Page 35 of Daddy's Desire

Darian cleared his throat to get their attention. “Girls, Ronin is looking for Courtney.”

He caught the shocked expression on several faces and a lot of scowls he didn’t understand.

The girls stayed silent but glanced at each other. Ronin could tell theywere debating on saying anything.

He stood. “Girls, I’m really worried about her. You know how hard it is for a little to be on her own. The fact that she’s been sheltered all her life makes it worse. Can you please help me?”

Ronin knew he got through to most of them.

“Why do you have to be the one to find her?” Sienna asked.

He was confused. “Why shouldn’t I be the one? Unless she doesn’t like the idea of being with me, I’d like to take care of her.”

“What about the girlfriend?” Brylee asked.

“What girlfriend, Honey?” he asked, confused.

“The one at the hotel,” Larkin said.

His eyes widened. That had been her he’d seen the night before. Fuck, she thought Veronica, his friend, was his girlfriend? He could see why she might think that, seeing him walk off the elevator in a hotel with a beautiful woman. To makeit worse, he had his arm around her. He and Veronica knew it was a friendly jester, and it didn’t mean anything sexual, but his little Courtney didn’t know that.

Ronin sighed. “I’m asking you girls to believe me when I say that she was a friend. We were there with several other people in one of the conference rooms on the second floor. The woman wants to put on a charity ball to raise money for the Animal Rescue League in town.”

The girls huddled together and talked so fast and slowly thathe didn’t catch a word. When he heard thepinky-promise, he knew he was probably screwed until their daddies got to them.

They all turned to him and stood in a line.

“We have decided we will tell you because, one,” Larkin said and held up a finger. “We feel she needs help. And two,” she said and held up two fingers. “We did not pinky-promise.”

Ronin felt some of the tension released.

“She’s at the hotel you were at last night,” Brylee said.

“So, she’s still there?”

They nodded.

“Will she be there when I get there, or did she talk about moving somewhere else?” Ronin asked.

“She’ll be there. She’s in one of the office rooms researching condos and job openings,” Siena told him.

His brows snapped together. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting her live anywhere but with me, and I won’t allow her to get a job. I’ll find something for her to do.”

“We want to be able to see her all the time,” Nia stated.

“You can see her as much as you want. I think you girls are good for her,” Ronin said.

That cheered them up, and they all smiled.

“I’ll have her call you later. How does that sound?”

They all clapped and cheered.

Darian snorted. “Why don’t you go back up to the playroom, girls?”

They scurried out of the room, and Ronin grinned when he heard Elder yell for them to slow down. He outright laughed when Darian just sighed in frustration.

“I’m going to head out and get my little,” he said.

---