Page 17 of Daddy P.I. 3.0

And I’m still hesitating.

“Let’s talk about it tonight, baby doll.”

“Okay, Daddy. Mac says he and Bren are due for a flogging scene, so could you please reserve the Stocks for them?”

“I see how this is going to go. I’m just going to be Mac’s social secretary now that he’s a club member, aren’t I?”

Emily giggles, which draws a smile out of me. There’s nothing as enchanting as my baby girl’s giggle.

“Sorry, Daddy.”

“Uh-huh. I hear so much regret in your voice, little girl. What’s your ETA?”

“About a half hour. Can I make a request?”

“Of course.”

“Can we have a shower together before dinner? If we’re going to test drive the cradle tonight, I’m afraid I’ll fall asleep and I won’t get a bath and I feel yughie after the Botanical Gardens today. The greenhouses were hot and I got sweaty.”

I chuckle. I love the words she invents.

“Your shower request is approved. There might even be time for a play with the bath crayons.”

Another small squee.

“I’ll see you in a half-hour, sweetheart. Come straight upstairs. Daddy and the bath crayons will be waiting for you.”

I hear the happiness in her voice when she says goodbye. I flip my phone over, fire off a message to Sean, and call Niall.

He answers on the first ring. “Gobshite?”

“Wanker.”

“Need me to get on a plane?”

Niall’s offered to go to England to retrieve Olivia about a dozen times. I didn’t see Niall talking to Max while Niall’s trio was here for Emily’s Halloween party but they must have put their heads together at some point. Niall cuffed me hard and hugged me tight and told me that all I had to do was call and he’d get on a plane.

“No, everything’s set for Max to go tomorrow. I need help thinking something through.”

“Fire away.”

“Nursery at Blunts is ready. Management committee’s agreed to the age-play night. And I’m dithering over sending out the Grand Opening invites. Why? I want this. I’ve been working toward this for weeks. What’s wrong with me?”

Niall sighs heavily. “Club’s still divided over age-play, right?”

“Somewhat.”

“Anyone you give a fig about?”

I grunt. I shouldn’t care what Ten thinks. He and Karl and their clique of “hard sadists” have always turned up their noses at me. I’ve never given their disdain any mental space.

His opposition to Mac hits at a different level. Mac’s a man I’ve looked up to for as long as I’ve known him. I think more of Mac than I thought of my own father. Having anyone think badly of him, speak badly of him, strikes hard against my heart. And his judgment of Emily’s littleness? That’s not something I can think too closely about or I’ll end up going for him.

“One of ‘em fought me hard on Mac’s membership. Stood up and made a big speech about my divided loyalties. And the support I thought I had from the Chairman and his inner circle melted away like butter in a hot pan.” I grumble as I open myself to what’s been percolating in my heart since the meeting. “I’ve known them for coming up on a decade. Fucking stings.”

“You’re dithering ‘cause you’re afraid this will prove them right. ‘Cause it’ll bring more judgment down on you and Emily.”

Niall cuts to the heart of things. The way he always does.

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