Page 129 of Daddy P.I. 3.0

“Pass the phone over to him. I’ll coach him through the report.”

I hand my phone to Ten and while he listens intently to Theo, I turn to Mac.

“How badly have I fucked up?” I ask.

Mac chews on his lower lip for a moment. “You haven’t. With the information we had, you did the right thing. You protected the house subs. That’s your job, Lo.”

“Caddy said?—”

“I heard what Caddy said. That was a massive fucking guilt-trip. Based on what I’ve heard about her, I understand where it came from. She has my sympathies. But we have a justice system for a reason. You’re not judge, jury, and executioner, Lo. You’re a private investigator and you haven’t even been hired by the damn club in this case. You exposed the bad guy. She’s likely right that it won’t stop the abuse but he won’t be able to do it here. Take the win.”

“Is it a win?” I ask. “What if there are Wolfpack members still at the club that we haven’t exposed?”

“Then we’ll find them and expose them,” Mac says. “Caddy says Drew’s the alpha of their pack. The rest of the pack will lay low without him. We’ll keep an eye on the subs. If there’s a whisper of a member stepping out of line, ignoring a safe word—” He throws Ten a hard glance; Ten lowers his eyes to the table. “Or breaching hard limits. We’ll be all over them. I like Maude but she’s not a warrior. Yeah, we have to win the war but that don’t mean we can afford to lose battles. This was a battle we had to win. We won it.”

His words soothe a little of the carnage in my chest. A sense of failure still weighs across my shoulders.

“C’mon. Time to go home,” Mac says.

“But—”

“No, no buts. I’ve seen that expression before, Lo. You need to regroup. You need time with your little. Emily’ll help you put this in perspective. We can pull Max into the search for Fleur.” Mac nods at Ten, who seems to be wrapping up with Theo and is tapping on his own phone. “You’ve got better resources at home and Emmy’s there. Time to go.”

“Okay,” I agree.

Ten says goodbye to Theo and slides my phone back across the table. He finishes typing on his phone and looks up. “I’m going to meet Cappa at Theo’s station. Make the missing person report.” He swallows. “Afterward, can I bring Cappa to your place? I know I’m not your favorite person right now but Fleur?—”

I wave off our differences. “Of course you can.”

“Thanks. Hopefully we’ll be at yours by two. We’ll bring lunch.”

Mac snorts. “Emily will already have a five-star buffet laid out. Bring a pizza or something since Cappa eats like an alley cat but don’t worry about feeding the masses.”

Ten nods.

“If it gets lost in the shit,” Ten says, his eyes flicking from me to Mac. “I’m sorry. I apologized to Brenna already but I’ll say it to the two of you. I’m sorry. I’ve been talking to someone ... she’s helped me see that I let my fears get the best of me sometimes. I don’t like change. It makes me feel like fuck. The changes you’ve been making ... I’ve hated them. I let that translate into a hatred of you. But I know you’re good Doms. Everything you’ve done with this Wolfpack fuckery, you’ve done the right thing?—”

I know I shouldn’t engage. He’s apologized and that should be enough. But the sense of failure that’s heavier than ahundred-pound barbell plate on my chest pushes out the words, “You voted for Drew.”

Ten shakes his head. “I voted to kick out both Emmett and Drew. I’ve scened with Annabelle. She might be green but she’s not a liar. You were short two votes on Drew. Three Cs abstained. Sure, I see what Caddy was tryin’ to do and maybe she shared her fucking master plan with Chess and Cris but don’t let her lay all of this fuckery at your door.”

“If Drew walks away from this and does it somewhere else?—”

Ten shakes his head. “This ain’t over. Not by a long shot.”

I take a deep breath and let it lift some of the weight off my chest. “Okay.”

Ten nods at us before picking up his coat off the back of his chair and leaving.

“Honestly didn’t think ‘sorry’ was in his vocabulary,” Mac says after the door’s closed behind Ten. He picks up Livvy’s car seat but I hold my hand out for it. I need to feel one of my girls close.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve heard it before, either,” I admit.

Mac slaps me on the back. “Never let it be said this place is dull.”

I grin at him. “Nope, it’s never that.”

Ten and Cappa don’t come for lunch.

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