Page 29 of Daddy's Rule

“Right here.” Crissy held up the end to the charger already plugged into the wall and vacated her spot so I could sit down and plug it in. They all watched silently as I waited for the phone to get enough power to turn on. It felt like an eternity for the screen to light up. Then I saw the missed calls, messages and texts.

“He’s gonna kill me,” I groaned.

Taylor handed me my glass of wine and I drained it before holding it back out for her to refill it. When she did, I drained it again.

“Was it, like, a rule or something? How does it work?” Jasmine asked.

“Yeah, there’s rules and goals and rewards and punishments and…..”

I trailed off as I thought about all the rules I’d broken or ignored. My head spun and I held out my glass for another refill. Taylor raised a brow but filled it without a word. I shouldn’t be getting drunk, but what was that saying? In for a penny, in for a pound? Go big or go home? I had already gone big, so now I figured, might as well go bigger.

“So, it’s like having someone who holds you accountable with no strings attached?” Jasmine asked. “That’s pretty brilliant.”

Her interest was obviously piqued, but I couldn’t focus on much at the moment. The wine was really starting to take effect. I probably should have eaten more.

“That’s the idea, yeah. I don’t know that that’s how it is with Bas and me, but yeah.” My heart pounded in my chest. That’s how it was supposed to work. He was supposed to help me get my life on track and then he would move on to the next client. Only, the idea of that made me sicker than the idea of how much trouble I was currently in. “I have to call him. I can’t drive home like this.”

“You can crash here if you need to. I’ve got spare beds. Tay and Jazz do it all the time.”

“Yeah, maybe.” I could have texted him and let him know I was safe, then maybe he could get a good night's rest and feel less like murdering me when I walked into the apartment, but this was Bas I was talking about. The more I prolonged this, the worse it would be. I shook my head. “No, I have to call him.”

“Do you want some privacy?” Taylor asked.

“No, opposite actually. I could use the moral support.” I hit Bas’s number and took a deep breath as I jumped with both feet into the proverbial fire.

Chapter Thirteen

Bas

I paced back and forth in Nyla’s apartment as I checked my phone for the thousandth time. Nyla had skipped out on work today to file for divorce, the last thing on the to-do list I had given her, and because I knew it would be a hard day for her, I had clocked out early and brought home flowers and two pints of her favorite ice cream. My plan was to order dinner in, skip the usual Friday night gathering at the club, and give her whatever she needed for the night, be it space or attention. Tomorrow we could figure out what the future held. That had been the plan, anyway, but I’d gotten back to her apartment nine hours ago and she still wasn’t home.

I’d called her cell phone no less than twenty times, but it was either off or dead.

Philadelphia wasn’t the worst city in the world, but it also wasn’t one of the safest, and I had a hard time not thinking of every possible thing that could have gone wrong.

Just when I thought I couldn’t take another minute of waiting, my phone vibrated. It was her.

Taking a calming breath, I answered. “Are you okay?”

The line was quiet for a beat. “Bas, I am so sorry.”

“Answer the question. Are you okay?” I growled. She was talking, so she was at least alive, and I took great peace in that, but I had questions and she was going to give me the answers.

“I’m fine.” She spoke in a hushed tone. “I—I lost track of time.”

Was that a slur I heard in her voice? “Are you drunk?”

“What? No, I’m not drunk! Well, maybe a little buzzed. Enough buzzed that I can’t drive home,” she admitted.

I grabbed my car keys and headed out the door. “Give me the address and I’ll be right there.”

“I’ll text it to you.”

“Good. Are you in a safe place?”

“Yes, Bas, geez. Relax a little bit, will you, please? I’m at Crissy’s with her, Jasmine and Tay. We watched some shows and had some drinks. I’m fine, I’m perfectly safe.”

My eyes closed as relief washed over my entire body. It was quickly replaced with frustration. “Well, be prepared, little girl, because your backside certainly will not be safe once I get my hands on you,” I threatened.

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