Page 95 of Born Daddy

Tate’s body tensed and he lifted his head. “Where did you find it? What did it say? I’ve been dying to know.”

Dan narrowed his eyes as he considered Tate, making the slightest of nods as he seemed to come to an important conclusion. “Meet me downtown, and I’ll let you see it.”

Tate gasped again. “You…? Why? I thought it was evidence.”

Rogan wasn’t sure how he felt about Tate dredging up some potentially awful memories, or perhaps discovering information that would create even worse future memories, but this was a decision Tate needed to make on his own.

“Well, yes. It is.” Dan regarded Rogan before directing his attention back to Tate. “But there’s no reason to hide anything from you anymore. We’ll be closing this investigation. You’re no longer a person of interest.”

Tate went limp and Rogan caught him by his waist before he could tumble to the ground. A sob broke free from Tate and Rogan glared at a sheepish Dan.

“You’ll be holding a press conference, right, Dan? I think after all Tate’s been through, he deserves to be cleared in the public eye.”

Dan still held his head somewhat low, and while Rogan believed his friend held remorse for how everything went down, it was time to make things right.

“Yes, we will,” Dan directed his words to Tate. “I’m sorry you had to suffer through so much, Tate. I truly am. Sometimes the job is shittier than I’d like it to be. But I do my best, I promise you that much.”

Tate nodded. “Okay. I’m still mad right now, but…okay.”

Rogan’s heart was breaking so much for Tate, he couldn’t bear the thought of punishing him anytime soon, if ever. The day—the months—had been more agonizing than anyone should have to endure.

Dan nodded as well. “I understand. Will you guys be meeting us back at the station? I need to get going.”

Tate peered up at Rogan. “Daddy?”

Rogan pressed his lips together, wishing Master Zane were there to whisper what he should do in his ear.

“Why don’t we discuss it for a minute?” Rogan turned to Dan. “You go on ahead. I’ll leave you a message if we end up deciding not to go.”

Once Dan was out of earshot, Rogan returned his attention to Tate, so he could take on the role of being Tate’s Daddy giving him advice, instead of a boyfriend helping his partner. He chuckled to himself when a realization hit him.

He hadn’t had a true boyfriend since his twenties, and one of the things that had always annoyed Sean, was what he’d viewed as Rogan being too bossy. In Rogan’s mind, he was being helpful. Fatherly. But now, Tate not only wasn’t annoyed by that trait, he craved it.

“Why do you want to see what’s in the diary?”

Tate’s brow creased as he lowered his gaze, the tell that Rogan had come to know as his way of carefully considering a query. He lifted his eyes, and Rogan noted the edge of worry in them.

“I’m not sure.”

He shifted from foot to foot, and Rogan had the answer he needed. However, he wanted to lead Tate through the journey of being at one with his decision. Of all the times Rogan would be giving Tate advice, he imagined this would be one of the most significant.

“Come on, honey. Let’s sit down for a moment. The diary isn’t going anywhere, and they’ll be busy with Jace for a while anyway.”

Tate laced his fingers with Rogan’s, anxiety pouring off his boy as they made their way to a nearby bench far from other park activity—including the straggling onlookers and what Rogan feared was a local reporter curiously glancing their way. Once they’d taken their seat, Rogan wrapped an arm around Tate’s shoulders, not giving a damn what anyone might think.

“All right, let’s consider the pros and cons of you reading the diary.”

Tate nodded, his lower lip trembling. “Okay.”

Already Rogan could tell Tate simply wanted Daddy to tell him what to do, but that wouldn’t fly in this case.

“On the plus side, seeing the contents might offer you some closure. Perhaps he wrote about his true love for you, or that he was sorry what he was doing might hurt you somehow. Or perhaps he expressed remorse for what he was doing. Maybe he was crying out for help but was afraid to go to the authorities.”

Rogan had to admit, he’d been wondering himself whether Cam had ever felt bad over his horrific deeds. He suspected not, and while he wouldn’t burden Tate with his own desire to read the diary, the compulsion was there.

Tate peered up at him. “Those were the things I was hoping to find. What are the cons?”

“Well.” Rogan sucked in a deep breath. “There might be details from the crimes you don’t want to know. There could also be the opposite of what I described as being positive. There’s the possibility he either didn’t write about you at all, only Jace, or that he expressed he didn’t care what happened to you. Do you want to expose yourself to Cam’s twisted thoughts?”

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