Daddy’s Best Friend, My Ruin

Kaiden Draven

I wasn’t the man who was supposed to stand in front of the altar today.

And I wasn’t the man who was meant to put a ring on the finger of a woman I didn’t love. Her name was Lara. And that was all I knew.

But I was here.

And the way we stood in front of the priest felt more like two people waiting for a death sentence than a couple starting a marriage.

“Mr. Kaiden, do you take Miss Lara Wilson as your wife?”

“I do.”

Lara turned her eyes toward me just a little. She was beautiful. Innocent. Scared.

None of that changed anything inside me.

“Miss Lara, do you take Mr. Kaiden as your husband?”

She gasped softly before she whispered, “I do.”

The priest smiled.

I didn’t. I had nothing to smile about.

“You may kiss the bride.”

I placed my hand on her waist. She was shaking.

My other hand slid to her neck, pulling her closer.

I kissed her. A kiss empty of anything.

*****************

Maldives, 12:24 AM

I was breathing hard as I looked at the woman lying on the bed like a perfect sex toy.

Her skin was covered with my marks.

Her lips were swollen.

Her body was exhausted from everything she gave me, willingly, hungrily.

I left her there, went to the bathroom, and washed off the scent of need that covered me during my first hours as a husband.

I opened the door and stepped out to the balcony.

I pulled my violin from my bag. I hadn’t touched it in weeks.

Then I walked down to the beach, barefoot.

I lifted the violin to my shoulder.

Right when I was about to play…

I heard her.

A girl’s voice. Singing.

An angel walking barefoot on the sand.

A light white dress touching her thighs, showing more than it hid.

She stopped a few steps away.

She looked at me with shy, soft eyes.

And in that exact moment, I felt something I had never felt with any woman.

Something I didn’t feel even with my wife.

I put out my cigarette and threw it away.

I couldn’t look away from her.

Not for a second.

I took a step toward her. Then another.

She turned quietly. “Hi.”

God… her voice.

I answered in a low tone. “Hey.”

She raised her eyes to mine, innocent and curious. “You’re alone out here?”

She smiled. “No. I’m with my fiancé. But he’s asleep.”

Fiancé.

A strange sting hit my chest.

I repeated the word, surprised. “Asleep?”

“Yes. Why?”

I stepped closer. “Aren’t you supposed to be asleep too?”

She didn’t understand at first.

Then her cheeks turned deep red.

So sweet.

So tempting.

“N-no… we didn’t… do that.”

Her shy honesty was the sexiest thing about her.

A softness no other woman had.

When I looked at her neck, I saw a small tattoo near her collarbone. “Princess Tara.”

She noticed my violin. “Do you… know how to play?”

“Yes,” I said with quiet confidence.

She hesitated.

Then whispered the words that knocked the air out of me. “Can you… play something for me?”

Yes, I could.

And there was nothing I would refuse her.

I lifted the violin, set it on my shoulder, and asked, “What do you want to hear?”

She answered fast. “Carol of the Bells.”

Easy.

I began to play.

The bow slid softly over the strings, note after note.

When I finished, she opened her eyes slowly. “You… you play so beautifully.”

I smiled. I didn’t mean to.

But I did.

And when I looked at her, her eyes were glued to me.

Our eyes locked.

And something wordless passed between us.

A language I didn’t understand, but it hit deep.

I saw it in her pupils.

Attraction.

To me.

A harsh reality slammed into me when the name popped into my head.

Lara.

My wife.

The woman I had left inside, sleeping, her body still marked by my hands and my sins.

I looked at the girl standing in front of me.

I took a step back.

Lowered the violin.

She whispered, “What’s… wrong?”

I breathed the name of my wife, barely audible.

My wedding ring shone on my finger like a curse.

She lifted her head toward me.

And that was when I realized something sharp and cruel.

Kaiden Draven, the man who felt nothing… had finally fallen.

On his wedding night.

For another woman.

********************

A month and a half after Italy.

I came to Italy because Eduardo Blackwood invited me.

Last time, he visited New York.

Now it was my turn.

Different countries.

Different lives.

