Page 88 of Daddies' Captive

“Yeah?”

“Seems to me that Effie has had someone at her back all these years.”

The kid frowned in confusion.

“You.”

“I can’t do much to look after her.”

“Course you can. And the best thing you can do if she has any trouble, is to call me. Got me?”

“I’ve got you.” Brooks gave him a tentative smile. “Look after her. She’s special. She needs someone to protect her from the bad so she can keep spreading around her good.”

Damn. This kid was smart.

“Oh, and if she’s already eaten her emergency jelly beans, you might want to get her some more. Jelly beans calm her. They make her happy. She especially likes the white and blue ones.”

“Got it,” he muttered.

With a chin lift that spoke of the man he would become, Brooks turned and strode off to where those deviants waited for him.

Christ.

What were the odds that Effie’s nephew would go to the same school as the twin tornadoes that lived with Ink?

Steele turned to look at his car. Right, that was one issue dealt with. Now, to go deal with another.

18

Effie sat nervously as Steele folded his large frame into the back of the car. She turned to him immediately.

“What did the two of you just talk about?”

“Guy stuff.”

“Guy stuff? How can you have guy stuff to talk about? You don’t know Brooks.”

“I’m a guy, so is he. We know the same woman and we both have an interest in that woman. Therefore, we have guy stuff to talk about.”

“Did you just say, therefore?” she asked.

“Why would you fixate on that?”

Urgh. Get your mind focused, Effie.

“Never mind. It just doesn’t seem like a very caveman, alpha man word to use. Wait . . . interest in me? What interest?”

“I’m your boss.”

“My old boss was a guy. The only time he ever paid attention to me was when he was yelling at me.”

The energy in the back of the car changed suddenly. It grew darker, more electric. She sucked in a breath as he turned toward her.

“He yelled at you?”

“Uh, did I say that? Why did I say that?” she muttered to herself.

“Maybe because it’s true. And before you try to lie to me, Effie, you should know something.”

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