Page 9 of Daddy P.I. 3.0

“Can I put on some cat ears? They complete the outfit.”

“Of course.”

I take out black furry ears on a headband and pop them on top of my curls. I don’t know what it is about wearing the cat ears—or puppy ears, they make me feel the same—but I love them. I feel cute in the goth fairy clothes Cynnie’s helped me assemble but IknowI’m cute when I’m wearing ears.

I take Daddy’s hand and dance at his side down the stairs to the room where the breakfast buffet is served.

Daddy has a ridiculous number of friends at Blunts, even though he was worried about whether he had enough to win the vote for Master Mac’s membership, so it’s never just us when we eat at the club. This morning, we’re at a big, round table with a dozen subs and Dom(mes).

I smile at everyone. There are some tense faces, and a few that are too impassive, probably masking their tension. One of the impassive faces is Mistress Caddy, with whom Daddy has a complicated relationship. In part because she’s a complicated lady. Master Javier mentioned to Daddy a while ago that she was molested as an adolescent by her own uncle, David, while he was the chairman of Blunts. That started me down a rabbit-hole and although Blunts’ own records have been heavily redacted, I am a Research Goddess™. Master Javier doesn’t know the half of it, or he didn’t tell Daddy if he does.

Master David was a monster. His modus operandi was to give his underaged victims intoxicants. He then staged gladiatorial-type scenes where he provided them with weapons. He fought them, beat them, and raped them. Mistress Caddy’s whole family suffered under David’s regime, especially her brother, Bram, who is still on suicide watch over a decade later at an in-patient facility upstate. Mistress Caddy was instrumental in bringing David down, even though she was only twenty-one when she did it. David sponsored her when she became the youngest-ever member of Blunts. She got him removed as chairman and then helped prosecute him. He’s serving seven consecutive 25-year sentences at Five Points in permanent solitary confinement due to threats on his life from other prisoners.

I wondered more than once when I was doing my research if Mistress Caddy hadn’t funded some of those threats.

I give her an extra-bright smile. There’s a man sitting next to her who came to our Day-Before-Halloween-Halloween-Party but I didn’t get to talk to him. I claim a chair next to him once Daddy and I are through the buffet line.

His name is Finn and he’s Caddy’s submissive, which I could have guessed by how he glances at her, seeking approval, every few minutes. His accent is noticeable and when I ask him a question in French, he eagerly responds in the same language.

We chat all through breakfast. He tells me about how he and Caddy met, through a modern art museum where he had an exhibit and where Caddy’s a major benefactor. He tells me about some of the wonderful scenes they’ve done. Her sadistic streak is no surprise but she also has a playful side I wouldn’t have guessed. I tell Finn about the fairytale scenes Daddy and I are planning. The longing I see in his eyes makes me wonder if Finn has a bit oflittlein him.

While I’m talking with Finn, Master Ten pulls up a chair and squeezes in on Caddy’s far side. He grunts at Master Mac, sitting a few seats away, glances at Daddy, and starts in on his breakfast.

Those are some weighty looks. Daddy didn’t tell me who he thought might oppose Master Mac’s application for membership but it’s clear Master Ten did. That’s probably not a surprise since Mac’s fiancée used to be one of Master Ten’s unofficial harem when she was a house submissive. There were hard feelings when Brenna resigned from the club, and although Master Ten partied with us at Halloween, it’s looking like not everyone’s feathers have been unruffled.

Daddy grumbles to Mistress Maude, who is sitting on his far side. Then he takes a sip of tea.

I’ve been waiting for him to try his tea, since I switched his usual Earl Grey for turmeric while he was getting an extra helping of scrambled eggs.

“Emily,” he growls.

I lean against his firm shoulder and blink up at him innocently. See, this is the super-power of the cat ears. No one could think me guilty of anything while I’m wearing cat ears.

“This is not the tea I got,” he complains. “Would you know anything about that, trouble?”

“Turmeric tea is better for you.” I squirm in my chair. “But I don’t want to be in trouble.”

A tolerant smile teases the edges of Daddy’s lips.

“Just a little bit of trouble,” he grumbles, then softens it with a wink.

“Tickling-level trouble?” I ask with a wiggle.

Daddy stretches his arm around the back of my chair and leans in to rub noses.

“Could be,” he says.

“Tickling with orgasms?”

“I’ll consider tickling with orgasms if you ask Master Ten to play the Pied Piper.”

There was a time when I’d have done anything to get out of asking one of the Blunts masters to participate in a scene. My introduction to them after Daddy was injured was overwhelming and people aren’t always my best thing. But most of them have gone out of their way since then to make me feel at home. Although he was really mean to Brenna and is at odds with Daddy and Mac now, I’m not afraid of Master Ten anymore.

I grin up at him. “I can do that.”

“Good girl.” He kisses my forehead, sits back in his chair, and takes a sip of tea before he remembers. “About this tea.”

I blink at him. Look at me, all innocent in my cat ears.

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