Page 1 of Bad Daddy

CHAPTER 1

Carter

Sitting on a bench, traffic buzzing, and people milling around, I grow increasingly annoyed with myself. The fizzling sound of the hot dog stand barely fifteen feet away only adds to my aggravation.

I lift a burning cigarette to my mouth and inhale deeply before blowing out a smoke ring into a city that has no idea what carnage unfolds inside me.

Cece fucking Brown.

Barely eighteen.

Still attending Atalanta Prep.

Younger than my fucking daughter, Della. And the object of an obsession I can’t control.

It’s been a little over a year since I met her, since my life started spiraling out of control, and I can’t seem to stop thinking about her. It doesn’t matter that she’s basically a child or that she’s oblivious to the way I want her. She has no idea of the lengths I’ve gone to in order to keep an eye on her.

I’ve installed cameras at her school and in her house and put a tracker on her phone and backpack because she always forgets her phone but never that damn bag. Cece loves to draw and write. It’s where she allows herself to feel life.

Her egg donor is a fucking bitch. A woman who has spent more time spreading her legs than cooking for her own child. Because of that, she doesn’t have a clue who Cece’s sperm donor is either.

Our chance meeting at the Cavanaugh’s house last year changed my life and, unbeknownst to Cece, hers, too.

I’ve been waiting, biding my time, setting up the logistics to finally bring her home. My intention was to wait until Cece graduated high school and decided which college she would attend. Thanks to Della, I know she’s mentioned taking classes at one of the art schools here in the city, and she already has a gallery showcasing some of her artwork. However, a couple of weeks ago, I caught wind of her mother’s plans for her once she finished school. Turns out, Cece has been sold for a pretty penny to some asshole up North.

Those cameras in the house paid off big time.

Today, I have a meeting with that same asshole to offer him the money back plus ten percent so he’ll back off because Cece is mine. If he doesn’t take my deal, he’ll find himself at the bottom of the Long Island Sound, never to be seen again.

I’m half hoping he fights me about this. I’ve got too much tension swirling through my body, and I need an outlet to burn it off before getting my hands on Cece. I don’t want to harm her inadvertently.

I’ve spent most of my adult life alone by choice. Della has always come first. Before business, before lovers, before everything. Once in a blue moon, I’d slake my need for relief with an escort, but I never desired an emotional connection with a female before. Not even with Della’s mother did I feel much more than care.

As soon as my eyes feasted on Cece, however, I was done for.

I became bitter.

I became angry.

I became obsessed with a girl who wasn’t even a woman yet.

It was sick and depraved. Someone should have blown my brains out for the things I wanted to do to her innocent, curvy body.

Then, one night, I drove her home.

We kissed. A light touching of lips because I couldn’t help myself. I needed a taste. To Cece, it was innocent. To me, it was only the beginning. I had stamped my ownership on her, and she had no idea.

When she was nearly killed with Odette Cavanaugh, I began surveilling her. The cameras, the stalking, the craving I have for her is unparalleled to anything I’ve ever experienced.

For nearly twenty years, I’ve run the guns and drugs coming in and out of Long Island with the help of several deals between the Cavanaugh, Torrio, and Moretti families. We’re allies in the underworld of New York and New Jersey. Our families have worked together for generations.

We’ve never been closer than we are today, and having found Cece through her friendship with Odette will only solidify our relationship in the future. All I need to do is get the woman in my home safe and sound before her mother follows through with her own devious plans for the unsuspecting girl.

“What are you doing here?” Malice Sinclair says and sits next to me. I give him a surly look while keeping my eyes on the front doors of the school. “Cece.” He says her name while shaking his head. “Never thought I’d see the day, Carter.”

“What are you doing here, Malice?” I’m not up for reminiscing about my fucking love life. Not today, not when Cece can’t be in my fucking arms.

“Was on my way to pick up a birthday gift for Odette when I saw you sitting here all on your lonesome.”

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