Page 82 of Morally Gray Daddies

“Sometimes life isn’t, princesa,” he replied simply.

Princesa. He said it as a term of endearment, and I couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to be addressed like?—

Aubrey, stop. What the hell is wrong with you? That’s Sonja’s father. He’s… at least twenty years older than you! Are you seriously thinking of him like that?

I shouldn’t have been, but the memory of his—‘good girl’—then the way he’d looked when he’d said ‘that doesn’t matter’ was living rent-free in my head, and I couldn’t stop it.

“Listen,” he continued, breaking my train of thought, “I’m only going to be gone until Monday. Once I’m back, I promise you can throw a party then. Invite as many of your friends over as you want.”

“You promise?” Sonja demanded.

“Absolutely, and since I’ll be back, I’ll be able to enjoy it with both you”—he shot another glance my direction—“and Aubrey.”

Something about the way he said that…

“Until then… enjoy the house, do whatever else you’d like, but by yourselves. No one else.”

“Fiiiiiine,” Sonja sighed. “I guess we’ll find a way to have some fun somehow.”

Mr. Delgado gave a wry grin. “I’m sure it’ll be a struggle, but you’ll survive.”

With a final glance in my direction, he left Sonja and me sitting in the kitchen. While she began rattling off a list of things we could spend our time doing over the weekend, all my brain would focus on was Antonio Delgado. A man I absolutely, one hundred percent shouldn’t have been thinking about the way I was. There was something about how he’d looked at me, the things he’d said up to and including ‘…enjoy it with you and Aubrey’ that sent a thrill reverberating through me. The problem was it shouldn’t have. There was no reason to keep replaying his words and wondering if or what hidden meaning there might’ve been in them. Everything the man had said was likely nothing more than him being the best host he possibly could to a friend of his daughter’s. Overthinking it into something else, especially what I was turning it into, was insane.

And yet nothing I did could stop it.

Nothing could prevent my brain from recalling the touch of his fingers on my shoulders. The crinkle of a knowing smile at the corners of his mouth. Whatever secrets lay hidden behind those dark, searching eyes he gazed at me with.

No, nothing could stop me from wondering what it would be like to be with a man like him. A rich man. A powerful man. A man I could see myself having no problem calling…

Daddy.

Chapter Three

Derrick

“And did you enjoy yourself, Ric?”

I hated that name. Colbie knew I hated it, too, which was exactly why he’d used it, including giving it the tiny bit of inflection he had. A subtle, not-so-subtle way of letting me know where I stood and who was in charge.

Something Colbie made sure everyone who worked for him never forgot.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t take a certain amount of pleasure in my work.”

“You’re too modest. One should take pride in a task well completed, even if it is only for a… side hustle, as I believe they call it now.”

“I never know with you if that’s supposed to be some sort of veiled warning or not.”

Even over the phone, Colbie’s patient-bordering-on-condescending sigh was audible. “You wound me, Ric. I’ve never asked for exclusivity from any asset.”

“Maybe not exclusivity, but when you need something...”

“I made that very clear from day one.”

“And you never let us forget it.”

Colbie ignored the gibe, instead asking, “So, where’s the girl now?”

I thought back to the car ride to Oregon, handing Lindsey over to the man who’d spend the next few months molding her into the perfect sexual slave. “I’ve already turned her over to Devlin.”

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