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

When the door opened, I had no more tears to cry. I was devastated, my emotions too manipulated by the hurt now that the scales of delusion had fallen from my eyes. If he’d been pretending all this time, I could pretend too. And before he knew it, I would be gone from his life. To think I’d considered sharing my sins with him. All this time, he couldn’t be trusted.

Two can play this game of make-believe.

Hunter slipped into bed, but the second his cold body touched mine and he placed his arm around me, all my lofty plans withered to dust. I’d learned how to pretend to be what people wanted me to be, but I couldn’t do it with Hunter. I genuinely liked him.

And he was worse than Virgil. At least Virgil hadn’t touched me once while he tried to kill me physically. Hunter had just destroyed my soul.

How long had he been downstairs? Had he bent Agent Knight over the table on the patio and fucked the other man the way I’d begged him to do earlier?

The image of the two men kissing forced its way back into my head, and I couldn’t hold back my cry.

“Cosmo, what—”

I turned in the bed, fists doubled, and pummeled his face… anywhere I could reach, completely forgetting what Virgil had taught me about fistfights. I’d never been able to win them, but I didn’t have a gun, or I’d have surely put a bullet in Hunter’s head instead.

“Cosmo, what the hell’s going on with you?” I barely got enough punches in before he captured both my arms and held them together in just one of his. I lashed out at him with my knee, and he grunted as I caught him in the stomach.

“Will you stop hitting me?”

“I hate you! I hate you! You’re worse than Virgil, and I hate you.”

“What the fuck!” He released my arm and turned on the night lamp. I scrambled up onto my knees and launched myself at him, hitting him at the back of his head and his back.

“Cosmo, stop it!”

“How could you?” My fists weren’t doing nearly enough damage. I sank my teeth into his shoulder and held on.

He howled and jerked away. His skin broke, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

“Fuck! Cosmo, stop.” He grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked my head back—aaugh, that hurt—and flung me onto the bed.

“What the hell’s gotten into you?” He leaned over me, anger blazing in his eyes. “You fucking bit me.”

I spat the blood out in his face. “Did you fuck him?”

“What are you talking about?” He used the back of his hand to wipe the spittle from his jaw.

“I saw you kissing him. Agent Knight. I heard you tell him that this meant nothing to you. That you were only using me.”

“Cosmo, listen to me. I lied to him, okay? I lied because I didn’t trust him not to pass it on to his superiors and get you taken away from me.”

“How do I trust you? I saw you kiss him.”

I tried to smack him again, but he grabbed my wrist. “If you calm down, I can explain everything.”

“I don’t need an explanation. You’re no better than Virgil.”

“Will you stop comparing me to that man?” He shook me so hard my teeth rattled. “I am not Virgil. I’ve been nothing but kind to you.”

“You kissed him. Right after you kissed me good night. I have every reason to be hurt and angry.”

“Yes, he kissed me, and no, I didn’t pull away. But that was because I was trying to ease his worry about us. I played along.”

“You kissed him.” Panic rose in my chest. “For too long. Tell me the truth, Daddy. No, you’re not my Daddy.”

“I am telling you the truth.”

“Leave me alone.”