Page 22 of Born Daddy

“They already do. I’ve known Detective Sullivan for years, we go way back. I went to the station so I could look at the file, and… Well, I don’t know what I was hoping to find. Maybe if someone looked at it through a different lens, they would see that you couldn’t possibly be involved.” Rogan scratched behind his ear. “When he found out we’d been talking, he not only told me the files were off-limits to me now, but he wanted me to see if I could pry more information from you.”

Rogan wanted complete transparency between them, but he didn’t think bringing up the wire would be a good thing for Tate to hear in his current state.

“But you just said…” Tate’s expression turned to one of pain again.

“And I told him to fuck off, that I wouldn’t be doing that.” Rogan chuckled. “Well, I worded it more nicely than that. Not much nicer, but definitely no F bomb.” He offered Tate a wry smile.

“Wow.” Tate’s jaw had dropped. “You did that for me?”

Rogan nodded. “In truth, for both of us. Not a one-way street, remember?”

Tate scraped his teeth over his bottom lip and Rogan swallowed hard. He’d have to keep reminding himself what the nature of their relationship was and not let his thoughts drift where they shouldn’t. He was a forty-five-year-old man who knew better and that was that. At twenty-three, Tate was much more vulnerable, so Rogan had no excuse to act inappropriately. He needed to be the leader for them both.

“You have no idea how much that means to me, Rogan.” Tate finally gave him a full smile. “Okay, I believe you.”

Rogan arched his eyebrows. “You thought I was lying about something?”

“No… I mean, not like you’re thinking. What I’m saying is I believe that you want my friendship as much as I want yours.”

Rogan smiled. “Good.” He cleared his throat. “With our new understanding in mind and our promise of honesty, can I ask you something a bit invasive?”

Tate nodded, no hesitation. “Anything. I have nothing to hide about anything.”

When Tate’s eyes widened imperceptibly, Rogan frowned. He hoped he wasn’t going to regret what he was about to hear.

“I didn’t think too much about it the other day when we had coffee, you know, when you said you were fine with money. However, I couldn’t help but notice when I grabbed the water that your fridge is filled with about fifty bucks in fresh, higher-end groceries.”

Rogan noted the flush in Tate’s cheeks, so pressed forward. “Your finances are none of my business, honestly. Except my instincts tell me you must have limited means. You were kicked out of your place, you didn’t hold a job while living with Cam and you come from foster care. You’re obviously not a trust fund kid.”

Rogan decided to give Tate an opening to share, rather than make an accusation. “Did he give you an allowance that you saved up? I’m still not sure how the Daddy thing works in that regard.”

Tate’s eyes dropped and he went back to toying with the water bottle. Finally, he let out a long exhale and glanced back up.

“Not an allowance. An emergency fund.”

Rogan’s gut clenched. Jesus.He knew. Cam knew that someday Tate might have to run. The question was, did Tate know he would.

“For what type of emergency? Was it hidden in the house?”

Pictures erupted in Rogan’s mind of what that moment must’ve been like for Tate. The police and SWAT descending on the residence from out of nowhere, catching Tate unaware before he had the chance to destroy evidence or disappear. Hoping to rattle him enough that he’d blurt something out. And more than that, they would’ve been watching his every move. Waiting to see what he might try to grab or what he might be hiding.

“No.” Tate folded his hands in front of his mouth, his face grimacing as if he was terrified to share some horrible secret. “A safe deposit box in a small, local bank a couple towns over. Cam didn’t have any accounts at that bank, had no other association with it. About a year ago, he drove me there then sent me inside with ten thousand dollars cash in what would look to an observer like a thick portfolio of documents, perhaps photographs.”

Tate bowed his head again, then averted his gaze as if the incident he was sharing embarrassed him. “I was instructed to get a large safety deposit box then place the cash inside. I was to keep one key hidden in my room and another under one of the walkway stones. He said I shouldn’t keep it on me in case I was searched.”

Rogan shifted in his chair, uneasiness creeping into his gut. “Did he explain why you were supposed to do all that?”

Tate shook his head. “I didn’t question. That’s not how our relationship worked. It had been clearly spelled out to me from the beginning I was to do as I was told, and that was that. If I had a need that wasn’t being addressed, then it was different. I could ask for anything I wanted, anything at all. But once Cam said a subject was closed, or gave me an order, I wasn’t allowed to challenge him. If I did, it warranted a punishment.”

Rogan cringed. While Tate had insisted that his punishments only consisted of spankings and time outs and other non-violent actions, just the mere thought of Cam and th word punishment being uttered in the same breath made Rogan sick to his stomach.

“What did you think was going on?”

Tate snorted with a shudder. “Not what you think I thought, that’s for damn sure.” He sighed. “The brief explanation he gave was that since I was his responsibility, he needed to make sure I was provided for in case he got into an accident or something. He then claimed he couldn’t put me in his will, because his mom would fight it because she didn’t approve of our relationship. That part made sense to me.”

Tate’s eyebrows pinched together. “The only thing I wasn’t sure about was why all the extra precautions with the key and going to a bank out of town. But then I assumed it was in case his mom tried to take everything away, or something.” He shrugged and gave Rogan a sheepish smile. “I’m kind of dumb when it comes to stuff like that, and Cam was so good with financial things. He told me all about how he’d started with nothing then built his business to what it became.”

“Wow.” Rogan rubbed his chin. “I hope what he did for you gives you some relief.”

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