Chapter 31

Ican see the indecision written all over Daisy's face. She's conflicted, battling with herself over what she thinks she should do versus what she wants to do. I get it. I've been there too. It's not like I've never questioned the way my family conducts business. I've accepted who I am, though. I just need Daisy to do the same.

"Come on, let's go downstairs and eat," I tell her.

"You're actually going to let me out of this room?"

"If you run, I will catch you." I smirk at her as I force myself out of bed. "Could be fun."

Daisy rolls her eyes. "You know this is more than a little unhinged, Gabrielle. You can't just keep me here until I've agreed to be your good little pet."

"I'm keeping you here until you realise that our love is all that matters. Everything else is just noise. You just need to come to terms with the man you fell in love with."

"Or you need to come to terms with the fact you have to let me go," she counters.

"You just said I was unhinged, so I think we can both agree that I'm never going to accept the idea of letting you go." I unlock the door and take hold of her hand. Silently cheering when she doesn't recoil or pull away.

Daisy looks around as we make our way through the house. "Where are we?"

"One of my family's properties," I tell her. "We don't really use this place a lot."

"Where exactly?"

"Golden Beach." It's a small coastal town. I think my father purchased this house because one of his mistresses liked the beach. We're a three-hour drive from the city. "Sit down." I gesture to the chair I pulled out at the dining table.

Then I walk into the adjoining kitchen, power on the coffee machine, and start lining up ingredients to make her a ham and cheese toastie to replace the one she threw on the floor. It's nothing gourmet, but it's food.

"How long are you going to keep me here, Gabe?" Daisy asks.

"How long are you going to keep trying to break us up?" I fire back.

"That's not… I'm not…" She shakes her head. "You don't get it. You've never known anything but your way of doing things. I've spent my entire adult life running from violence, hiding from it. I work with young girls to get them out of violent situations, abuse. I can't be okay with dating someone who just goes around killing people." She sighs.

"First of all, I don't just go around killing people. I'm not a fucking serial killer, Daisy. Second, when have I ever given you a reason to believe that I'd hurt you?"

"You literally stuck me with a needle, pumped my veins with God only knows what before I woke up tied to a bed, Gabe." Her voice cracks a little when she says that last part, and I instantly feel like shit.

"That was a bit overboard. I'm sorry," I tell her.

Daisy's eyes are watery. I can see that she's fighting back tears. "I thought he found me again," she whispers. "When I woke up tied to a bed, I thought he was back. It's what he used to do." That last bit comes out more of a choked sob, and I would do anything to turn back time and kick my own ass.

"Fuck." I walk over and drop to my knees in front of her. "Daisy, I didn't know. I'm sorry. I didn't know. I will never hurt you. I'm not trying to force you to do something you don't want to do."

"You're keeping me against my will, Gabe. That's literally the definition of forcing me to do something I don't want to do."

She's right. I'm a fucking asshole. Even knowing that, I can't bring myself to let her go. I should put her in the car and take her home.

My head falls to her lap. "I can't lose you."

Daisy's fingers comb through my hair. "I don't know what to do," she says.

"Neither do I," I admit. "But you do need to eat." I push to my feet and busy myself making her food.

We eat in silence, and when she's finished, I take her plate and cup and set them in the sink. Daisy stands and walks into the living room, where she sits on the sofa that overlooks the floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing the beach.

"It's really nice here," she says.

I lower myself beside her, lie down, and pull her on top of me. Her head rests on my chest while my fingers brush along her back. "I don't know how to fix this," I admit.

"Some things aren't supposed to be fixed." Daisy sighs.

"I don't believe that. We are meant to be. We just need to find our way."

"Right here, right now… I want to be able to tell you that I'm in this with you, Gabe. I love you so much that I want to be able to put aside my own ethical issues and just accept that you are who you are. I really do. But it's hard."

"I know," I tell her.

"I wish things were different. I wish I was different," Daisy says.

"I don't. I love you just the way you are, baby. There's nothing about you that needs changing."

"I want to be the girlfriend you deserve, Gabe. I just don't think I can be her. No matter how much I try, I can't get over the fact that you can… get blood on your hands and then come home and touch me… with those same hands."

"I know." I don't know what else to say. What else to do to convince her that we're good together, despite our differences… "You do realise that the shit I do isn't a reflection on you. What I do will never come back to you."

"I'm not worried about getting into trouble with the law, Gabe. I'm worried about you getting into trouble. I'm worried what kind of toll it's going to take on your mental health when and if remorse ever catches up with you."

"There are few things I regret in life, Daisy. Protecting you will never be one of them," I tell her.

"Where do we go from here?"

"What if we stay right where we are? On this beach. No one knows we're here. We can just start over, build our own lives where no one knows us," I suggest.

"I already told you I'm not taking you away from your family. I'm not going to be that woman," she says.

"You're not. I'm making a choice, Daisy. And I choose you. If keeping you means distancing myself from everything else, then I will."

"No, we can't do that." She shakes her head. "What if we just stay here for the weekend? And pretend that we're just Gabe and Daisy. No issues, no kidnapping. Just two people who love each other more than anything else in the world."

"That's not pretending, baby. That's the truth." I bend forward and kiss the top of her head.

"I want to go swimming," Daisy says suddenly as she shifts upright.

"In the ocean?" I ask her. "It's going to be freezing."

"I don't care. Let's do it." She jumps off the couch and starts taking off her shirt. Her fingers then reach the button of her jeans and she slides them down her legs.

"You want to go outside like that?" I ask while my eyes take in every inch of her skin. She's wearing a matching black lace pantie and bra set. And, fuck, my cock is hard from the sight of it and all her skin.

"Yep, it's no different from a bikini. Come on." She smiles at me, and I find myself standing up.

"There are towels in the linen cupboard upstairs. Go and grab two. I'll get us some drinks to take down," I say before heading to the kitchen.

A few seconds later, I hear Daisy run up the stairs.