her life. His constant need to control her had ruined her one chance at finding happiness.

She had connected with Luiz. Not just physically, but emotionally. And it had happened right from that first breakfast. She had seen him. The real him. Without the mask he wore for everyone else. How could that have been an act on his part? Why would he let her in like that if he was only pretending to enjoy her company?

She had fallen in love with him. He had come to her rescue and kept her safe. Every time he had smiled at her she had fallen a little harder. Every time he touched her, kissed her or made love to her she had given him another piece of her heart. She had denied it to herself, not wanting to admit how much he had affected her. But he was everything she was looking for in a partner because without him she felt only half alive.

But he hadn’t been with her for her.

He had been pretending the whole time. Acting his way through their four days together like an actor did a role he’d been assigned. Had any of their time together been real or was it all one big fake? What about that morning? Why had he asked her to stay? That surely couldn’t have been because of what her father had said?

Daisy felt as if a blade had carved right through her heart, leaving it in shredded pieces hanging from her ribcage. Why couldn’t he have flown with her back to England if he’d wanted more time with her? Surely he could have postponed his trip back to Argentina by a couple of days.

No. He would never do that because she was meant to fit into his life as if she had no life of her own. Just like her mother had been expected to fit into her father’s life. To be what he wanted, when he wanted, where he wanted.

To be controlled.

‘Come on,’ her father said as he shepherded her towards the exit. ‘I’ve got a special dinner planned. You know that new accountant I put on a few months ago? I’d like you to spend some time with him. I’m thinking of making him a partner. He can take over the business once I retire. He’s exactly the sort of man I want as a son-in-law.’

Daisy stopped in her tracks and shook off her father’s hold. ‘What?’

‘I don’t think he’ll be put off by your little fling in Vegas—’ her father carried on as if she hadn’t spoken ‘—he’s probably sown a few wild oats himself. If I offer him a partnership to sweeten the—’

‘Stop it right there,’ she said through clenched teeth. ‘I do not need you to organise my life for me. I do not need you to find me a husband or bribe someone to have dinner with me or anything else. How can you be so…so ridiculously obsessive about controlling everything I do? I’m not a kid any more. I’m an adult, Dad. I want to be in control of my own life. When are you going to finally accept that?’

Her father frowned as people glanced at them on their way past. ‘Don’t make a scene. You’re acting like your mother, getting hysterical over nothing. I’m just trying to help you because I love you.’