Possessive Daddy Next Door

I order breakfast up for me and Tab. We eat together while playing with a puzzle I bought. I read her books and let her watch a half hour of cartoons while I shower and get changed. I have the overnight shift tonight, so today I get to have a little fun with my daughter.

“What do you want to do?” I ask her.

She stretches and tilts her head. “Tiger.”

“No more Tiger,” I say, turning it off.

She whines, annoyed. I scoop her up into my arms. “Come on. Let’s do something fun.”

She laughs as I swoop her into the air. I grab a bag with some of her toys in it and we head out through the house. We say hello to everyone and I can tell the staff loves having a little toddler around. I take her outside and she kicks a ball around with me, laughing as I punt it up into the air.

“I thought I’d find you two out here.” Delia grins at me and walks over. She’s wearing yoga pants and a sweatshirt. She looks like she just got out of the shower, but somehow, it’s perfect on her.

“Hey, you,” I say. I want to kiss her, but I hold back.

“Del,” Tab says, running over. “Del, Del, Del. Play ball.” Tab grabs Delia’s hand and tugs.

“Guess I got drafted,” Delia says with a laugh and follows my daughter out.

I sit down and watch them play. I lean back on my elbow and smile as I feel the sunshine on my face. Delia is really good with Tab, even though she says she doesn’t have any experience with kids. I find it hard to believe, but I know she wouldn’t make that up. She’s a natural then, and she makes Tab laugh with zero effort.

I can’t remember feeling so happy before in my life. Maybe back when Beth was still alive, but no, even with Beth, things were never effortless. Never like this.

I hear a noise and spot some movement out of the corner of my eye. I look over and Patricks is walking over, a frown on his face. I sigh and roll my eyes up to the sky. I don’t know what I did in a past life, but I can’t enjoy simple pleasure without this man ruining fucking everything.

“Patricks,” I say as he stops and stands next to me, looming in the sun.

“What a cute little family,” he says.

“What do you want now? Just come to ruin my good mood?”

He shakes his head. “You know, Max, that’s only a side effect of all this.” He grins at me viciously.

“What do you want?” I press.

“I did some digging on you. Had to dig hard, too. Had to call in some favors.” He frowns at me. “Nobody wanted to talk about you.”

“Good,” I say.

“But they did. Like I said, I had to use some favors. I’m not happy about it, but whatever.”

“I’m so sorry you wasted your time,” I say, not looking at him. The girls are running and playing tag now and I can’t help but smile, despite the annoying gnat that won’t leave me alone.

“You did something,” he says. “Something big. I can’t figure out what, but the department and everyone in it won’t talk about you. Apparently, you’re in hiding for your own protection, and that fucking worries me.”

I sigh and close my eyes. “Sit down,” I say.

“Excuse me?”

“Sit the fuck down. You’re looming over me and it’s annoying, and I don’t feel like standing up. So sit down and we can talk.”

He hesitates then slowly sits in the grass. He looks like he’s never once sat in the grass in his entire life, like he spent his entire childhood standing at attention.

“I don’t like this,” he says. “I don’t like not knowing. You’re a danger to this house and I need to understand exactly how.”

“If you’d just shut up, I’ll tell you,” I say.

He goes still. “How do I know you’re not bullshitting?”

“You can confirm it with the head matriarch,” I say. “She knows.”

His eyes go wide. “Mrs. Lofthouse knows?”

“It was part of getting her to agree to letting me stay here. Had to tell her the truth.”

“I can’t believe she wouldn’t inform me.”

“Maybe you’re not as important as you think you are.”

He tenses and glares at me. “Don’t push it, asshole.”

I smile at his discomfort. “All right. Look, here’s the truth. I was an undercover cop back in Philly. But I bet you know that much already.”

He nods once to confirm.

So I tell him the full story. I start from the beginning, take him through my initiation, all the fucked-up shit I saw, some of the fucked-up shit I did, and end up with getting those bosses arrested and thrown into prison.

He’s quiet for a long moment when I finish. “I remember that,” he says. “I mean, the trial. It was a huge deal.”