Page 17 of Outlaw

Jesus Christ, what had fate been thinking, giving me a daughter?

“I like yuwah castle.”

My lips tugged at the corners. “Thank you.”

Her brows puckered as she frowned. “Do you have a dwagon hewah?”

Had she said dragon, or was I misunderstanding her?

“No, Vivi Lu,” Branwen told her as she shook her head. “I told you in the car that this was just a house.”

She gave her mom a sheepish glance, then lifted her small shoulders in a shrug. “I was just makin’ suwah you was wight.”

“It’swere right, notwas right,” Branwen corrected her gently.

Luther cleared his throat, and I shifted my gaze from the two of them to see him standing in the arched entryway that led down the hall to my office.

He held a bottle of Corona in one hand as he studied Stevie before looking at me. “Stanz and Hoyt are here and waiting.”

Stanz and Hoyt were two of the lawyers who worked for the family. They handled all family issues within the firm. It was rare that I myself needed them, but being in charge of the Mississippi branch, I was always involved in the others’ legal issues, so I knew them both well.

“Where is Jayda?” I asked.

I wasn’t about to leave Luther to watch over and entertain my daughter. He wasn’t great with kids.

Jayda was our housecleaner and cook, who lived here six days a week. Sunday was her off day. We’d hired her two years ago when Maxine, who had been with us since I had taken over the Mississippi branch, retired. Maxine had brought Jayda in to meet us, and I was against it the second I got a look at her. Having an attractive young woman under our roof would only lead to her in one or both of our beds. Drama neither of us wanted at this age.

That was, until we found out that Jayda wouldn’t be angling to get fucked by us or any other man. Her girlfriend, Beth, stayed the night here often. They had been together for five years.

Luther smirked. “What, you don’t want to leave her with me?”

I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh, pulling out my phone and tapping Jayda’s number.

“Yes, sir,” she replied after only one ring.

“I need you in the central great room,” I informed her.

“On my way.”

Sliding the phone back into my pocket, I met Branwen’s tense expression. She didn’t like the idea of leaving Stevie. It pissed me off that she didn’t trust me to protect my daughter. The one she hadn’t planned on telling me about. She’d lied to me. She had known that Stevie was mine, and if I hadn’t done the test, she would have never told me.

Biting back a scathing remark for Stevie’s sake, I went over to the entertainment system and picked up the remote. We had plenty of channel options, and although I’d never watched one meant for children, I’d seen something like that on here. I turned on the screen, and it lit up.

I glanced back at Stevie. “I’ve got any channel you want, or is there a specific show I can search for you?”

Her eyes were wide as she stared at the screen. “It’s like a movie theataw,” she said in awe. “Look, Mommy! It’s just like when we go to see a movie with popcown.” Her eyes swung back to me. “Do you have popcown?”

Damn, she was adorable. The popcorn machine in the theater at my brother’s home in Georgia wasn’t looking so pretentious right about now. I’d need to buy one of those and hope he didn’t come for a visit, only to see it after I gave him hell for his in his home theater.

“I do.” I looked at Luther. “Go pop her some popcorn,” I told him.

“With buttah, please!” she piped up.

Luther did not look amused, and for a second, I thought he was about to refuse, but his gaze went to Branwen. Whatever he saw made him change his mind. It had better be him having some out-of-place sympathy for her and nothing more. Luther was a whore, but he wasn’t going to fuck the mother of my child. We’d need to get that cleared up and fast before he started trying to charm his way into her panties.

Apparently, it’s not hard to do, I thought bitterly.

“Mr. Shephard, you needed me,” Jayda said, entering from the other side of the room.

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