But the man was closer to me than my own three brothers.

I stood in front of the large wooden door with his name on it.

I raised my hand to knock, but his secretary reached me first.

“Tell him Kaiden Draven is here.”

She nodded quickly.

“Yes, but… he’s inside with his wife.”

I rolled my eyes.

Of course. Eduardo and his wife. A couple without limits.

I called him.

He ignored the first three rings, which was enough to piss me off, but finally he answered.

“Did I really have to waste all this time outside?”

He laughed.

“Kaiden… you know what women want.”

“And you know I don’t care.”

He opened the door a moment later, his flushed face making it obvious he had been busy.

But he tried to look presentable.

“Sorry I kept you waiting.”

“You should be.”

He placed a hand on my back and led me out.

We walked to a small café and ordered bitter coffee.

He smirked. “So, how’s the new wife? And is your work still killing you?”

I sighed. He already knew.

Arranged marriages never lead to love.

Just obligations.

“Lara is fine. And work is… exhausting, as usual.”

I was New York’s top lawyer.

I didn’t lose cases.

But the truth no one knew was that I had lost myself many times along the way.

I asked him, “What about you? You seem off today.”

His smile faded.

“My family is fine… except for my daughter Tara.”

“She went through something. Something that scarred her. She started fearing men. She has been in therapy for six years.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me now.”

He looked up, grateful.

Later, he invited me to his home for dinner.

---

Evening

We walked inside carrying bags.

He shoved the bags into my arms and said, “Go to the living room. I’ll change.”

Sure.

He would “not take long.”

The biggest lie the man told on a daily basis.

I pushed the door open with my foot because my hands were full.

But what I saw made me freeze.

No breath.

No movement.

A girl.

Lying on her stomach. Watching a movie.

Wearing a tiny pink piece of fabric. Two strings, nothing more.

I inhaled sharply, trying to stay steady, trying to hide an unusual rush inside me.

She gasped and turned fast, pressing a pillow to her chest like a scared child.

But I was the one who lost control for a second.

She was trembling.

Beautiful.

And dangerously innocent.

Her eyes hit me first.

God… it was her.

The girl from the beach.

The girl who haunted me.

The girl I tried to forget.

And now… she was even prettier. And even more dangerous.

“Don’t look at me…” she whispered, her voice tiny and shaking.

I stepped closer slowly, set the bags on the table, then turned to her.

“Look at me.”

My voice dropped, warm in a way it shouldn’t be.

“I won’t do anything to you. Just… look at me.”

She finally lifted her face.

Her eyes were wide. Innocent.

The kind of eyes that made you want to sin.

I got down on my knees in front of her, keeping a careful distance.

My hand moved toward hers. She flinched.

I didn’t stop.

My fingers brushed her trembling fingers.

I was afraid of myself. Not her.

Her hand slowly relaxed.

“Are you still scared of me?”

“Kinda…” she whispered shyly.

I didn’t like that answer.

But her voice wrapped around me like a soft chain.

“Who are you?” I asked.

She blushed. “Aren’t I supposed to ask you that… sir?”

“I’m Kaiden Draven. Eduardo Blackwood’s friend.”

“And I’m… Tara Blackwood.”

She smiled. A gentle laugh escaped her.

She forgot she was nearly naked in front of a stranger.

“Tara…? I’m your father’s closest friend.”

Tara.

Eduardo’s daughter.

The little girl who used to run around this house ten years ago.

She didn’t know me.

She didn’t remember that night on the beach.

But I did.

I remembered everything.

The way she stood near the water.

The way my breath stopped.

This was the daughter of the man who fought beside me in my darkest years.

The daughter of the friend who gave me loyalty without ever asking why.

And now…

My blood burned with a desire I had no right to feel.

Because she wasn’t just a woman.

She was a beautiful woman who could break every wall I built.

She raised her eyes to mine again.

She smiled.

A pure, deadly smile.

And said in a soft voice that silenced everything inside me:

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Draven.”

I ignored the shiver running down my spine.

I ignored the stupid urge to tell her the truth.

That we had met before.

And that I had never forgotten her.