Page 17 of Cook

Too many memories.

You’ve pissed your daddy off now.

Daddy’s going to beat the shit outta you!

All those warnings followed by Mom’s screams and my sobs into a pillow.

Maddie made a little humming noise, almost like a purr.

“Maddie,” I said, my voice near a growl. “I need to know why you keep calling meDaddy.”

She was as stiff as a boulder under my arm, but I waited. I needed this answer. Maybe my family was the odd one out. Celt had a good father, and Bou was having a kid with Wilde. Not all families had what I had—thankfully—but fuck, I didn’t want to be reminded of all that shit.

After a long moment, Maddie moved in the bed and rolled over to face me. Moonlight made her eyes glow. Thankfully, it wasn’t from tears. I couldn’t deal with a woman crying in my bed.

“I need someone,” she said finally.

And somehow, she got me? There were better men out there.

“I need someone who will be gentle with me, but firm enough to tell me what I need to do, like the dad I remember,” she continued, gnawing on her bottom lip. “Stern, but loving.

Demanding, but kind when needed.”

She rested her small hand on my chest, and I swear my heart stuttered. That was a lot to ask for.

“You barely know me.”I’m not that man.

“I’ve seen this in you, Cook,” she said. “From the moment you rescued me at Barton Mill. You took care of me.”

“I didn’t have much choice when you crawled in my arms.”

Her shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. “You came for me again today. I can’t explain it, but I see you better, I think, than you see yourself.”

For a long moment, we stared at each other. I wasn’t going to blink or balk. This woman barely knew me, yet she acted so certain about the things she said. I had seen her cower as well as the savage side of her.She could rip me in half with her sharp nails and tear me apart with her teeth if she wanted, yet she was giving me her vulnerability on a goddamn silver platter.

Her eyes bored into me, the pleading look doing more damage than any weapon could.

Maddie

Cook was gone in themorning, but the sheets still smelled like him. I inhaled deeply and rolled over in the bed, feeling where his warmth and pressure had once been. The pressure of his body had been gentle and warm against mine like he hadn’t wanted to crush me. Or... as if he would let me go as soon as I wanted to wriggle away.

No man at Signora’s had ever cared that much. And while I wanted the freedom to make my own choices, I also liked the way he took care of me.

The pressure had disappeared in the middle of the night, and I had felt it leave. The warmth had escaped me, and I woke on a shiver. Somewhere deep inside, I’d been aware of him leaving, but it hadn’t been enough to pull me from a heavy, dreamless sleep. I couldn’t recall the last time I slept like that, without fear that someone would take me in the middle of the night or use my body.

An alarm went off in the house, and I shot up in bed. My heartbeat quickened. Were we under attack? Signora had alarms all over the place, watching her surroundings, but it wasn’t that kind of alarm. This was the ding of a preheated oven.

More food? I sighed.

Vivi had made so much for dinner last night that I had no idea what to do. Nor was I hungry for it. My stomach had been knots, and all I wanted was Cook to come back for me.

Getting out of bed, I padded into the hallway and then the kitchen.

Cook slipped a pan into the oven and then stood at his full height, so I could read the frilly blue-and-white apron he was wearing.I woke up this morning wanting to flog the sausage.

My eyes went round and my face heated. “Is that...?” I pointed at him.

Cook looked down and his eyes stretched too. “Ah shit. I’m sorry.”

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