The Engagement Party (2)

Date?

DATE? 

D. A. T. E?

Those words were like daggers to Daryn. He looked away from them towards Maya only to avoid getting hurt any further. It wasn't helping. He could feel the heat of her skin on him. His skin became clammy. There was no respite unless she went away from him. 

"Hello," Dawn said softly. "Congratulations to both of you." She lowered her gaze. 

Maya scoffed under her breath. "Perfect for you. She is also bitten." 

"Yes, perfect for me," said Azura as he kissed Dawn on her head. 

Dawn didn't like the way he kissed her, but he had mentioned that this was all a show. She had to stand up for him for he was the only neotide aside from her in the party. 

Daryn felt like punching Azura's mouth. His nails dug into his palm deep. He wanted to feel that pain to divert his attention. He took a step forward to kill him. Azura looked shocked and grasped Dawn tightly. The situation became extremely tense. All of a sudden a voice came, "Azura, how are you?" Gayle Silver interjected. He looked at Dawn with interest. "And you are?"

"I am good," Azura replied tersely. "She is Dawn Wyatt, my date for the evening," he said, shaking Gayle's hand. 

Gayle's breathing became ragged. Luke Wyatt's daughter was standing right in front of his eyes, and he thought or was made to think that Helena had killed the siblings. A rare smile came on his face. Overridden with guilt, he had seen the photo of the siblings many times hoping that they were alive. 

Gayle's enmity was with Luke Wyatt and not his family. Helena was working as a brand ambassador for one of his companies. She was a top Hollywood model at that time. He had approached her with a plan. 

The stocks of the company, which Luke Wyatt had sold, belonged to Gayle Silver. He was a senator at that time and it peeved him greatly. Because of Luke, the investors pulled out and his company tanked. It wasn't a big company that would have affected his fortunes – it was just one of the many he owned. But that hurt his ego. The way the company crumbled in front of his eyes, it was his biggest defeat. He would have destroyed Luke in no time had Luke not married the daughter of a politician who was also a big-time politician in the same party as him. If he had done anything to Luke at that time, there would have been massive investigations. So Gayle waited for the right time.

Gayle knew about Luke's weakness – women. Helena was sent to him. She was Gayle's corporate spy. He had asked her to send him all the internal details of his company so that he could take advantage of it. His revenge was so dark that he had asked her to kill Luke. So Helena started off with the mission. She seduced Luke and soon became his mistress. She gained entry into his house and in the first step killed his wife by lacing her drink with poison. Helena took advantage of the fact that Clare's mother-in-law disliked her. The next step involved killing Luke. 

Gayle had specifically asked her not to touch his family. He was irked when she killed Clare and had an altercation with her. He never wanted her to do anything to Clare and the kids. When Luke Wyatt was killed, Gayle asked Helena to get out of that place. But Helena's greed was beyond control. She wanted to kill the two kids and take control of the entire company. Anne, Luke's sister was with her. 

Gayle threatened her that he would kill her if she didn't come out of there, but Helena was smart. She called her nephew Jason to support her. Jason was a neotide and Helena was aware of that. Gayle sent his men to threaten Helena again but she threatened him back saying that if he asked her to get out, she would make sure that his plans to kill Luke go online and to the police. If she would go down, she would take him with her. 

The day the siblings went missing, Gayle was extremely unhappy. His revenge was over, but kids were never his target. He had launched a manhunt to find the kids. However, because of old animosity between the neotides and pureblooded, Azura's men attacked his men. Annoyed as hell, he sent his son Daryn to take care of the group of neotides who hampered his search party's efforts. Gayle never told Daryn the real reason for the counterattack, only the one that was common – the old enmity. 

It was that time that Daryn Silver had given a lift to Dawn and Cole Wyatt. He had saved them from Azura's men unbeknownst. 

When the kids couldn't be found anywhere, Gayle confronted Helena. She said that she had killed them and warned him that if he ever came back, she would make sure that his political career gets over. Ever since that day, Gayle had backed. Later he came to know that the men who attacked Daryn weren't Azura's, Jason had sent them. He had to come up with a truce with Helena. 

Today, Dawn was standing right in front of his eyes. To say that he was happy was an understatement. He was upbeat. Finally he felt peace at heart. What a surprise! At the same time he felt bad for her. She was the heiress of nothing. 

"Hello Dawn," Gayle said with quivering lips. Did Azura know about her? Why did she smell as though she was a werewolf? Was she bitten? When? And who bit her? Too many thoughts bounced around his head.

Dawn replied, "Good evening Sir." 

Even though Gayle wanted to ask many questions, he refrained. Excitedly, he turned to Azura and said, "Don't forget to have dinner. Also we have a special ball for the couples in some time. You have to attend that." 

Azura frowned slightly at Gayle's friendliness. Alarmed that he would harm him, he said, "Thanks Gayle, but I have to go."

"Oh no! I won't allow that. You must attend the ball. It's also for charity purposes. We are donating one million dollars to an NGO that works towards the uplift of orphans of drug-addicts. You should contribute," Gayle insisted. 

Daryn didn't want them to stay. "If he wants to go, you should let them."

Maya held Daryn's waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "Yes, I agree with my fiancé." 

Gayle ignored them. "See you soon," he said and left them.

Azura took Dawn to a corner as Daryn's eyes followed them. He jerked Maya off him and picked a glass of whiskey from a table nearby. For a moment he closed his eyes. When he opened them, no one except Dawn existed in the hall. The two stared at each other.