Page 35 of Morally Gray Daddies

“Then how did we both end up in the same position?” Hailey snapped back at her, though she subsided as Jack came up behind her, his hand going to the back of her neck. She settled in as his thumb rubbed along the side of her throat.

I could feel Clara bristle beside me, but Hailey had made a good point.

“Let’s go, babydoll,” I said, chuckling. I winked at Hailey. “I’ll take good care of her.”

Clara’s ire at Hailey was immediately transferred to me with those words. Scowling, her steps were a little slow at first as I pulled her along with me, but she picked up the pace after a moment.

“I don’t need you,” she muttered, making me chuckle again.

Letting my hand slide down possessively over her bottom, I enjoyed the way she stiffened, her steps quickening even more as though she was trying to escape the touch of my fingers, but since her pride kept her from actually running from me, she couldn’t evade my grasp.

I gave her pert flesh a tight squeeze, eliciting a little squeak she tried to muffle before releasing her and letting my hand return to her hip.

“But you have me all the same,” I murmured.

And she did. Till death do us part.

Chapter Fifteen

Clara

Getting back into Leonardo’s hotel room after he left?

Easiest thing I’d ever done.

Almost too easy. I was used to having no one watching my back. Aware that Gio was covering me, that I didn’t have to worry about Leonardo returning unexpectedly, took some of the excitement out of it but also made it far more enjoyable. No looking over my shoulder a million times, no worrying that someone other than Leonardo might catch me—because Gio would take care of them if they did…

I was in and out like the wind.

Handing the note off to Gio, I smiled at him.

“So, to the precinct?”

Rather than answering me immediately, he looked over the note, frowning as he read it. Something flashed in his eyes, making my insides tighten. He cared that Hailey had been left orphaned by her cousin and her grandfather’s machinations. He was angry for her. Upset, even.

Did that make me like him more?

Yes.

At least I knew Hailey was in good hands now. The DiNardos might be Familias, but they took care of their own, and Hailey was now one of them, no matter what family she’d come from. They were going to take care of her. She didn’t need me anymore.

I’m now one of them, too.

The thought whispered in my mind, but I shrugged it away. I could take care of myself. I’d proven that over and over and over again over the years. I didn’t need anyone, especially a bossy brute like Gio, who did terrible things to my body and made me actually like it. While the backup today had been nice, I didn’t need it. I didn’t need a Daddy, I didn’t need a husband, and I didn’t need him.

I just want him.

“Okay, babydoll, let’s go clear out your desk,” he said, breaking me out of my internal argument. I gave myself a little shake as his arm went back around me, hand settling on my hip as if it belonged there. My bottom tingled where he’d squeezed it earlier this morning.

The way my body responded to him was infuriating.

“Great.” I forced a smile onto my lips. I couldn’t tell whether or not I was fooling him, but it was worth a try.

Walking into the precinct with one of the top lieutenants of the DiNardo family was an experience. Eyes widened, cops stepped back, several averting their gazes. Officer Ronald Stump actually fled down one of the hallways when he saw me with Gio. Smart man. He’d been trying to take me out for weeks, and he hadn’t been very good about taking ‘no’ for an answer. I’d gotten a little of my own back by lifting his wallet, but watching him actually run was even more satisfying.

“Clara…” Chief Barnes walked up to us, one eye warily on Gio. The chief had cowered before Jack DiNardo, and I wondered if he regretted that now. He looked torn on how to handle a second employee walking in with a member of the mob, despite the fact I knew he’d been bought and paid for. The DiNardos owned this precinct. “Is everything okay?”

Interesting that he seemed to have grown a conscience. I wondered if I could turn that to my advantage.

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