Davis raised his hands to calm her down. “It’s just a thought, but the Johnsons are extremely protective about their public image. They have public relations people whose sole responsibility is to manage media relations and keep their names out of the tabloids—as much as possible, anyway.”
She understood why he’d added the qualifier at the end. The media often sought out information about the Johnsons because of their unique position. They owned one of the largest brewing companies in the country—in the world, even—and not only was it still privately owned, as an African-American family, their staggering wealth was an oddity in the beer industry.
Davis leaned forward and folded his hands. “We could do a little reconnaissance and see if he’s been involved with anyone. If he has a mistress or girlfriend of any sort, we could use it as leverage in the divorce proceedings, and we could easily leak the information to the press and let the court of public opinion push this to a resolution once and for all. Having him force you to stay married while he’s off with another woman would not reflect positively on him.”
One hand on her hip, Daniella raised her other hand to her mouth and bit down on her finger. She didn’t like the idea. It seemed like a dirty thing to do, but what choice did she have? She’d have to fight fire with fire.
Before she could argue herself out of a perfectly viable idea, she nodded, swallowing. “Do you have an investigator in mind?”
“I do. Let me handle everything, and I’ll let you know how it goes.”
Daniella nodded again, a feeling of nausea bubbling up in the pit of her stomach at the steps she was being forced to take. “I better go,” she said. “Give me an update next week?”
“Sure will.”
She picked up her purse and crossed the room.
“Daniella?”
She halted at the door.
“Don’t worry, kiddo. It’ll work out. At least you’re in a better position than your mother was.”
“Yeah, lucky me.”
In the elevator, Daniella leaned against the wall. True enough, she was in a much better position than her mother had been. She didn’t have a child and she had her own business, both very important factors in life-after-Cyrus. Her mother had been convinced to give up her modeling career to start a family with a man who not long after abandoned her for another woman. He’d manipulated her into going along with his choices, tricked her into a false sense of security, and then left her.
At least he’d paid child support, Daniella thought bitterly.
She hadn’t seen her father in years. Not since he sold his real estate business and moved to Florida with his new family.
She jabbed the button for the first floor in anger, even though it was already lit.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to calm down. Davis was right. She wouldn’t be like her mother, which was a good thing. Except…she took another deep breath. What if Cyrus did have a woman in his life?
It shouldn’t matter after all this time. Not once in the past three years had she seen him linked with anyone else in the press, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t seeing someone. Maybe he was simply careful.
She rubbed the spot behind her ear where he’d touched her and her heart did a little quiver.
She’d done good to stay away from him for so long, but what choice did she have? He made her feel nervous, excited, and weak all at the same time. Weakness was the most dangerous of those sensations. Being weak made you vulnerable. Once you were vulnerable, you could be hurt deeply. Irrevocably.
No one should have so much power over another.
Chapter Five
A week passed and Daniella didn’t hear from Cyrus, which suited her fine. It had taken a few days to recover from the confrontation with him anyway. Going to see him had been a lapse in judgment.
During a phone call with Davis a few days ago, he’d given her good news that the investigator had already started tailing Cyrus. She hoped he would have something of substance soon—some dirt she could use to force his hand.