Daddy's Boss

Wrapping her arms around him, she held onto him. She couldn’t believe she was holding a man that a few months ago she wouldn’t give the time of day. He was dangerous, and he reminded her every single day of what she’d done.

Did he know?

Had her father told him her secret?

She didn’t know, and right then, she didn’t care.

Dawg picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed.

He held her all night long, and she didn’t fight him. The time for fighting was over, but she didn’t know if she could bring herself to love him. Did he even want her love? She had so many confusing thoughts that she pushed them to one side, and instead focused on his arms around her, holding her. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.

Chapter Seven

“She’s not packed her bag yet, or called you all different kinds of scum so I’m guessing you’re safe,” Paul said, whistling by his side.

They were walking down the street, heading toward one of their underground fight clubs. There had been a dispute between two of his fighters, and he’d been called to settle it. Like always, his brother was with him.

Paul was pretty handy with a crowbar.

“Lori’s not leaving, ever,” he said.

“Does she know that?”

“Yes.”

“Why do I feel you’re lying, brother?” Paul asked with a smirk.

“You can think what you like.”

“You are aware that you can ask a woman to marry you, and you don’t need to lock her into a contract or anything, or blackmail her?”

Dawg didn’t see what his brother was finding so amusing, and glared at him.

Paul held his hands up. “I’m sorry, okay. I just find this really funny. I shouldn’t, should I? You and Lori being a thing that she doesn’t even know about.”

He ignored Paul’s jibes as they entered the gym. Several of the fighters that were there stood, but he again ignored them. His brother had stopped his rambling, and Dawg made his way downstairs to where most of the fights were raging.

Ortiz was there, waiting. Both men were being held down by several men, and he looked between each of them.

“You want to tell me what the problem is here?”

“They’re fixing fights,” Ortiz said. “Making bets on who would win and who will lose.”

Dawg looked between the two men, seeing the fear there. “You didn’t know?”

“No. One of the women was cleaning out the locker rooms when she heard them talking. It’s only their fights they’re throwing, and they were not under any instructions to do so.”

Dawg looked at both men. They had good records for winning, and he’d earned a great deal of money off their fighting, but he wasn’t in the mood to be gracious today.

Pulling out both of his guns, he fired a shot at each man through the skull, ending their lives.

“Problem is solved. Let it be known that if you try to fuck with me, I’ll end them.” He turned toward Ortiz. “Bury them.”

With that, he left the gym, and many of the men were quaking.

“What the fuck was that?” Paul asked.

“There was a problem. I solved it.” He shrugged and looked at his brother.

“You never go in and do shit like that. Don’t you want to figure out who put them up to throwing the fights?”

“Go ahead, do what you need to do. I’ve got other things to deal with.”

Before he could climb into the car, Paul grabbed his arm and nodded at the driver to leave. Dawg glared at his baby brother. “You’re overstepping right now.”

“I know this thing with Lori has you focused on her right now, but as the boss, you’ve got to take into consideration a lot of other factors. Did those men make bets themselves, or was someone else wanting the piece of the pie? I never question you, and the fact that I am should be a huge wakeup call, Dawg.”

Paul stepped back.

“You’re not coming?”

“No. I’m going to go and see if there’ve been any big payouts, and where the money has gone.”

Dawg watched his brother head back into the gym. He nodded at three guards to follow him. He loved his brother very much, and he’d never accept anything happening to him, just because his head wasn’t in the game.

On the drive back to his home, he thought about what his brother had said, and knew Paul spoke the truth.

Lori was his entire world, and had been from the moment he saw her. With her in his home right now, in his life, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. Especially after what her father had told him.

Entering his home, he smelled something awful, and as he made his way into the kitchen, he caught sight of something that looked burned to a crisp.

“Are you killing people in my home?” he asked.

Lori looked up.