Daddy's Adorable Assassin (Daddy's Little Deviants)

COSMO

Iwasgoingto kill Special Agent Knight. After a night spent in the stench of vomit, urine, and sweat, it was all I could think about. I fantasized about the best way to do it. If Daddy—no, not Daddy anymore, but Virgil—were here, he would have insisted on a single bullet to the head. It was an effective and clean way to kill someone without leaving too much evidence behind, but a bullet was too good for Special Agent Knight.

Maybe I would kill him the same way Virgil had killed Mother. With a plastic bag over her head, holding her down on the bed and watching her take her last breath. But this time I wouldn’t be watching from the door. I would be the one holding the bag over his head.

As if the vomit hadn’t been bad enough, I’d had one of those vivid dreams in which I was wearing my diaper. I’d woken up to the rush of warmth running down my legs. There was nothing to do but lie in it. At least it kept me warm for a while.

The door clicked open, but I didn’t look up. Special Agent Knight was probably back to torture me like he’d done this morning. It’d taken everything out of me not to spit in his face, but if I had done that, he would have known I was competent enough to know exactly what they were asking and to give them the answers they wanted.

I had a feeling the only thing that kept them from laying a hand on me was them not knowing how old I was. They treated me like the child I’d stopped being eight years ago when Virgil placed a gun in my hand and pointed at the mark.

“Jesus.”

I stiffened. Detective Neely sounded disgusted, and I hid my face in the crook of my arm, horribly ashamed.

“Hey, Cosmo.” Footsteps approached me, and I sensed him bending behind me, which meant he could smell how dirty I was. “I’m so sorry, sweet boy. I had no idea they were going to treat you this way.”

My heart skipped a beat. Sweet boy? Where did that come from?

“I’m going to pick you up and put you on the bed for a little while. Is that okay?”

I frowned. I wasn’t used to people asking me permission to do anything. Virgil usually gave me orders, and I followed them unless I wanted to be a little naughty.

“Is that a yes, Cosmo? I want to get this place cleaned up. No one should stay in this filth.”

My head said he was feeding me a line, but the warmth his words spread through me made me yearn for more. I nodded, and his arms came around me, sweeping me off the floor.

“You’re all skin and bones, aren’t you?” he asked. “Did you have anything to eat yet?”

I shook my head.

“You had dinner, though, right?”

I shook my head again, and he swore. “That won’t do at all. How are you supposed to stay healthy if you won’t eat? We’re going to fix all that right now.”

Detective Neely placed me on the bed to sit, but I clutched his jacket, choked up. What if he left again and Agent Knight came back? I just needed a break. A moment to be vulnerable inside my head without having to keep my guard up while convincing them I was too traumatized to do more than find comfort in little space.

“Please don’t go.” I worked the words through my dry lips.

“I’m not going, I promise. I just need to get someone in here to clean up this mess and air this place out.”

“Pinky promise?”

He took my hands and gently removed them from his jacket. I leaned my head back and stared up at him. I studied the man who held my life in his hands. He was a good-looking man, not as old as I’d thought he would be despite the salt-and-pepper goatee. But it was his warm brown eyes that spoke volumes. Could a man really be as honest as his eyes suggested? They were looking back at me with concern and patience.

He held up his left pinky. “Pinky promise.”

I linked my little finger with his huge one. His curled around mine, and he inhaled sharply. His eyes changed, but he glanced away before I could get a read on him. He tugged his hand back and stepped away from me.

Hunter was gone for a long time—so long I thought he’d broken the pinky promise. When he entered without his jacket, armed with a mop and a bucket, I let out a sigh. If he’d kept his word… I might as well already be dead.

I expected him to pass me the cleaning supplies to clean up my mess, as Virgil would have done. But he rolled his sleeves up his thick forearms, put some gloves on, and mopped up the floors. I stared at him in stunned surprise. He didn’t speak, but his jerky movements made him seem almost angry. Yet when my feet were in the way, he gently raised them and placed them on the bed.

When he’d finished, he walked out with another promise that he would be back. My heart thumped hard, and confused thoughts battered in my head. Why was he being so kind? This went beyond being nice to get information out of me.

He returned carrying a duffel bag, and Agent Ellis followed him inside. I clutched the edge of the bed and glanced between both men. Since pushing me under the cold shower, Agent Ellis had treated me almost as gently as Hunter, but I’d never had to deal with more than one person at a time.

My gaze returned to the duffel bag. It was big enough to contain my body. Was that why Hunter had cleaned up the room? Because no one would need it anymore?