Page 79 of Naughty Santa Daddy

I nod, mentioning, “I expected you to still be sleeping.” I sink down onto the bar stool next to Emilio at the counter. When Amos isn’t around, I don’t enforce the strict eating-at-the-dining-room-table policy.

“Greta’s been waking me up every couple of hours with puretorture.” He stares daggers at her back, and it makes me chuckle. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out. “At least someone cares enough to make sure I’m alive.” I roll my eyes before reading the text message.

Gabriel:One in the shed.

Checking the time, I see it’s nearly five a.m., and I know Amos will probably sleep until eight. I can handle business before Hadley realizes I’m gone. Greta places a veggie omelet with bacon and toast in front of me, then adds a mug of coffee. This is better than the shit I was drinking at Clyde’s, but the one giving me the coffee there is a hell of a lot sexier than Greta. I chew in silence as Emilio shovels his food in. He’s still my little brother. He’s been eating like this since he could hold a fork and spoon by himself.

Taking my plates to the sink, I grab a travel mug of coffee to go. I walk to the front door and see two of my men waiting for me. With my nod, one opens the door. My black Ford F-150 is parked there, so I climb into the back seat.

Me:On my way.

The snow is still falling, the white flakes dense and heavy. I bet Amos will want to build a snowman or have a snowball fight. He’ll be excited hisziois here for Christmas. The shed is about five miles from the house, so I know Amos won’t get anywhere near there. The truck stops, and I hop out. Thomas is standing guard, and he opens the door for me. Walking in, the first thing I notice is a man hanging by his wrists from an exposed pipe. There’s dried blood on his chin.

“Who touched him?” I scan the room to look at my men.

Gabriel steps forward. “He did,” he points to the man hanging from the pipe. “We found this next to him.” He hands me a couple of baggies. One has a cell phone, the next is a gun that’s been taken apart, and the third is a pocket knife covered in blood. I stare at the man, running my eyes over him while checking for some damage. I then glance at the last bag.

“His tongue. Did this fucker cut his own tongue out?” Gabriel nods. I bust out laughing. “Is he more afraid of who he works for or me?” I stare into the man’s brown eyes. I’m trying to figure out if I know him or not. “What is your name?” With his tongue cut out, he can’t talk, but I want to see what he does. “Is his phone charged?”

“It wasn’t, but we charged it when we finally found it after checking him.” Gabriel stands next to me. “I already disabled the biometrics.”

“Good. Get him naked,” I tell them and turn around. Removing my black suit jacket, I roll up my white dress shirt sleeves, loosen my tie, and then unbutton the top button. Once I’m ready, I walk over to the table where we keep the tools. The man’s belt buckle hits the floor, and I grab the pruning shears off the table.

I click my tongue as I walk around this naked man. I don’t see any tattoos to hint if he belongs to anyone, which is quite odd for someone chasing my brother and trying to kill him.

“Since you can’t tell me who sent you, then I can have some fun. It’s been too long.” I smirk as the man’s eyes go wide. “So, you were chasing one of my men.” I open the shears and place the blades around his pointer finger, then close them with a harshsnip. His muffled scream is a beautiful thing. “Now, he has a bullet hole in his arm.” I takeanotherfinger. “He slipped and fell on my porch.” Athirdgone. “Cut his leg when he went through my window.” And afourth. “Bled all over my floor.” I cut thefifthfinger off. “You made me get out of bed when I had a naked woman in it, screaming my name.” I finish by chopping through the remaining digits and have to jump back as the man starts peeing all over the floor. The smell of urine mixing with the copper tang of his blood makes me smile.

I take the phone out of the bag and look for anything that can tell me who he is working for, but what I discover makes my blood boil. Photo after photo of Hadley. She’s sleeping in her bed, one in only a towel fresh from a shower, naked, and another of her getting dressed. All I can see is red. I look for the rusted saw and find it hanging on the wall.

“Hold his junk but grab gloves. Safety first, fellas,” I tell my men, and some cringe, knowing what’s going on. I hack his dick completely off. One of my men, wearing a bloody glove from holding the limp dick, parts his ass cheeks so I can shove it up his ass. “Let him die on his own, then carve him up. When I get a name, you’ll deliver him.” I walk out, inhaling a deep breath full of the cold winter air.

I will protect Hadley with everything in me.

Hadley

I stretch out my body, and it aches in all the right places. Massimo is a man on a mission. My body is here for it, but my heart is slowly falling for him too. It’s scaring me more than anything. Getting out of bed, I decide to take a nice, long, hot bath. I close my eyes, placing my head on the tub as I chuckle to myself. It’s been too long since I’ve had a bath. It’s so relaxing. I never take the time to care for myself.

When the bath water makes me shiver and my skin is all wrinkly, I know it’s time to get out. Wrapping myself in a big fluffy white towel, I walk to the bedroom so I can go through Massimo’s dresser to find another pair of sweats and a T-shirt. Pulling my hair into a bun on top of my head, I make my way downstairs. There’s laughter coming from the kitchen, and I smile when I hear Amos’ squeal, then he’s running to me.

“Hadley!” He jumps into my arms. “Are you hungry? Greta makes the best pancakes ever!”

“I am hungry. I’msohungry I could eat everything in sight.” I pretend to nibble on his neck, moving to his arm. His giggles get louder.

“I’m not food you can eat,” he says through his laughs as he squirms out of my arms. He takes my hand, dragging me to the kitchen. “Greta, we need to feed Hadley now, or she’ll try to nibble your arm too!” He’s so animated while he tells her as she pretends to hurry around the kitchen. She places the plate in front of me.

“Thank you.” I smile at her. She nods. “What are we doing today?” I ask Amos in between bites. I don’t see Massimo around, and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing.

“Can we play out in the snow? Look at all of that snow!”

“On one condition,” I stare at him, “No swimming.” I tickle his side, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so afraid in my life for someone else. He laughs and tells me he promises. We finish eating breakfast. “Greta, do you know if Massimo has any snowgear here for Amos and himself that I could borrow? I don’t want us to get sick.” I ruffle Amos’ hair.

“Yes. In the closet over here. I’ll show you.” We walk to the closet while Amos runs upstairs to get out of his pajamas and put on some heavier clothes. Greta opens a door, and my mouth drops; it’s almost as big as my bedroom. It’s like a rich person’s walk-in closet but half the size. There are totes labeled with everything that is in them. Even if there is only one sock, it is mentioned. I shake my head as Greta goes in and grabs what I need. I smile as she hands it to me. “Now don’t worry about putting it away when you come in. Just make sure you come through the mudroom, strip down, and I’ll take care of everything. Thank you for doing this with Amos. I’m not cut out for the fucking Arctic.” She strides off, then Amos comes to stand next to me.

“Ready to go?” We dress in snow pants, jackets, gloves, and boots. I help put his hat on, and then he races out of the hallway to the front door. “Slow down, you little monkey.” We get outside, and then he’s throwing the snow up and running through it. I take out my phone to snap a few pictures so I can show Massimo when he gets back from wherever he went. I’m lucky I have it with me altogether since I left everything else important in my car at the diner. I put the phone back in my pocket when something hits my chest. Glancing down, I find a white explosion on my chest and hear giggles. “It’s on, little monkey.”

We spend the next few hours throwing snowballs, making snowmen, and snow angels. Greta even comes out and helps decorate the snowmen. I took more pictures.

“Who is ready for some hot chocolate?” Greta asks. Amos and I both yell, “I am!”Which makes her laugh. “I might’ve made some chocolate chip cookies.” Amos takes off running and we follow him in. She’s a tough woman, but she’s a softie for Amos.

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