Damon's POV
“You wanted to see me?”, I walked into my grandfather's study and closed the door behind me. He was sitting behind his desk, waiting patiently for me even though I was an hour late. I knew he was probably going to let it slide for now but if the meeting doesn't go as he planned, he'll bring it up.
“Yes. Sit down”, he ordered while coughing badly. He was really sick recently, and I had to come check up on him once in a while because he was the only person I was really close to in our family. I was even closer to him than I was to my own father.
“Are you okay? Have you taken your meds today?”, I asked walking towards the cabinet where his medication was kept.
“Just sit down Damon”, he deadpanned. “Kim had already given me my medication for today”
“Talking about Kim, is she around?”, a smirk played on my lips as I thought of seeing her. She was his personal nurse. And damn, that girl was the full package. Beautiful and smart, curves in all the right places. I could tell she was good in bed too. I even had my fantasies about her, beneath me, screaming my name.
“I told her to take the rest of the day off”, he said in a warning tone that I should focus
“Why?”, I asked almost pouting my lip. I was disappointed at this, really disappointed.
“Because I knew she would have been a distraction. You even stutter when she's around you. You'll be acting like a stupid teenage boy”, he spat with his voice raising a little.
As much as I hate to admit it, he was right. I had a tiny crush on her, but I couldn't help it, she was just so freaking hot.
“I have something to tell you”, he said sipping from the glass of water
“Okay?”, I said as I leaned back on the chair and swirled a little with it
“You're getting married”, he stated, his voice monotone
“I'm sorry?”, I laughed. “What?”. I paused for a second, giving him an opportunity to change what he just said to me. He just sat there, no sign of a smile or a laugh, clearly unimpressed with the almost tantrum I was throwing. He took another sip of his water. My jaw dropped to the floor. He was serious.
“That's not going to happen. Over my dead body”, I stated firmly after my realization that he wasn't joking.
“I don't remember asking you”, he continued sipping his water
“You can't force me into a loveless marriage. I'll get married when I want, to whomever I want to. You are in no position to make such decisions for me”, I barked, and he remained quiet for a minute, studying me.
“You know Damon, you are living well of my riches, my hard-earned money. The least you could do is follow my wishes. Besides, the girl is hardly a stranger”, he said monotonously
“You can't tell me anything about respecting your wishes when you were merely just a mentor. I worked hard to get where I am now, I earned this position, so you can't threaten to take all that away from me if I refuse marrying someone I don't know”, I stated firmly, and he chuckled.
“You know, this marriage is a great investment between two powerful companies, we need this merger. So it's either you tag along or you take your own path, just know the family won't be on your side when that happens. You'll be all alone, broke, and you won't be worthy of the Kingsley name anymore. Don't make me turn my back on you Damon, because you know I'm more than capable of doing so and we wouldn't want that now, would we?”
That's Dylan Kingsley for you. Despite being deadly sick, he was still a cold, and blackmailing as he was as I was as a kid. He was controlling and manipulative. I'm tired of this bullshit.
“No, we wouldn't”
“Glad we understand each other”
“Who's this girl?”, I sighed as I took out my phone to G****e her name, I swear if there are No results in the search of her name. I'm seriously not going to marry her. I can't marry a nobody, a complete stranger. I have a reputation to uphold.
“Layla Jones”, he grinned, and I typed in her name on the search bar. Her name sounded oddly familiar though....
No results, please let No results pop up my screen. A tab opened up.
Layla Jones, 22 years old
Daughter of Cedric Jones and Granddaughter of the iconic, HendricJonesShit...
There was even a profile about her and a few pictures. She was kind of pretty though definitely not my type, but she'll do.
“You like what you see on Toogle?”, he asked amused, and I threw him a glare
“Its G****e”, I corrected. “And no, she's not the kind I pictured I would marry when I would plan to marry”
“I've known the Jones from way back and believe me when I tell you that Layla is just what this family needs. She's a lovely young lady, family-orientated, beautiful, and she just graduated from collage; successfully obtaining has her degree in english literature top of her class, meaning she's smart”.
“She's too ordinary, nothing intriguing about her”, I protested, and he laughed dryly. This was his mock laugh, nothing I said or did would change his mind because he always had the last word.
“You wouldn't know intriguing even if it hit you on the face, judging from the all the women you've dated in the past”, he pointed out confidently I glared at him
“Now that we're done with that, the wedding shall be in 3 weeks”, he announced, looking directly at me
“What?”, I choked on my saliva. “Three weeks?”
He gave a short nod. “Is that going to be a problem, Damon?”
“The least you could do is give me some more time. A year maybe?”, I bargained with him, and he laughed sarcastically.
“No. Three weeks it is”, he let out one final cough, telling me in a way that this conversation was over while standing to his feet with a crutch supporting his weight. “You'll see yourself out”.
He walked out and left me alone to battle with my thoughts.
