Pushing Up Daisies (20 page)

“You were just going to leave me?” Adonis asked, his eyes piercing hers.

Her phone rang. Daisy ignored it, fearing that it would be Jacob.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Aren’t you going to answer?”

She didn’t know if he was referring to himself or her cell phone, which still hadn’t stopped ringing. Whoever it was must have wanted to talk to her pretty badly.

“Can we walk and talk? I’m freezing.”

“My car’s right around the corner. We can talk there.”

“No, that’s okay. My car’s down the street. Why don’t we meet another time—”

Adonis grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward him. She could smell his scent, which had always weakened her. “No. I’ll walk you to your car. We’ll talk there.”

Daisy walked meekly beside him. She felt overpowered but not frightened. His tone hadn’t been threatening, only strong. He’d spoken to her as if she belonged to him, as if he still cared.

Her phone rang again. Again she ignored it.

“Why aren’t you answering your phone?” Adonis asked as they approached her Jeep.

Daisy knew that she’d have to answer eventually.

“Where are your keys?” Adonis asked.

“Why?”

“Because I’m driving.”

“Why do you want to drive?”

“Why not?” he replied, his bass deepening.

“Fine.” Daisy reached into her purse, handed him the keys, and got into the car as he held open her door.

The phone rang again.

Adonis hopped into the driver’s seat. “Daisy, just answer the damn phone! I already know you were meeting a man at the restaurant.”

Daisy had never seen Adonis angry before. Silly as it was, she found his jealousy kind of cute. Reluctantly, she removed the ringing phone from her purse. She tried to look at the caller ID to see who it was.

Adonis grabbed it out of her hand, flipped it open, and handed it back to her.

She had no choice but to say hello. She sighed a breath of relief when she heard Gigi on the other end.

“What’s so urgent, Gigi?” Daisy asked. “Why have you been ringing my phone off the hook?”

“I just called.”

“Oh,” Daisy replied, careful not to let Adonis know it hadn’t been Gigi calling the whole time. “What’s up?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in the car with Adonis. Why?”

“If you two aren’t busy, could you go to Ming Li’s for me? She’s on some sort of retreat, and someone fell in the shop. They’re threatening to sue her. She needs her insurance policy faxed to her immediately. There’s something wrong with my car, and I can’t do it.”

“Sure,” Daisy said, hoping that she could create some sort of diversion at Ming Li’s to throw Adonis off. “But I don’t have a key anymore.”

“There’s a spare one in the back of the house, under the red potted plant. The papers are in her closet chest, in the third drawer.”

Daisy turned to Adonis. “Emergency at Ming Li’s. I have to go there, pronto.”

He nodded and made a U-turn, as if he knew where he was going. She wanted to ask him how he knew where Ming Li lived, but then thought better of it. If she talked, it would open up an opportunity for a conversation that she didn’t want to have.

Adonis swung a right, then a left. As he pulled up in front of Ming Li’s, Daisy looked over at him, eyebrows raised. “Seems you know your way here like you know the back of your hand. I wonder why.” She hopped out and started toward the back of the house.

Adonis opened his door and got out. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean? You’re the one with the secrets.” He slammed the door shut and followed her.

Daisy took the key from under the plant and walked around him. “Like I’m the only one. I’m sure you looked up Christy while you were in L.A.”

“Let’s not even talk about L.A.” He followed her into the house.

Daisy flicked on the lights. “Wait here,” she said, then pointed to the bar. “Pour yourself a drink.”

Daisy opened Ming Li’s huge walk-in closet and turned on the light. There were two chests of drawers. She chose the one on the left and opened the drawer. She removed a thick stack of envelopes and sat down on the floor with them. As she searched through the envelopes for one with the name of an insurance firm on it, she noticed a pale-gold-and-navy one jutting out from the bottom of the stack. The colors instantly grabbed her attention—the same colors she’d used on the custom stationery that she’d designed for Jasper three years before.

Curiosity got the best of her. She pulled it out of the stack and glanced at the handwriting on the front. Her hand flew to her mouth. It was Jasper’s, and it was addressed to Ming Li.

She held it up to the light and studied the postmark.
Almost two years ago. Why would Jasper write to Ming Li? All of their business was done through me.
Daisy opened it and read it out loud.

Daisy hung her head and cried. “You nasty bitch!” she bellowed, throwing the letter on the floor.

“You okay?”

Daisy turned to see Adonis standing in the doorway, holding two drinks in his hands. She shook her head.

“I heard it all. I was bringing you a drink.”

Daisy got up from the floor and stepped out of the closet. Without uttering a word, she took off her red dress and shoes and handed them to Adonis. In her bra and panties, she speed-walked to the laundry room, with Adonis right on her heels. She grabbed a full gallon of bleach and headed to the living room. She twisted off the cap, sniffed the powerful liquid, then doused Ming Li’s velvet sofas, ottoman, and her rugs.

When Adonis called her name, she glared at him. He quickly stepped out of her path.

