Page 90 of PortCity Killers

??T H I R T Y O N E??

The incessant ringing in my ear pulled me out from under my cocoon. Light filtered in through a wide, open glass door. I squinted, hand rolling across the bed where I could feel the vibration of my phone. I was wide awake by the time I pulled it to my ear, a smile on my face.

“Daddy!”

“Hey, baby,” his voice was rough, the low growl of sleep still clinging to his vocal cords, “How did you sleep?”

“Good,” I threw the covers off with a quick look around to see both Valentina and Don were elsewhere before entering the closet to find the door to my room, “I have a lot to fill you in on though.”

“Oh?”

“As per usual, you leave me alone for five minutes and somehow I’ve managed to make a menace of myself.”

Bryce’s laugh made it impossible for me to even pretend to be a grouch about it. I dug through the drawers, recently filled, and found a cuter replica of my normal ensemble: dark high waisted shorts and a crop top.

“Har har,” I drolled, unamused, popping on a pair of beaded sandals, “It’s hilarious.”

“That's my girl, a wild rumpus waiting to start.”

I told Bryce everything, leaving out some spicy particulars. He ferreted them out without my confirmation though, relentlessly teasing me as I tried and failed not to pout over the fact he wouldn’t be attending the pageant tonight.

“I have some things to take care of, first.”

“Aren’t you like, second in command? Doesn’t it seem like you should be there?”

“You missing me, pretty baby?” he asked, the smile clear in his voice, “Maybe I’ll have to sneak in and remind you what it’s like to be fucked in a cruiser with half of PortCity wandering around.”

I let out a shocked, but entirely too eager sound of approval, “You don't even have a cruiser anymore.”

I listened to him adjusting himself on the bed I wanted to crawl into, that I missed more than anything in the world. Missing Bryce was like having a piece of your soul separated, locked in a tiny jar far, far away from you.

“Johnson’s working security tonight. I could get one.”

Johnson had been Bryce’s partner when they’d worked together. Hell, they still worked together, but Bryce had quit the force, preferring not to play pretend at upholding the law and instead jumping full speed ahead into the underside he had found himself a part of years ago.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” I said, pulling the conversation back, “Why won't you be there?”

“I’m more of an underside guy. I deal with the boots on the ground. Vennetti deals with the suit types.”

“I don’t understand, you both have the same position but deal with different people?”

“Vosco doesn’t put all his eggs in one basket. Basically, we each overlap the other to keep a delicate check and balance system to keep distribution of power even and untapped. One of us would notice pretty quickly if the other was trying to screw Vosco over.”

The man’s paranoia was admirable, rivaling only my own, “So I don’t get to see you at all tonight?”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” he teased, “I’ll be picking you up from the house after the party begins to dissipate. We might have to sneak out the back, but I’ll have my pretty baby panting in my bed before the end of the night, I promise.”

“I’m holding you to it.”

“Until then, Aedyn is going to be sending a car to the docks about an hour before the guests are due to arrive. Make sure you get on the five o’clock ride back to PC.”

I saluted him, even though he couldn’t see it, “Aye aye, Cap.”

There was a knock on the door from Valentina’s side before she pushed it open smiling at me. I nodded to her to come in, watching as she climbed onto the tiny bed. She straddled my hips, her cold fingers roaming up my body to cup my breasts. I made a noise, trying my best to bite it back, but Bryce knew my sounds too well for me to feign ignorance.

“And what is going on over there, babygirl?”

I whimpered, the sound of Bryce’s voice mingled with Valentina’s soft skin circling my tight, peaked nipple had me flushed and embarrassingly wet.

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