Damon's POVLayla and I were slowly drifting away from each other. Between our demanding jobs and raising two children, we hardly had time for ourselves, so that could be together. We were even just too busy just to sit down and have a decent conversation or catch up over dinner or a glass of wine. Things got worse when I started working at nights so that I could meet the deadlines and sent out reports and prep for meetings for the next day. By the time I got home, she was already asleep.I was really frustrated by this and there was nothing I could do about it. She loved her job, and I love when she does things that make her happy. I felt neglected, and I know I also neglect her sometimes, we were both to blame.I decided to grab lunch at a small deli across the street today, I just didn't feel like eating sandwiches for lunch. I could do with a proper double cheeseburger, and some air. Being cupped up all day in the office was tiring and suffocating. I asked Carla to take messages o
Layla's POVIt was Ava's first birthday today. She was in my arms as I stood by her nursery window, looking at the event coordinator & catering team busy decorating the backyard into a red and white Minnie Mouse theme party, and by the looks of things, they were not holding anything back, this was definitely going to be one heck of a celebration.I didn't see why we had to throw such a big party for a one-year-old, she won't remember anything and will probably be asleep most of the time. But hey, who am I to say anything?. Damon started making arrangements for this day when she was barely even six months old. Pecks of being a daddies' girl huh?"Happy birthday my angel", I kissed her temple as she tugged on her red and white dotted skirt as she looked up on me and tried to pull her pacifier out her mouth. She was always doing something with her hands, like couldn't keep still for a long time. It was the fourth time today she took of her headband and threw it on the floor and then have
Damon's POV"Layla?", I said softly and her gaze diverted to mine, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion for a second before she opened her mouth to speak"Who are you?"My jaw dropped, and I stared blankly at her, trying to speak, but no words were coming out of my mouth and my throat went dry."It's me", I breathed out, and she was giving me that Am I supposed to know you? Look. I felt my heart starting to beat slow. "It's me, Damon"She regained that look on her face, before I saw her lips purse into a straight line, trying to hold back a laugh, I quickly realized what she did."Very funny Layla", I faked laughed, and she laughed softly"I couldn't help it, I'm sorry", she continued laughing, and I clicked my tongue. I nearly had a reverse heart attack from that stunt. She cupped my face in her hand and caressed my cheek and smiled lazily."You look terrible", she said quietly before chuckling softly and shook her head. I laughed, taking her hands in mine and turned my head to kiss th
Damon's POV"W- what?" , I stuttered as I sat down, feeling like my legs couldn't carry me any longer. "But how? I was here just an hour ago""We don't have the exact time she was taken, but it's in the time frame between 20 and 30 minutes ago""What are you doing about it? She barely just got out of the intensive care unit, she's still fragile. She still needs medical attention", I didn't have the strength to fight anymore. I just feared for my daughters life. Who knows what can be going through the psychopath that took her, her life could be in real danger."We're doing the best we can to find her", the detective said and the monster in me awakened as I stood up to meet his gaze"How are you doing the best you can whilst you're still standing here while you're supposed to be out there looking for the person who took her?", I fired up, and he nodded his head as he motioned with his hands that I must cool down"I understand your frustration Mr Kingsley-""I don't think you do. This is
Damon's POV“Have you thought of a name yet?”, my mother walked besides me as we stood by my little angels nursery window, admiring her from afar and I wiped off the tears that were streaming down my cheek before shaking my headI felt her hands brushing me on my shoulder. “You'll have to name her soon. She needs a birth certificate”.“I know”, I folded my arms and shrugged.” I feel like it's something Layla and I have to do together. I don't know if I can-”I couldn't continue as I felt a lump growing in my throat, and I was close to crying, but I quickly composed myself.“Layla and I were thinking of naming the baby Ava if it was a girl”, I said as I turned to look at my mother, and she smiled warmly“It's a beautiful name”It's been three weeks since Layla fell into a coma. The doctors are not sure if she'll ever be able to wake up again. There's been speculations about possible swelling in the brain, but they haven't confirmed it yet. I've never felt so empty and useless in my lif
Damon's POV"I'm looking for my wife, she was rushed here a while ago, apparently she's in labor or something", I said to the receptionist still trying to catch my breath as I rushed here immediately after I got the call from my mother"What's your wife's name, Sir?", she asked as she paged through something that seemed like a records book"Layla. Layla Kingsley", I took my tie off and unbuttoned the collar button so that I could breathe properly. The receptionist scanned through the book as quickly as she could."She's in the maternity ward on 3rd floor, second door on your left", she directed, and I thanked her before running towards the elevator, frantically pressing on the up buttonWhen I got off the elevator, my mother was pacing down in the waiting area and the closer I got, I saw that Layla's door was closed, and she stopped me just when I was about to walk in"You can't go in there", she warned"Why not? My wife is in there", I prompted, but she shook her head."Because I was