Page 5 of Daddy's Rule

“Why am I forcing this? I have at least a few days to figure it out, but maybe I should celebrate my plan for freedom first.”

I practically skipped down the hall to the huge state-of-the-art kitchen and pulled out a new bottle of wine. Grabbing one of the ready-made charcuterie boards out of the fridge, I headed to the couch, prepared to binge-watch trashy television and get my first taste of what single life would feel like.

Bas

“This is really fucking brilliant, you know that?” Bain’s eyes were wide as he shook his head and skimmed the Rent-A-Daddy proposal Theo had slapped together for our monthly meeting. “We’re going to be fighting subbies off with a stick once this rolls out.”

“I figured we would offer it to our long-standing members first, since there are only five of us,” I explained.

“Five?” Lennon raised a brow. “You don’t think we’ll have more Doms willing to step in as temporary Daddies?”

“I didn’t say that, but I do think it would be wise to test the program ourselves before opening it up to the masses,” I answered.

“From a legal perspective,” Archer cut in, “that is the best idea. If we expand this by inviting other Doms, we’ll have to do a deep-dive into their backgrounds and experience before we hand off a submissive to them. We’ll need a lot of fine-tuning and a strict vetting process before we’re able to do that confidently. This is more than just a play partner for the club; this will impact day-to-day life, and we have to make sure the submissives get what they need or this whole thing will blow up in smoke.” Archer voiced things I’d already been thinking, cementing my decisions in my mind.

“Agreed. This will be a huge influx of income and could really help out some of our members, but only if it’s executed correctly,” I finished.

Everyone nodded in unison and I sat back in my seat in triumph. Coming up with new ways to increase our income and our status in the BDSM community had become almost like an obsession of mine, and I was excited this new venture would have the support it deserved.

“Let’s take a vote then.” Theo went around the table and we all voted on beginning the implementation of Rent-A-Daddy.

I only wished Nyla were there with us. She was so far removed from our day-to-day operations and didn’t usually object to anything we decided, but it would have been nice to have her at one of our meetings every once in a while. She hadn’t been home in ages, and as much as I tried not to think about it, I missed the little brat.

“Once we test the program, we can pull Nyla in to design the webpage and all of that,” I told the group after the vote was over.

“Sounds good. Anything else we need to discuss this month?” Bain asked.

We all glanced around the table, shaking our heads.

“Great. Lennon, grab some beers. I’ll get the cards and poker chips. I’m itching to take all you bastard’s hard-earned money.” Bain rubbed his hands together and I barely refrained from rolling my eyes. Bain never won at poker, he was too impulsive and easy to read. Theo was the one who usually walked away triumphant. His patience and timing were unrivaled.

Lennon passed out beers, cards were dealt, and all talk of business was replaced with drinking, gambling, and some good old-fashioned trash talk.

Chapter Two

Nyla

Three days passed and I’d practically depleted my wine supply. I’d ordered in all of my favorite meals from all of my favorite places, and I’d watched every dating show I could get my eyes on, but what I hadn’t done was move my plan forward. I’d dodged the phone calls from my finance guy returning my initial call, and I still didn’t know where I wanted to live. It all seemed daunting and scary.

My phone rang and I looked at the screen from my lounging position on the couch. I furrowed my brows at the name. Donald Christenson, Jacob’s boss. I didn’t really want to talk to anyone, but curiosity got the best of me and I pushed “accept” and put the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Nyla, hi, It’s Donald. Donald Christenson. I’m looking for Jacob. Has he returned from vacation? I was under the impression he would be at work today, but maybe I have my dates wrong?”

“His vacation?” I sat up straight. “I was told it was a work trip. I don’t know anything about a vacation.” I should have been embarrassed to share that information with anyone, much less this man I barely knew, but I was too angry to care.

“Oh, uh, I, uh… I’ll just try his cell again. You have a nice day.”

He hung up before I had a chance to ask any questions, but it didn’t matter. I’d gotten the information I needed. His boss apparently knew more about my husband and his schedule than I did, which just refueled my fire. Unfortunately, now it sounded like I was out of time for my plan to be in full effect before he got here, but at least I would be gone. I could stay in a hotel or find a month-to-month rental or something, but I didn’t want to be here when he finally came home.

Abandoning my mess, I hustled to my room and pulled out all of my suitcases, hastily stuffing them with things I didn’t want to leave behind, which admittedly wasn’t much. I didn’t need half of the things I owned. They’d mostly been impulse buys, and pathetically enough, a lot of them had been unsuccessful attempts to get Jacob’s attention. I packed my jewelry, makeup, and hair products, and the other essentials from the bathroom, but I didn’t pay much attention to what I was doing because whatever I forgot, I would simply rebuy. I didn’t plan to step foot back in the house ever again after today. I’d hire a mover when it was time, but I’d much rather sell everything with the house. I didn’t want any of it.

Dragging my bags down the stairs and out to the garage, I put them in the car and did one last look around before I left for good. I collected my electronics and chargers and grabbed my purse and that was it. My marriage ended with the three word note scribbled on the napkin I left on the kitchen counter for Jacob to find whenever he finally returned home.

I smiled as I got into the car and pulled out of the garage. I had no idea where I’d end up tonight, but I had a plan for where to go first. I needed to withdraw cash, set up a second account, and eventually, sometime before next month, give the information for said account to Bain so that we could re-route my monthly payments.

First stop: the bank.

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