Page 33 of Daddy's Mad Love

Mrs. Smith’s mouth popped open in shock. She’d seen me with Bruce, and she’d been by the station recently enough to know that I had not been engaged within the last few months. My cheeks burned hot. I could only imagine what she was thinking. And did she recognize his name? Did she know who he was?

“Oh… I… I’m so sorry to bother you…” Her gaze darted back and forth between us, panicking now.

“It’s fine, you’re never a bother, I just… I do not work at the station anymore…” I was even more helpless than I’d been before. Not that I’d managed to do anything for her while I was there, but at least there had been hope. Now, I couldn’t even offer that.

The only thing that bothered me was my inability to help her.

“Perhaps I could be of assistance?” Giacomo offered, smiling at her in a way that probably charmed most women, but Mrs. Smith shrunk back, already shaking her head. She did not trust him, showing that she had a good sense of self-preservation.

“No, no, it’s fine, thank you.”

Unfortunately, Arthur didn’t agree with her. He looked up at Giacomo with a sober expression on his face, the look in his eyes far too old for age six.

“Father hits her. And he hit me.”

Mrs. Smith sucked in a breath, putting her hand on Arthur’s shoulder, probably to try to push him back. To both our shock, Giacomo dropped into a crouch so that he was at eye level with Arthur. She froze. I froze.

What was he doing?

“Your father does?”

Arthur nodded. “He’s getting worse. Will you help?”

The sweet, simple innocence of childhood. Someone offered assistance, and he thought they might be able to help. Mrs. Smith had never brought him to the station when she came, or maybe he’d have understood how useless it was.

Giacomo nodded and got to his feet, turning slightly to his silent henchman.

“Tomas. I need you to take Mrs. Smith and her son to my mother. Tell her they’re going to be our guests for a few days.”

Hope surged in Mrs. Smith’s face, only to fall again. A few days wouldn’t be enough. Mayor Smith’s violence came in waves. If she went home again in a few days, he would be full of apologies, flowers, jewelry, and excuses, and eventually, he would do it again. That’s if he wasn’t angry that she’d left in the first place. When I’d tried to get the police chief to intervene, I didn’t see her again for weeks, and she could barely look me in the eye when she did.

But she’d eventually come, hoping for help again. Help that never materialized.

I was about to open my mouth and tell Giacomo that he wasn’t helping when he turned back to Mrs. Smith, holding out one hand to her. She took it tremulously, searching his face for answers that I’d never been able to give her.

“Not to worry, Mrs. Smith. You’ll visit with my mother for a few days, and by the time you go home, you won’t have to worry about your husband anymore.” This time, the smile he gave her wasn’t charming. It chilled my blood. Yet it was not directed at anyone here.

“Oh… no, I couldn’t…”

“You can. You will.” Giacomo turned his head to look over his shoulder. “Tomas.”

The looming guard stepped up, silent and intimidating without saying a word. If Mrs. Smith wanted to protest, she held it back, shrinking slightly. Then she looked down at Arthur, gave herself a little shake, and squared her shoulders.

“Thank you,” she said before Tomas escorted her out of the shop.

I gave Giacomo a hard look.

“How are you going to keep her husband under control?” It came out as an accusation rather than a question. Not my smartest move, but I was so upset, I couldn’t stop the words from spilling out. If he spanked me or humiliated me for it, so be it. He had to understand that it wasn’t that easy. “You cannot be there to watch him every second, and it will not take more than a few minutes for him to… to…”

Kill her. That was my biggest fear. One that I had seen come true before, in another case where I had not been able to help. Only once she was dead had Chief Barnes finally taken action, and I’d been consumed with rage and grief for days. There had been so many women, so many families, that I’d been able to help in one way or another, but it was the ones I hadn’t that haunted me.

The smile that curved his lips unnerved me. There was a gleam in his eye.

“Well, mia moglie, I suppose that depends on you.” He sidled closer, and I didn’t step away as my breath caught in my throat. We were bargaining. I recognized what was happening immediately, even though I was not sure what he wanted from me that he had not already taken. “How much does this mean to you?” Lifting his hand, he toyed with a lock of my hair, his gaze intent on mine, hypnotic like a serpent ready to strike. “What would you be willing to do to keep her safe?”

“Anything.” The word was out of my mouth before I could think about it.

I was terrible at bargaining when I was emotionally involved, and I was. I would do anything to keep Mrs. Smith and Arthur safe. Call Giacomo ‘Daddy.’ Hold myself in place while he belted me and put his cock in my bottom again. I would crawl on the floor and lick his shoes if it meant the mayor couldn’t hurt his family anymore. But…

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