My Favorite Daddy (Dark Daddies 6)

“What’s going to happen to him?” I ask Brady hours later as we walk back to his car.

He sighs, shakes his head. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t want him to get locked up.”

“Maybe you should.”

I sigh. “Yeah, maybe.”

He takes my hand and kisses me. “It’s over now. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

“What if any client reacts like that?”

“They won’t, but if they do…” He trails off. “I’ll be there for you, if you want.”

“I want that,” I say softly.

“Good.”

We kiss again and he holds me close against him. I feel my whole world shift and I know nothing is going to be the same after this.

“Stay at my place for a while,” he says softly. “As long as you want. And consider our little contract void.”

I bite my lip. “So I don’t have to call you Daddy anymore?”

“Not unless you want to,” he says, a little smile on his lips.

I smile back. “Okay then, Daddy.” I kiss him gently. “Let’s go back to your place.”

“You don’t have to. You’re free now.”

“I know, and this is what I want.”

“Good.” He kisses me. “I really do love you.”

“I really do love you too.”

He squeezes my hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

So we get into his car and he drives me back to his place. I don’t have to go with him. I don’t have to stay.

But I want to. Not because I owe him anything, but because I love being with him. I love the way he makes me feel. I love the way he makes me safe.

And I won’t give that up for anything in the world.15AriaTwo Years LaterI watch as the dogs race across the lawn and disappear into the tree line.

“Not too far!” I yell, but they don’t listen to me.

I smile and sip coffee from a travel mug. It’s nice and hot as I walk along the grassy trail toward the woods. My boots crunch over sticks and leaves and I breathe deeply, taking in the cool air.

Brady calls this the country house, but this is hardly the country. We’re right on the outskirts of the city, basically twenty minutes from downtown.

But this is our little oasis.

Six acres didn’t compute with me at first, but now I know how big this land is. There’s so much space, and the dogs love it. I let them run around without a leash because really, there’s nowhere else for them to go that we don’t own.

I smile down at the ring on my finger. Brady and I got engaged a year ago, right after I got into law school at Temple. I said I’d marry him, but only after I graduate.

He said he’d wait forever.

Hopefully, it won’t be that long.

“Hey!”

I look back over my shoulder. Brady comes out of the house and waves.

“Hey!” I call back.

He walks down toward me. It’s Monday morning and he should be at work, but sometimes he decides to skip and stay home with me. I guess this is one of those days.

My heart jumps a little bit. I love those days.

He catches up and kisses me. “Dogs out?” he asks.

“Somewhere ahead,” I say.

“Careful. One of these days, you’ll lose them.”

“No way.” I show him the handful of treats in my pocket. “They know I have these.”

He laughs. “Clever.”

“I’m going to be a lawyer soon. So I need to start thinking outside of the box.”

He laughs again and we start walking.

After we got engaged, we moved out here. Martha was disappointed but he still hires her to help out around the house, even though we don’t really need her. I think he just likes having her around, and she likes having something to do. She walks the dogs, cooks, cleans, that sort of thing. Sometimes, she just plays cards with us out on the porch for hours.

I commute into the city for class, but mostly I’m here. I’m swamped with reading, studying, all that school stuff. I forgot how intense it all can be.

And I still see Zoe all the time. We don’t talk about what happened with Louis. We don’t really talk much about my old job at all. We only talk about the future, and I like it that way.

“Nice day today,” Brady comments. “Couldn’t bring myself to go into the office.”

“I doubt they miss you.”

He grins. “Oh, I’m sure they do. I’m the genius boss, remember?”

“You’re something like that, at least.”

He laughs and we stomp down into the woods. I spot the dogs ahead, playing with some dead branches. Brady whistles and they come running over, crowding around at his feet, before he throws a stick and they go running off again.

“I’ve been thinking,” he says suddenly.

“Oh, yeah? That’s big news.”

He ignores me. “What do you want to do with your degree? I mean, what kind of law do you want to go into?”