She returned to the bedroom, opened Ming Li’s drawers, and bleached the contents. Satisfied, she turned her attention to the bed. Then she went to the closet to finish off the rest of Ming Li’s clothes.

D
aisy sat in Adonis’s living room, her glare glued to the wall. Her staggered thoughts inebriated her senses, catapulted her into oblivion, rapt in wonder. Her genesis and the revelation became clearer with every stroke of the clock’s second hand. Repetitive.
My truth, the lie. My truth, their lie. My truth was a lie.
She vise-gripped the cup of chamomile, ignoring the pricking in her fingers, the numbness traveling through her hands. Inhaling deeply, she welcomed the anger that had ravished her the night before, robbed her of sleep. She’d tossed and turned, but couldn’t avoid the nightmares. Dreams of Ming Li and Jasper making love had tormented her. The thought of them tangled and wound together like a pretzel made her stomach churn. Two people she’d loved and trusted had hurt her beyond repair.
How many daggers must I pull out of my back?

With all that she’d discovered about Jasper, another betrayal wouldn’t have surprised her much. But that Ming Li could have done such a thing, despite her insatiability, had caught Daisy completely off guard. She knew that Ming Li didn’t care whether the men she slept with were attached, but she’d never expected her to cross the line with Jasper.
All that time I thought she hated him, and she was making love to him.

The tea started to crawl its way back up her throat. Jasper had gone down on Ming Li. He’d tasted her friend, and Daisy had kissed him. Suddenly, the imaginary essence of Ming Li was in her mouth. She could taste her as sure as she was sitting there. Daisy gagged and ran for the bathroom, colliding with Adonis along the way.

“Are you okay?” he asked, rubbing her back when she finally got up from the bathroom floor and moved to the sink.

Daisy nodded, but she wished she could erase the nightmare that had been realized in her mouth. She looked at Adonis. He’d been great the night before; quiet, but supportive. He hadn’t pried or rubbed anything in. Best of all, he had never questioned what she had done.

“Why don’t you lie down,” he suggested, wetting a towel under the faucet.

“I’m not sick—physically.” Daisy threw back a shot of Scope as if it were liquor and gargled.

“I know,” he said, wiping. “But it may help.”

“Why are you being so nice? I don’t deserve it, not after what I put you through.”

“You just don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what? I guess I don’t get it, since I’m questioning it.”

Adonis looked Daisy over from head to toe, then focused on her eyes. “I care about you. I love—”

Daisy held up her hand. “Don’t say it. Don’t say that you love me. Just about everyone who’s said that…everyone who I
thought
loved me, has shown me otherwise. They wrapped a bow around bullshit and I accepted it as a gift. So, guess what? I don’t believe in taking unwarranted presents anymore. I don’t do love anymore. I can’t take bullshit.”

Adonis grabbed her firmly by the shoulders, and the expression on his face was even harder. “Damn it! Stop this. Stop the woe-is-me thing. You can’t hold everyone accountable for the actions of a couple of assholes. I won’t live in Jasper’s shadow.”

Daisy held her breath. Claustrophobia snatched her, and the bathroom was becoming too small. She tried to wiggle from Adonis’s grasp. “I can’t breathe.”

Adonis released her. “No, Daisy.
I
can’t breathe. You won’t let me. You’ve been trying to make me into someone I’m not. Some
thing
I’m not. You’ve boxed me into this little world that you’ve created, and you’re wrong.”

Daisy regained her composure. “No, I haven’t. I haven’t treated you like that…like you were someone else.”

Adonis walked out of the bathroom with Daisy on his heels. “Bullshit!” The bass in his voice deepened with his anger.

She followed him into the bedroom. “What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. You said you can’t take the bullshit anymore, but that’s a lie. You deal out bullshit. From the day you walked in here, you were full of it. I treated you like a woman—I respected you. But I got unspoken lies in return. You don’t respect me as a man. You never told me about you and Calvin, or about having a daughter. And now look at you. I see you sitting at a bar, all dressed up, looking good for someone else.”

Daisy stared at the floor, silenced by the truth. She couldn’t defend herself. She knew she was wrong; she’d been wrong all along.

She tried to think of what she could say, but knew that dishonest words were empty. “I was afraid,” she finally admitted. “I’d held my secret for so long.” A tear streamed down her face. “I lied and pretended for so many years that my lies became the truth, even to me. In my mind, my daughter had become my sister’s daughter. Until recently. When I saw you again, and I knew that you felt the same way about me as I felt about you, I didn’t want to mess it up. I wanted you that badly. It ate at me…the guilt. I wanted to tell you about Calvin.”

“You could have.” Adonis lifted her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. “I wanted you for who you are. I accept you for you. I wouldn’t have judged you.”

“Now you’re the one who doesn’t get it. I had judged myself.”

“I believe you. But what about the man you were meeting? I know you had a date—”

“How? Oh, never mind. It was nothing. Just dinner—”

“The truth, Daisy.”

“That is the truth.”

Adonis shook his head. “And you put this on for him?” He gently slid his hand under her shoulder strap and eased it down. He kissed her collarbone. “Why do you have to be so complex? Just give in.” He kissed her again.

