Page 39 of Taste Me Daddy

Michael was already changed into his suit trousers and pristine white shirt. He looked immaculate, as ever. But what was also noticeable was the look of concern on Michael’s handsome face.

Korben knew that something was up, and very quickly he began to experience a sinking feeling from deep inside his tummy.

‘Daddy, please, tell me what’s going on,’ Korben said, his voice trembling. ‘I messaged my Little friends just now and… I got weird vibes from them, like something was definitely up and I didn’t know what it was!’

‘Okay, take a breath,’ Michael said, a look of empathy in his beautiful green eyes.

Korben tried his best to calm down, the longer it went without his knowing what was going on, the more worried he became. Michael clearly saw this, and decided that it was time to reveal all…

‘Phillip Neal… he’s causing trouble,’ Michael said, having previously mentioned Phillip as being something of a former friend and business associate. ‘And he’s decided to bring Korben’s Kandies into the equation too. The man is a total asshole, and seemingly incredibly vindictive and bitter too. But don’t worry, I’ve got this…’

Korben listened in shock as Michael went into further details about Phillip, explaining what happened the first time round before going on to describe the messages, the stealing of his business data, and most recently the disastrous meeting with Phillip at Slice Bar.

‘Why didn’t you tell me about any of this?’ Korben protested, stomping his feet on the floor. ‘Korben’s Kandies is my business. It’s my future! You should have kept me in the loop from the start!’

‘There was no need for you to know,’ Michael said, sounding a little dismissive. ‘I’d dealt with Phillip Neal before, I thought I would swat him away again. And I will. But this time it hasn’t been quite as easy.’

‘But that’s not the point, Michael,’ Korben hollered, now losing his cool. ‘That’s not the point at all!’

‘Korben,’ Michael said, offering his hand to comfort his stressed Little. ‘I know this is difficult. But-’

‘None of this would have happened if I’d kept the business as just me,’ Korben said, his voice full of emotion. ‘This was exactly the kind of thing I was worried about. I was happy with running the business myself. I should have kept complete control. This would never, ever have happened if I’d stuck to doing everything myself.’

Korben waited for Michael to respond, but instead of trying to offer further explanation or reassurance, Michael simply took a step back from him.

Korben’s words had clearly hit a nerve with Michael, but as far as Korben was concerned that simply wasn’t his problem. By the sounds of it, Korben’s Kandies might be in serious danger, and there was no way that Korben was going to stand around and just let that happen.

It might have been early in the morning, but Korben knew that he couldn’t spend a single second longer in Michael’s company at that moment. Without saying another word, Korben turned and ran out of the office and up the stairs to get changed as quickly as he possibly could.

It was time to get out of Michael’s house and back to the only place where Korben felt in total control.

As Korben charged back down the stairs fully dressed with his stuffie in one hand and his iPad in the other, there was only one place on his mind as he slammed Michael’s front door behind him.

Korben and Jazz were headed to the workshop…

Chapter 16

Michael

‘Korben! Come back here!’ Michael bellowed, his voice bouncing off the walls and his frustration hitting the roof. ‘That’s an order!’

But this time, Michael’s Little wasn’t listening to a word he said.

Michael knew that he could have run after Korben, but a part of him also knew that it was probably for the best to let Korben leave the house and let off some steam.

The truth was that Michael felt just as frustrated and angry about the whole situation as Korben did. The very thought that he had potentially put Korben’s business at risk as a result of his feud with Phillip was enough to make Michael feel sick to his stomach.

All in all, Michael was devastated to have caused Korben any pain.

And Michael was angry with himself for not involving Korben sooner. He knew how important honesty and openness was to Korben when it came to Korben’s Kandies, and it had been a big mistake to hide anything from his – even if Michael knew that his intentions were good.

I fucked up.

I fucked up in Slice Bar, and I fucked up in not telling Korben sooner.

I have to make this right…

Michael gritted his teeth and walked from the entrance hall into the kitchen. It was still early and he knew that he had the whole day ahead of him to come up with a solution to the problem.

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