Page 136 of Daddy P.I. 3.0

Daddy’s hugs are still the best but Master Ten gives surprisingly good hugs. His chest is just the right balance of firm and giving. He squeezes me but not so hard it hurts. He doesn’t crush my face into his pec but lets me find my own place to fit my cheek. He takes a lot of deep, broken breaths while he holds me. I think he might be crying. I don’t lift my head or release him until his breathing’s steady and his arms fall away.

I take his hand and lead him into the great room.

Only to find Daddy in a standoff with Saoirse’s daddy, Sutter. Daddy’s standing and despite the fact that he’s barefoot, bare-chested, and still hasn’t brushed his hair or shaved—or maybe because of it—he looks like a Titan. Daddy’s crossed his arms over his chest and the position makes his shoulders, pecs, and biceps look even bigger. Like, Thor huge. Sutter’s probably onlyan inch shorter than Daddy. Even though he’s blond, there’s something lithe, twisty, and mischievous about Sutter. Loki-ish.

“Why are you even here?” Daddy growls at Sutter.

“I invited him,” Mr. De Leon says. He hasn’t moved from the dining table. He has Livvy in his lap, propped against his chest. She’s gripping both of his pinkies.

Daddy turns to shoot a death-glare at Mr. De Leon. You’d think Mr. De Leon wouldn’t see it, because he’s looking down at Livvy’s wispy curls but I have a sense that Mr. De Leon sees everything.

He smiles at the top of Livvy’s head.

Sutter shoots out a hand at Daddy and I catch my breath. Daddy does, too. But then he takes Sutter’s hand and shakes it, probably a little too hard if the flexing of Sutter’s back is anything to go by.

“I’d never let my personal vendetta get in the way of giving a submissive the support and protection she needs,” Sutter tells Daddy. “Whatever my feelings about the club, I’m happy to put them aside until Fleur is on the road to recovery and whoever hurt her is neutralized.”

Might just be the writer in me but the way he says “neutralized” sounds an awful lot like “eliminated.”

Master Ten clears his throat and I realize I’ve stopped behind Sutter, ready to tackle him from behind if he’s not nice to my daddy. I glance up at Master Ten. He glances at my free hand, which is balled in a fist. I tuck it against my tummy and blink up at him innocently. Should have worn my cat ears this morning. No one can suspect me of planning to jump on a Dom from behind and batter him about the head for being mean to Daddy when I’m wearing cat ears.

Master Ten chuckles and tugs me forward, around Sutter. Ten hands me to Daddy on the way into the kitchen to get himself a cup of coffee. He did visit quite a bit when Daddy wasfirst home from being injured, so I guess he remembers where everything is but it’s weird to see him make himself at home in our house when he’s been so antagonistic to Daddy.

I guess we’re all united in a common cause today.

thirty-eight

LOGAN

I can’tfor the life of me understand why Myles would invite someone who wants to destroy Blunts to my fucking house, even in the midst of the crisis over Fleur.

“Because he’s paying for it,” Myles says, once we’re seated in my office.

It’s a reduced group: Myles, Theo, Bravo, Ten, Sutter, Mac, and me. Max is listening in on my earpiece. Maude and Javier rounded up half of the subbies and Doms and took them to the hospital. Fleur’s still not awake but Cappa needs reinforcements. They’re going until noon and then the “second shift” will go over. I’ve suggested to Maude and Javier that they bring Cappa back here at the end of the “second shift” but Javier just shook his head sadly.

I can’t even check the app to see how Cappa’s doing. He’s not allowed his phone or monitoring band in the hospital room.

“Paying for what, exactly?” I ask, sipping a cup of tea Emily slipped into my hand as she herded us into my office. True arrived, Emmy set up her laptop and put Livvy in her rocking swing, and they got on with what they needed to be doing. Mysweet little girl who follows her Daddy’s rules, even when her Daddy’s struggling to focus on anything other than the crisis at hand.

“For the moment, I’m paying for recon and surveillance,” Sutter says. He’s in one of the guest chairs in front of my desk. Theo’s in the other one. Bravo’s next to Mac on the couch. Myles and Ten are leaning against the two doors. “Depending on what the recon and surveillance dredges up, we’ll see what else there is to pay for.”

I look from Sutter’s bright eyes to Myles’. Myles is looking at the floor, his hair falling around his face but I know he’s aware of my gaze.

“Who’s being surveilled?” I ask.

“The three members of the Wolfpack that Theo doesn’t have enough on to arrest,” Myles says without looking up.

How does he find out this shit? He’s not a member of Blunts. He hasn’t been involved in any of the management committee meetings. If I read his message right, he only got back into the country six hours ago. Bravo’s the only person I’ve talked to about making the Wolfpack even “gone,” but Myles is arranging fucking surveillance on them?

“Do you have my house wired?” I ask.

“Yes,” Myles says easily. “And parts of the club now, too. You need to up the security in the staff areas. It was too easy for me to get upstairs once I got into the Spa for pool maintenance.”

I grind my teeth.

Sutter lifts his coffee-cup at Myles. “No one ever notices the pool man.”

Myles nods. “Logan, I’m never going to do anything with the information that would hurt the club, any of its members, or the house submissives. I’ll agree to wipe all recordings after thirty days. But things are going on there that affect the people I care about. I need eyes and ears in there.”

---