Restrained Under His Duty (Dirty Little Secrets 3)

I force my smile. “Right as rain.”

Of course my father doesn’t believe me. He’s too smart for that. “Did Owen give you a hard time?”

“He was his usual horrible self.” I hate lying to my father and not telling him what’s really wrong, the video on my damn scree

n, but there’s no way in hell I’m involving Dad in this.

No one compares to the man sitting in front of me. I don’t put my dad on a pedestal, he put himself there and that’s why I work for him. I like being a part of his life every day, especially once I moved out. I’ve always been Daddy’s girl and that hasn’t changed with age. I doubt it ever will. But I’m also a grown woman who has needs that are surely none of her father’s business.

While my parents would be less than thrilled to hear that I’ve spent some time in a sex club and partaken in a ménage, I can’t live in my father’s shadow. He’s in the public eye, I’m not, and I’ve taken every precaution to keep my private life private.

As guilt begins to rear its ugly head, I remind myself that someone videotaped me without my consent. And with that, I place the blame where it belongs, on the blackmailer, and ask my father, “What’s up?”

He watches me for another long moment before he asks any further questions. “Your mother was wondering if you were planning on coming up to Napa Valley anytime soon?”

Now that I had this video to deal with…“Not this weekend. Maybe soon.”

“She’d like to see you,” my father gently nudges. “She misses you.”

Mom always spent the summers in Napa Valley. She lived the retired life, always asking Dad to join her. He wasn’t ready to retire yet, though I understood my mom’s desire to get out of the city.

When my lips part to object again, he adds, “Skype is not enough to keep your mother appeased.”

Truthfully, I probably didn’t even Skype her as much as I should. While I miss seeing her every day, she’s happy, and that makes Dad happy. So how can I argue with that? “I’ll get there soon. Promise,” I tell him.

“Good.” Obviously pleased by my answer, he smiles, crossing his legs, and moves on. “How’s my life looking for next week?”

“Busy.” I grab the early draft of his itinerary I printed out last night before leaving and hand it to him. As I watch him go through the papers, one by one, I can’t help but snort. “You know, this would be a lot easier if you’d let me put your calendar on your cellphone.”

He shakes his head, still reading. “Knowing me, I would delete something. Why change something that works?”

In all honesty, I never want him to change, not truly. Even if my life would be a lot easier doing things electronically, he’s old school, and in today’s busy and crazy world, I kinda like that about him.

My father eventually places the papers down onto his lap and watches me again. I’ve seen this look a thousand times. He’s worried about me. So I’m not really surprised when he asks, “Do we need to talk about you and Blackwood being in the tabloids?”

I shake my head. “Blackwood made it clear he’s taking care of the problem.”

“I have no doubt he will,” Dad says gently. “But are you worried at all about being in the magazines?”

“Not really,” I admit. Because right now the tabloids are the last thing I’m worried about.

“Then what’s wrong?” he presses.

“Nothing.”

Dad frowns. “Hadley.”

“Father.”

He snorts a laugh. “You’ll discuss this with your mother then?”

Which in Dad talk means he thinks this is a woman’s problem. And I can only imagine he thinks it’s because I’m head over heels in love with Ryder and things are all complicated. Which, of course, they are, but he doesn’t need to know that. “Yes, I’ll talk to her.” But not about Ryder, of course. Or about the video. I’ll chat about normal everyday life, so that’s not really a lie, right?

Dad’s lips thin. “You wouldn’t be lying to me, would you?”

Of course he misses nothing. “Me?” I point to my chest and attempt to look appalled. “Your princess? Never.”

Dad stands up from his chair and gives a dry laugh. “You are a lot of things, Hadley, but I don’t think a princess is one of them.” He taps the back of the chair as he moves around it, then he holds up the papers. “Thanks for this.”