CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The discovery of Samuel's records left Aisha emotionally exhausted.
Daniel insisted on taking her somewhere peaceful before she returned home. They drove to a quiet spot overlooking the water, where the evening breeze carried the distant sounds of Lagos.
For several minutes, they sat without speaking.
Then Aisha turned towards him.
"Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we hadn't misunderstood each other six years ago?"
Daniel smiled sadly.
"All the time."
"Would we have been together?"
"I think I would have asked you to be my girlfriend that night."
Aisha's eyes widened.
"You never told me that."
"I was planning to. I had the bracelet, a speech I'd practised about twenty times, and absolutely no confidence that you'd say yes."
She laughed softly.
"You? No confidence?"
"You made me nervous, Aisha. You still do."
Her smile faded into something gentler.
"I wish I'd stayed long enough to hear you."
"So do I."
She looked out over the water.
"I spent years telling myself that you never cared about me. It was easier than admitting how much I missed you."
Daniel turned towards her.
"I never stopped caring."
Aisha swallowed.
"I'm afraid, Daniel."
"Of what?"
"Of trusting you again and losing you again. I don't know if I could handle another six years of wondering what went wrong."
Daniel listened without interrupting.
Then he said, "I can't promise that life will never hurt us. But I can promise that I'll talk to you instead of leaving you to guess what I'm thinking."
She studied his face.
"And if we disagree?"
"We talk."
"If you make a mistake?"
"I admit it."
"If I get scared and push you away?"
He smiled faintly.
"I'll give you space, but I'll remind you that you don't have to face everything alone."
Aisha felt her eyes grow warm.
"You've changed."
"So have you."
She laughed quietly.
"Maybe we both had to grow up."
Daniel reached for her hand, and this time she held his without hesitation.
"I still have feelings for you," she admitted. "I don't know what that means for us yet, but I don't want to keep pretending they aren't there."
Daniel's face softened.
"That's enough for me."
He leaned closer, pausing to give her time to move away.
Aisha closed the distance herself and kissed him gently.
It was brief, uncertain and filled with six years of words they had never said.
When they parted, Daniel rested his forehead lightly against hers.
"I've wanted to do that for a very long time," he whispered.
Aisha smiled.
"Don't make me regret it."
"I won't."
For the first time since their reunion, she allowed herself to feel hopeful.
But just as Daniel walked her to her car, his phone rang.
It was his father.
"Daniel," Richard said urgently, "you need to come home. Robert has made his move."
Daniel's smile vanished.
"What did he do?"
Richard's answer sent a chill through him.
"He's taken the only person who can tell us where the original documents are."