Page 118 of Daddy P.I. 3.0

He kisses the tip of my nose before he releases my chin and pats the conference table. “Everyone, I think we need to take a break.”

Theo tosses his phone to the table with a grunt. “I still can’t reach Apple or Fleur.”

“I’ve added them to the group chat,” Mac says from across the table. “If they check it, they’ll be able to see what’s going on. I think a generic text that says to call you before they agree to any scenes is the best we can do without tipping our hand.”

Theo scrubs his hand down his face and picks up his phone. “Yeah, okay.”

“Dinner in the Trattoria,” Master Javier says, not making it a question. “I’m happy to feed the troops for this excellent cause.”

“I promised my girls dinner out,” Daddy says. “But we’ll be back in a few hours.”

“No.” Theo stands and pats Daddy’s shoulder. “I think we call it a night. We’ve done a lot. Some of us have scenes planned. Some of us still have a sleep debt because of yourlastemergency. We all need a night to regroup and recuperate. We can check in first thing in the morning.”

That quickly becomes the plan. Javier leads a group off to the Trattoria while Daddy and I retrieve our coats and Livvy’s stroller and head for the train.

“Master Theo’s such a daddy,” I say as we whoosh across Manhattan on the train to Rockefeller Center.

“Such an asshole,” Daddy responds but he’s grinning.

“You like him. You’re glad you’re friends again. I can tell.”

Daddy pecks me on the forehead. “We’ll call him Cranky Daddy. That’ll really wind him up.”

I giggle. Yes, it will. And Master Theo deserves it.

“He’s been a good friend today,” Daddy admits. “He might not have been on the committee before but he plays club politics like a pro. I’m still not sure we have enough votes to get rid ofEmmett and Drew. According to the club bylaws, I need seventy-five percent of the committee to remove a lifetime member, which Drew is. I can get Emmett punted with a simple majority. But for Drew, it could all hinge on the Three Cs.”

I hate this for Daddy. I hate that he’s losing faith in the leaders of his club. I remember when he first mentioned Blunts to me all those months ago. His eyes were shining darkly, in his wolfy way. He was smiling with his whole body. The club was something he loved, something he was proud of, even if there was some weirdness going on with his former submissive. Would he shine and smile today if he had to describe Blunts to a stranger?

“I believe in you,” I remind him. “You’ll fix this and things will get better. I believe that.”

He shapes my face with his big, warm paw encased in a leather glove. “Thank you, sweetheart. I’m holding on to that like a life ring.”

“Tell me about the restaurant,” I say to distract him.

He grins. Since he won the fight with the insurance company and sold my house in Scotland, Daddy’s delighted in giving us treats like this. It hurt him, not just his pride but his caregiver instincts, to be so restrictive when the evil debt-collector was threatening to take the house. I don’t need lavish treats but it makes me happy to see Daddy’s pleasure in giving them to me.

“They had the private room available,” he says. “We have it for two hours. It looks out on the tree. I ordered the tasting menu, so we’re going to have a little of everything. It doesn’t matter if Livvy cries because we won’t be disturbing anyone, so you can just relax and enjoy the meal and the view.”

“And the Daddy.”

He leans in to rub noses with me. “And the Daddy. Best thing about today?”

“This part. Although the foot rubs were most excellent. And the swishies.”

Daddy squints in thought. “The swishies?”

“When you hugged me and swishied me in the pool. I don’t like being thrown the way Jack was throwing Sammi because I don’t like face-splashes but I love swishies.”

He chuckles. “I see. I love giving you swishies. We’ll make that a regular thing.” He checks on Livvy, who is sleeping in her stroller. “She seems very sleepy.”

“Probably the swimming. That was a lot of effort for her. She was kicking a ton. Could also be the rocking of the train.”

“Ah, right. I’ll incorporate lots of swimming into our schedules. Build her little baby muscles.”

And conk her out but I understand what Daddy means.

“I was reading something in one of those baby books you bought about letting babies taste flavors. She can’t have anything but milk for another few months, I know but the book said babies taste flavors when they’re in utero and it’s okay to put a mild flavor on your finger or on a paci and let her taste it. Do you think that’s right?”

---