Page 127 of Daddy P.I. 3.0

I smile at my friend and mentor, who will always do the right thing, no matter the personal cost.

The Three Cs, Ten, Javier, and Franco are still in the small conference room when Maude knocks on the door and enters.

“Lady and gentlemen,” she says as she holds the door open for us. “Michael has something to say that you need to hear.”

Chess gestures to the seats around the table. Mac delivers his threat as coolly and smoothly as he did in the Trattoria.

Chess goes pale. Caddy’s lips thin. Ten frowns thunderously.

“Logan, when you took back Master of Training—” Franco, the club’s lawyer, begins.

Chess barks a laugh. “None of us thought you’d be staging a Subbie Rebellion.” He starts clapping. “Well done.”

Franco and Ten look at Chess like he’s lost his mind. Caddy’s black-hole gaze bores into me. Cris types something into his tablet.

“Mr. MacNally’s right,” Cris says quietly. “About the hostile work environment claims. That would be substantially moreof a financial loss for the club than refunding Master Drew’s membership fees.”

“If proven,” Franco says.

Cris tips his head in acknowledgment. “Punitive damages are a possibility under state and federal law. As the club’s legal advisor, you’ll need to tell us the likelihood of success of such claims but as the club’s financial advisor, I can tell you that financially the decision is clear.”

Franco pinches the bridge of his nose. “We can’t let it even go to tribunal. As soon as the nature of the house subs employment becomes clear, it will be referred to law enforcement and the club will be shut down. I’ve warned the committee about this before.”

“Yes, you have,” I say. I wasn’t going to play that ace in the hole unless I had to, though.

“Looks like you’ve gotten your way, Logan,” Caddy says softly.

“What way is that?” I ask. “You encouraged me to promote age-play at the club and then you backstabbed me when I did it. You sat on your fucking hands while Drew and his fucking wolfpack terrorized our house subs?—”

Maude reaches over and curls her hand around my forearm at the same time Caddy snaps, “You have no idea what I’ve done or haven’t done, nor whether my actions have helped or harmed. What we do know is that only two wolfpack members at the club have been revealed?—”

“Do you believe there’re more?” Mac asks.

“I believe we’ll never know now,” Caddy says, her eyes boring into me. “Drew and Emmett will be expelled from the club but as they haven’t been arrested, it’s unlikely they’ll face other justice. Logan’s overt maneuvering means they know why they’re being expelled. The rest of the wolfpack knows we know. Do youthink they’ll disband? Or that they’ll just become more subtle? Abusers don’t reform, they just find quieter victims.”

“Theo’s making a case against Emmett,” I protest.

“But not against Drew,” Caddy retorts. “I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to speak with Emmett and Drew but five minutes of conversation would have made clear who is the beta and who is the alpha in their vile pack. Emmett’s a follower. Drew threw him in our path and you took his damn bait, Logan?—”

“Maybe if you’d ever fucking told me what was going on, I wouldn’t have!” I flare.

“Did you take me into your confidence?” Caddy snaps. “I’ve been going on whispers just as much as you have. The only thing I know about Drew that you didn’t is that he’s related to me. Second cousin.”

My gut knots. Javier mentioned that Caddy’s uncle, the former chairman of Blunts, abused her. That piqued Emily’s curiosity and she went digging through Blunts’ archives and public records. What she found made my blood run cold. David was a pedophile and a rapist and his favorite victims were his own family members.

“On your uncle’s side?” I ask, my voice choked.

Caddy nods.

“Was he—?” I can’t complete the question.

“He was called as a witness but refused to testify against David,” she responds, her voice cold and hollow. “As I said, I’ve only been going on whispers. Rumors. Dark glances. But I know that age-play is a trigger for Drew. I’ve overheard him bad-mouth it often enough. I’ve seen the looks he’s given you and your little. I encouraged you to create the Nursery and promote age-play at the club as much to change the club’s culture as to draw him out.”

“Fuck’s sake,” I say. “If you’d said one word.”

“What word?” Caddy asks. “You’re the damn detective, Logan. I approachedyou. I encouraged you. I supported you behind the scenes. I made sure the Nursery was funded despite your ridiculous budget requests. A tree? You needed a goddamn tree in the middle of our club?”

“I really like the tree,” Cris says. When Caddy swings her dark gaze at him, he holds up his hands. “What? I bet we’re the only lifestyle club in the nation that has a tree in the middle of one of our dungeons. It’s a selling point.”

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