THE VALQUEZ SEDUCTION(68)

                Daisy took the small square package. ‘Thank you.’

                ‘Aren’t you going to open it?’ Belinda asked.

                ‘What is it?’ Kate peered over her shoulder. ‘Is it a ring?’

                Daisy peeled back the giftwrap to find a small lingerie box inside, tied up with a scarlet bow. She undid the bow and opened the box and lifted out of the bed of tissue a pair of dainty lace knickers as fine as a silky cobweb. There was a card poked in amongst the tissue.

                ‘What does it say?’ Belinda jostled against her shoulder.

                Daisy looked down at the dark scrawl of the letter L.

                Belinda gave a cynical exhale. ‘His initial.’

                ‘What if it stands for love?’ Kate asked.

                Daisy folded her fingers over the card, her heart lifting on a faint breath of hope. ‘Come on. That’s our boarding call.’

                * * *

                It was raining when Daisy landed in London. Her father was there to meet her and ushered her out of the arrivals hall with a hand firmly at her elbow. ‘You have some explaining to do, young lady,’ he said. ‘That clip of you dancing with Luiz Valquez has gone viral. I didn’t sacrifice everything to bring you up to act like a slut the first moment I turn my back.’

                ‘I was dancing, Dad. I was enjoying myself. You should try it some time.’

                He frowned at her. ‘Why him? Why not some decent guy who’d do the right thing by you? This is not what I wanted for you. You could do so much better.’

                So much better than what? Daisy thought. Who could be better than Luiz? He was everything she wanted. She couldn’t imagine wanting anyone else. He had awakened her with his touch. Her body responded to him as if it had been waiting for him all this time. How could she settle for anyone else with the memory of his caresses still echoing throughout her body?

                ‘Attraction doesn’t work that way,’ she said. ‘You should know that. Remember how you chased after Mum until she finally gave in? Yes, I thought you might.’

                ‘That’s not the same at all,’ he said. ‘I loved your mother.’

                She stopped walking to look at her father. ‘What if I told you I was in love with Luiz?’

                He looked at her for a long moment. Then he threw back his head and laughed so hard his eyes watered. He brushed the moisture away with the back of his hand, still chuckling but with a cynical tone to it that made her stomach feel uneasy. ‘Did he say he was in love with you?’

                ‘No, but I think he’s coming round to—’

                ‘He’s looking out for himself, that’s what he’s doing,’ he said. ‘And I’m not referring to his big sponsorship deal everyone is talking about.’

                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?’