Page 29 of Saul

Ricky nodded as if agreeing with me, and I deflated. “What got Saul here?”

I glared at him. “Your Daddy did.”

He waved his own dramatic hand. “No, I mean whatcharacteristicsgot him here when he didn’t know he was a Daddy or that you two were utterly perfect for each other?”

I sent him mycrazy aslook because what part of the weekend was perfect? Okay, so Saul was. I knew it was me that had screwed everything up. “You want me to list them?”

His eyebrows lifted. “That’s not actually a bad idea.”

But I shook my head. “How do I know I can trust myself?”

Ricky smiled. “You don’t have to; you just need to trust your Daddy.” He got out his phone. “We need a list.”

“Of what?”

“Daddy characteristics. What you want in a Daddy. Go with me on this.”

I thought about my perfect Daddy and who he looked a lot like. Well, pretty much identical, really, to a certain utterly amazing bodyguard I knew.

“Protective?” I offered.

“Insanely possessive and would send to their maker anyone who looked at you without total devotion,” Ricky immediately shot out.

I gaped, but then I thought about it. And yes, I could get behind someone like that. I mean, they didn’t have to kill anyone. Terrorizing them would suffice. “Be attentive?”

Ricky nodded and typed. “Be absolutely obsessive with your health, diet, and sleep schedule, and even make a daily timetable.”

I was going to vehemently deny any such need, but somehow that turned into a tentative nod. Maybe all the prosecco yesterday had gone to my brain?

“Has a punishment tally,” Ricky said. I would have probably replied, but my mind was suddenly zeroed in on that.

“What sort of punishments?” I asked breathlessly.

“Oh, spanking at a minimum. Corner time isn’t fun. Trust me on that.”

I blinked Ricky into focus. “Spanking?” I cleared my throat because my voice had gone incredibly high-pitched, and I remembered D—Saulsaying that to me.

“Hmm,” Ricky paused and pursed his lips. “We ought to open a business. We would make millions.”

“What sort of business?” I asked faintly knowing once Ricky set his mind to something it was a done deal.

“Rent-A-daddy! And you’re moving near me. With the cash you’ll be earning, you can afford it. Saul can be our first official employee; except I think Daddy might be sending him to the jungle next week.”

“What?”I almost shrieked.

“The jungle,” he nodded, agreeing with himself.

I flopped back, feeling like I could throw up at the thought of man-eating-zombie spiders, flesh-ripping alligators, and swamp creatures. “Which jungle?” I asked weakly.

“The Everglades, I think.”

I absorbed that. “That’s in Florida.”

He waved a hand. “Same thing.”

Saul – TWO WEEKS LATER

I lay face down in the brush, watching the gates, my finger resting lightly on my Barrett M107. I’d never specialized officially as a sniper, but I could have done so easily. I preferred the hands-on experience I had gotten with the recruits rather than lying motionless for hours at a time with a finger on the trigger. Funny how it would come in useful now, though.

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