“Yeah. I…don’t trust him. I’m honestly not sure if he’s going to make it. Not simply because I’m afraid of him taking his own life…I just don’t know if he has any life left in him at all. He might not actively try anything—doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be on guard—but instead, just…waste away.
Fucking hell.I hope Luca knows how to fix this because I…don’t have any ideas, aside from letting him peacefully die in his sleep, or throwing him at Hollis and Ten for them to deal with.
“I got this, Doc. Go.”
“I’ll only be a few hours…”
“Take as long as you need.” Kail practically pushes me out of the room and Soren follows, grabbing my hand and leading me to the bedroom we’ve taken over. It’s close to the medical suite, and that helps calm the anxiousness running through me.
“James will stay with Kail for a bit before he joins us,” Daddy says as he undresses me. “You okay, Baby?”
I take a moment to think my answer over before giving a jerky nod. “I will be. Thank you.”
Daddy kisses me, slow and deep. “It’s what I’m here for, Baby; to take care of you. Come on, get in bed.”
Sliding under the covers, I moan in relief as my body finally relaxes, though tension still thrums through me.
“Shh,” Daddy whispers, brushing fingers through my too long hair. “I got you, Baby.”
Exhaustion starts to tug on me, and the weight of what I witnessed just a short day ago catches up to me.
“Love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too, Baby…” He grips my hair a bit roughly before gentling his touch again. “And I’m keeping tally of all the times you’re naughty…” he taunts, referring to my outburst in the medical suite.
Fucking hell.That both terrifies and grounds me. Knowing that, no matter what happens next, I’ll always have my Daddy.
That’s the thought that carries me into sleep.
“Come on, please?” I bat my eyes at Marcus, but he merely scowls at me as he grabs a few granola bars from the kitchen. I wrinkle my nose at it, because eww, but otherwise, I ignore the travesty.
“You want me to take you to check out the house of Special Agent in Charge Cecily Dowing? Now? While Carter is still down?” He pauses to stare at me like he questions my sanity, which is fair, but still… He’s my best friend. If anything, this should not come as a surprise. “There is no way in hell. Until there’s an order for it, I’m going to watch out for my love, which means staying here. The only reason I’m not with him right now is because Roman is, and I need to check in with my son.”
“And you’re feeding him granola?” I ask, horrified he’d do that to my nephew. That’s just cruel. I’ll have to sneak him some chocolate later. Marcus makes a noise in the back of his throatthat sounds disapproving, but I shrug it off and redirect him to what really matters. “Look, you want Carter safe. I also want Carter and our families safe. The best way to do that is to find out what the fuck is going on. Since Queen Bee was found to be a troublemaker, let’s go take a look. And maybe I can even slip a tracker on her car. I mean, the more data the better, right?”
“You’re bored, aren’t you?” I feign an innocent look, but he sees right through me. “Fucking hell…”
“Come on! It’ll be fun!”
“No. It won’t. It’ll be dangerous. And we don’t have any information from Hollis yet. It’s better to first make a plan. You know this.” He heads out of the kitchen, but I dart in front of him. “Move, Antonio.”
Holding up my hands, I say, “Hollis is going to be busy for a while. Don’t you want to get this taken care of? To protect our families?”
“What do you mean Hollis is going to be busy?” He narrows his eyes, studying me as if he can see all of the secrets I’m holding. Thankfully, that’s never possible, even for him.
Batting my eyes, I smile sweetly at him. “If you want to find out, you’ll need to take me to Cecily’s house. It’s roughly forty minutes away. I’ll tell you on the way there.”
He drops his head back and stares up at the ceiling, as if praying. With a deep sigh, he turns his attention back to me. “Fuck. Alright, let me drop this off to Keegan and Cole. Meet me by the front door, and I’m warning you, if you get us in trouble…”
Snorting, I wave his worries away. “It’s not like Il Padrone is still in charge of us. What’s the worst that can happen? A lecture? That’s nothing and you know it. But I promise, it’ll be fine. I won’t get close.”
Grunting, he passes me, heading toward his family suite. I don’t mention the granola again, even as I shudder from the thought. I almost skip toward the front door, because I’ve beenso fucking bored lately. I want this shit to be over, so I can get everything back to whatever our new normal will be. Is that too much to ask?Hmm. Better not jinx it.
Bouncing on my toes, I wait for him to get there. He watches me warily as he passes, jingling his keys as if someone will hear and come to stop him. I roll my eyes behind his back and head toward the SUV, climbing into the passenger seat with a grin.
Grumbling, Marcus starts the vehicle and pulls out, following the circular drive and merging into traffic. I struggle to sit still, impatient to have fun. I plug in my phone, which already has the GPS set on it, and bite back a chuckle that my plan is already succeeding. From Marcus’s snort, I didn’t quite hide my excitement.Oops.
“We’re just going to take a look, right?” Marcus gives me a sideways glance before focusing on getting onto the highway.
