Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 141428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Panic filled her face. Shit. This wasn’t good for her. She shouldn’t be worrying about anything right now.
This was something small. Something he could easily take care of for her, take off her caseload.
“Do not worry about this. I will take care of it. Do you need me to take over again?”
She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, shaking her head.
Disappointment hit him. That wasn’t too much of a surprise. Hayes enjoyed being a Daddy Dom. And he’d missed that. Missed having someone to take care of and pamper.
Shit.
“How can I not worry?” she asked.
“I already told you. Because I will take care of it.”
Devi gave him a suspicious look. “What does that mean?”
“It means, trust me.”
“I don’t trust easily.”
“But you do trust me, don’t you, baby girl? You trust that I’ll look after you.”
“I’m just scared what happens after you’re gone,” Devi whispered.
Shit. Those words hit him hard. He wanted to tell her that he was going nowhere. But he had to leave eventually. Right?
“I’m not leaving while you need me.”
He was surprised when she just gave him a sad smile.
What was she thinking?
He’d noticed that she hadn’t smiled once since she’d woken up. But that was to be expected. Not to mention it was likely uncomfortable with the bandage on her face.
But Devi always radiated sunshine and happiness.
He hoped that came back soon.
“All right,” she said.
“Tell me what happened,” he said. “We don’t have to tell the cops everything, it doesn’t have to go out of this room. But I need to know and you need to tell someone.”
He could see the guilt inside her. Wanted to help ease it.
“Give it to me, baby girl, and let me decide what to do.”
He had no idea how much she needed to give him this.
It was eating her up inside.
And she did trust him not to tell anyone. She trusted him to take care of her physically.
Emotionally, she wasn’t so sure.
She was certain he was going to break her heart. But then, wouldn’t that be her own fault? For falling for a man who was in love with another woman.
Oh God, she’d done that, hadn’t she?
She’d fallen in love with a man who would never be hers. It wasn’t his fault, though. And while he was here, she might as well soak up his care and attention.
It wasn’t going to make anything hurt more once he left.
She would be in a huge amount of pain either way.
At least this way, she’d have experienced some care in her life. Some time with a man who treated her with kindness.
Maybe even a Daddy?
Who knew? Maybe now she’d be able to find a man one day. Perhaps this was a pivotal moment that would change her life.
Or leave her heartbroken and ensure that no other man added up.
Yeah, it could really go either way.
She thought through everything that had happened. “You promise it won’t leave this room?”
“I promise.”
“I think I heard you say something as I fell asleep last night,” she said to him. She had to get this out before she told him what happened. “I thought you called yourself Daddy.”
“You heard that?”
“I wasn’t meant to?”
“You gave control to me easily. Didn’t flinch when I talked about a safeword. And you asked for your toy squirrel. Unfortunately, the cops are at your trailer and won’t give us access so we haven’t been able to grab it yet.”
Oh, she wished she had Coco.
“So you are a Little?”
“Yes. Well, I think I am. Rohan thought I was. I haven’t had a chance to . . . to really explore that side of myself much. You’re a Daddy Dom?”
“Yeah. May was my Little.”
May had been one lucky woman. Devi didn’t know what else to say. She was a bit scared to say anything in case she begged him to look after her.
“Tell me what happened, Devi,” he said.
Right. Sure. That was safer territory than this conversation.
“I had fallen asleep,” she told him.
“You actually slept? You look like you haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
“No, Derick, my father, has been off on a binder the last few days. He does that pretty regularly. He used to drink before Mom died, but not as much. After she died, he started drinking more and more. It’s gotten worse over the years. When Rohan reached seventeen, he started looking for a way to get us out of that trailer. His friend Freddy’s dad was the leader of the Black Scorpions. Rohan did jobs for them, building his way up in the gang. I hated it but he said it wasn’t that bad and that he was working to get us out. Rohan isn’t a bad person,” she said desperately.
She didn’t want him to think badly of her brother.
“It’s all right, baby. I learned long ago that not everything is black and white,” he reassured her.