Daisy pulled away. Adonis was being sincere, but
she
was still hiding something: her attraction to Jacob. “I can’t. I had on these clothes yesterday. I slept in them. I haven’t bathed.”

“Didn’t I just tell you that I want you? That I accept you as you are?”

Daisy nodded.

“Well, let me.” He cupped her chin and kissed her, his tongue exploring her mouth—then her body. Before Daisy knew it, he had journeyed to places and depths that only he could.

Daisy awoke in his arms. Feeling his warmth and his muscular form against her back, she scooted closer until there wasn’t an inch between them. Adonis tightened his hold as though he never wanted to let go, and a soft moan escaped her.
If I can just stay here forever…
She closed her eyes and relished the moment. It felt good to be held, and wanted. Enjoyed. A smile broadened on her face as she thought about the way Adonis had loved her, how good he’d looked while having her. His focused expression, the glimmer in his eyes, had almost made her believe that she was better than anything else he’d ever had. She could still hear him calling her name, and the sexual muskiness still permeated the room. Their juices smelled sweet to her. Delicious. She was almost certain that when they’d kissed, they’d exchanged pieces of their souls.

She reached behind her and rubbed his leg. She wanted him to wake up, to give her more.

The telephone rang, and Adonis stirred.

Daisy sighed in disappointment. She had wanted to be the reason he awoke.

He looked at the clock. “Can you pass me the phone?”

She handed him the cordless, then climbed out of bed and went to check her cell for messages. She input her password, praying that Jacob hadn’t called. The last thing she’d expected was to hear Kenneth Burgess’s voice greeting her ears, insisting that they needed to meet immediately at his office. It was urgent, he said.

She ran into the bedroom as she dialed his number and picked up her dress from the floor.

“This is Daisy Parker,” she said to the receptionist, who immediately put her on hold to transfer the call.
Must be important. She didn’t even have time to announce my call.

Kenneth’s voice came on the line in an instant. “Daisy, can you be here within the hour? There’s something you need to see.”

“Sure,” Daisy said as she stepped into her panties. “I’ll be right there.”

“I’ll be waiting.” Kenneth hung up.

“I have to go,” she said to Adonis, who was now sitting up on the edge of the bed.

“You’re going out like that?”

Daisy glanced at herself in the mirror. Her hair was all over her head. Her natural complexion peekabood through her day-old makeup. She needed to shower. “Yes. I have no choice, and I don’t have time to fix myself. I have to meet with the attorney. I’m nervous enough as it is. Being late will make me even more anxious. Last thing I want to do is pop a magic pill before I go in.”

“I’ll go with you. Just jump in the shower for a couple of minutes, while I run the iron over your dress.”

Daisy sat before Kenneth’s desk, waiting for him to get off the phone. She looked over at Adonis, who was sitting in the chair next to her, and grabbed his hand. She was glad that he’d accompanied her. She’d been waiting a long time for Kenneth to call about Jay’s case, but now she was afraid to hear the news. The word
urgent
had scared her to death.

Kenneth hung up and introduced himself to Adonis before turning his attention to Daisy. “I apologize for making you wait.” He walked over to a table on the opposite side of the room and grabbed a file. “This is the reason I wanted you to come in. Jasper gave me this a long time ago with specific instructions. I’m sorry I didn’t bring it up to you earlier, but I couldn’t.” He paused, looked at Adonis. “Do you mind stepping out of the room? Attorney/client privilege.”

“I want him to stay. I need him to,” Daisy said.

Kenneth shook his head. “As I said, Jasper left detailed instructions. You and Jay are the only ones to know what’s in this.”

Adonis smiled and stood. “I’ll be right in the reception area.” He kissed Daisy on the cheek and whispered, “It’ll be okay.”

Once Adonis had closed the door behind him, Kenneth handed the file to Daisy. She hesitated, wondering about its contents, then slowly opened it. Instantly, she recognized Jasper’s handwriting:
The next-to-the-last resort.

“What’s the last resort?”

“I’m not at liberty to say. But, if we go to court, you’ll find out.”

Daisy moved the first paper to the back of the file. She gasped with shock as she read the heading of the second:
DNA Labs of America.
Jay’s name was on the report, and so was Jasper’s. The report stated that there was a 99.98 percent chance that Jasper was Jay’s father.

“I don’t understand. I thought Jonathan was Jay’s biological father.”

“Keep reading, Daisy. This is where it gets interesting.”

The second page of the DNA report stated that because Jasper and Jonathan were identical twins, there was no way to conclusively determine who fathered Jay because the men were genetically indistinguishable.

“This can’t be. Is it true?”

“Yes, I’m afraid it is.”

Daisy swallowed hard. She didn’t know whether to believe the documents in her hands. Jasper had been sneaky; how could she trust him? “I understand the DNA part. I’m wondering if Jasper had a valid reason to have the test performed. Was he just trying to legally establish himself as Jay’s father?”

“That’s a good question. Turn the page.”

The next page was a New Jersey address.