Daniel’s hands landed on your hips, unable to believe he was seeing you again. A storm of emotions stirred inside him as his eyes scanned your face, remembering you, though it wasn’t as if he had ever truly forgotten. He could never forget you, he knew that the moment he met you.
Five years without seeing you, and you were still the same. The only difference now was that you had a daughter together, a daughter who was kidnapped by who knows who, a daughter he had never met, never held, never heard call him dad, none of it, all because you’d hidden her from him.
“Don’t be shameless, don’t you dare be shameless with me,” he said, pointing a finger at you, stepping closer with each word. He was dead set on finding his daughter, but he couldn’t ignore what you’d done to him. “You’re a…” he stopped himself. He didn’t want to fight, well, he did, but maybe this wasn’t the damn time for it.
And when you realised he wasn’t going to finish that sentence, you challenged him with screams. That alone made him feel like a caged animal. Despite everything, you thought he had stolen your daughter, when in truth, he didn’t even know she existed.
“No. Don’t you raise your voice at me, sweetheart. Don’t forget who you’re talking to,” he hushed you with a finger pressed against your lips, closing the distance between you completely. He felt the air shift, and deep down, he wanted to forgive you—because as always, he was entirely at your feet. He just wasn’t going to say it out loud.
“I’m tired of begging,” he began quietly, sighing deeply. “Of chasing you, of trying to save you, of trying to keep you. Five years. Five damn years trying to get you out of that damn prison, and no, it had to be on your terms, when you finally decided. Well, to hell with that.”
He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, furious. Because even after all of it, he wouldn’t stop chasing you. No matter how much you hurt him, he would always be there—like a loyal, cursed animal. That’s the effect you had on him. The power you had always held over him.