My Forbidden Love - The Henderson's Children - Book One - Excerpt

Ella's Sweet Sixteenth

Where it all began....

Daniels POV

"Daniel would you be a love and help me pack all these trays into the car, I'm running a tad behind, and no one wants to be the latecomer to the party."

"Sure ma, in the boot?" I ask, staking the trays up that can't be ruined and leaving the delicate food to take one at a time. Today is Ella's sweet sixteenth, and Violet, Callum, Tyler, and Zach are throwing her a surprise party. When I say surprise, the only person that doesn't know is poor Ella. All her friends are already on their way, and her parents have dec'd the house out accordingly.

Her surprise gift... The big fucking white Land Rover she's been dying to own is sat in their garage with a massive pink bow to dress it. Yes, our Ella is a spoilt rotten child. But then so are the others... Antalya, maybe even more so. The thing is, Talya is a brat about it, Ella not so much.

She's grown to be an elegant young lady, and I'm all for it. She walks through life with poise, and to say she catches the eye of all men around her would be an understatement.

It annoys the fuck out of me when I have to sit and watch that. Last week, the boy in the shopping mall nearly got a good punch because he kept touching her without her permission.

I'd only met them in passing, but like hell did I allow her to go home with her group of friends? No, I pretended I needed her help luring her away from that slimy little teenage fucker. Taking her to our favourite restaurant, I gloated at the fact that I was spending time with her whilst he was looking on jealous.

Yeah, that shocked me.

I went home and thought about what the hell I was doing, and I realised something..... I like my niece.

Yeah, that sounds ick, right?

I mean, it's not technically accurate. She's not related to me by blood. I mean, she's genetically Tyler's, and Violet isn't related to us.

That's why I've chosen to start thinking about Ella outside of that box. I know, I know, she's way too young for me anyway, but shit, I think I like her.

Obviously, I won't do anything about it because I'm not stupid, and she's still a child, but yeah. So there is my sordid little secret.

We all have them, some worse than others, and I don't think mine is that bad of a deal, all things considered.

"What're you daydreaming about?" My ma brings me out of my thoughts as she takes the stacked high trays from my hands.

"Nothing, just something I need to finish at work."

"How's that going, owning your own firm?" She asks, patting my cheek as she always does.

My ma's always interested. It's the thing I admire about her most. Her attentiveness.

"It's going the same as last week, ma, Zach's helped loads, and his investments and contracts will keep us rolling for years to come."

"That's what I like to see, my boys getting along," things have been hard for me lately, especially since pa died in November. Now, I can see the pain she's hiding behind closed doors. We've all grown up, the grandkids included. They aren't young anymore, and they're all off doing their own thing, so she isn't needed as much. I know what's coming before she says it. The same thing she's been asking of me for a while... but it's the one thing I vowed not to do again until I met the one.

"When will you settle down and give me my second wave of grandbabies? You're thirty-four now, Daniel. Time isn't kind when we wait too long."

"I'm waiting for the one, ma, exactly as you told me to do."