“Can’t you just trust me? Have I ever given you a reason not to?” I asked earnestly. Daimon shook his head and glared at me.
“Fine, I’ll trust you. But if I ever see that fucker near you again, Addie, I swear I don’t know what I will do,” he harshly.
“Don’t do anything, he isn’t worth it,” I pleaded. I suddenly felt worried for Daimon.
“Why? Are you worried I might hurt your lover?” he seethed.
“He is not my lover and never will be,” I fired back.
“He was once,” he refuted.
“Yes, he was once, and he b—” I bit my lip not to go further.
“And what, Addie?” Daimon yelled out, exasperated.
“But he will never be again,” I said grimly.
We both stood in front of my store glaring at each other.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“There is a gala tonight and you will come with me. I will pick you up, get you dressed and you will act accordingly,” he said harshly.
“Why do you do that?” I sighed.
“Do what Addie?” he snapped.
“Forget it. Fine, I’ll be waiting after work,” I relented.
“I will pick you up at four.”
“Daimon, I can’t. My father is too sick, he won’t be able to work all those hours,” I pleaded.
“Then your father should stop thinking about himself and sell this place, instead of making you waste your life here,” he berated me.
I stood there on the verge of tears. “Fine, I’ll be ready for you at four.” Daimon’s stance eased up and he moved forward.
“Addie.” I held up my hand stopping him from coming closer.
“I’ll see you later.” I moved around him and headed inside.
“Are you okay, dear?” Silvia got up from her seat, took me in her arms, and held me as I cried quietly.
I called my father who yelled at me for hiding his keys, telling me it’s his diner and he could obviously work those hours. He continued yelling at me to stop looking down on him and to go out with Daimon.
I stood in front of the diner and waited. The same chauffer who had picked me up the night at the bar came out of the black sedan and opened the door for me. I bowed my head and climbed inside. Daimon was sitting on the other side of the car staring out the window. His body language was screaming ‘do not talk to me,’ so I didn’t. I sat quietly as we drove to his penthouse. He kept silent until we reached his home. Drako came out running the moment he saw us. I crouched down and began petting him, his little tail wagging happily at my touch.
“Your dress is upstairs in my room. Go and get ready,” he said as he began to pull on his tie and loosened it.
I dropped my things by the door and headed up his floating wooden stairs. I took my time, worried I might fall through. How the hell were they held up? I looked side-to-side. I finally made it up and walked into his room, which seemed as if it was the entire floor. He had wraparound windows overlooking part of the Hudson River and Lower Manhattan. I walked further inside, large, white, plush carpets covered the dark wooden floors. One area had a beautiful black leather couch while on the other end a king sized bed was perfectly made with numerous white pillows.
“Holy shit,” I murmured to myself.
“You like?” Daimon said. I turned to see him leaning on the doorway, holding onto his tie.
“It’s nice,” I said quietly. “The dress?” I asked looking around.
“In the closet.” He pointed to the other end of the room.
I walked around the seating area and found a room, which was a huge walk-in closet. His Suits and shirts were perfectly aligned by color. I made my way around the small couch in the middle of the walk-in and found a dress hung up near his suits. A beautiful halter dress made entirely of sequins in a stunning shade of dark red. I ran my fingers over it, admiring it. I looked down to see a stunning pair of black, strappy, opened toe heels.
“We’ll have to go soon, Addie.” I heard Daimon say from behind me.
“Sorry.” I reached up and took it down.
“Change in here, I’ll close the door,” he said as he closed the doors.
I looked around nervously. I headed to a small nook in the closet just in case he walked in on me. I changed and slowly emerged in front of the mirror. I began to place my hair up in a loose bun and fix my makeup. I didn’t have much with me since Daimon didn’t give me fair warning. I looked in the mirror and smiled. I felt so beautiful. That’s when I saw it, the scar. It wasn’t too pronounced, but there it was. Frank had marred me that night and I was given a reminder I was forever stuck with; a constant reminder of him and what he had done. The dress I had come to love had a low swooping back, which exposed my whole back. I was too taken in by the dress and how nice it felt against my skin that I had forgotten myself.