Page 56 of Break Me, Daddy

Keeping her footsteps light, she followed him to his office, where he’d luckily left the door ajar. She positioned herself hopefully out of his sight and peeked inside.

“Move them. Now. The safe house in Walhalla is available. How far out are you?” His fingers flew across the keys as he listened to whatever this ‘Merlin’ had to say. “I can have a team there in an hour for the initial prep and sweep. Keep me and the team updated. You know the drill.”

Another pause, this time without the clickety-clack of the computer keys. “Don't fucking apologize unless you’ve got something to apologize for. We’ll debrief when the dust settles. Stay safe.”

Since that seemed like the end of the call, Frankie scurried back from the door and raced to the kitchen, where she slid onto a seat, pretending for all she was worth that she hadn’t been eavesdropping.

“Everything okay?” she asked when he strode back into the room.

“Yeah.” But the expression on his face clearly said everything was very muchnotokay. “I have to go into the office. We’ve had an incident.”

Her heart, which was still beating fast from her race back to the kitchen, sped up even more. “Is everyone safe?”

“For now.” Holden turned as if to leave, then paused and shifted back to face her. “Send me a picture of your breakfast, before and after you eat it. Just because I’m not here doesn’t mean you get to skip a meal.”

Even in the middle of what was clearly a major crisis, he was taking care of her. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Good girl. I’ll see you tonight. Do you want to ride with me to Ice and Silver’s or would you rather stay home?”

She’d actually completely forgotten that they’d invited everyone over for dinner. “No, I wanna go.”

“Good.” Glancing down at his watch, he grimaced. “I really have to get going. Lottie is still taking you to your appointment?”

“Yup.” The smile on her face felt frozen, brittle. Not only was she getting herself in trouble, she was dragging Lottie into her lie, as well.

“I expect an update tonight.”

“Yes, Daddy. Shouldn’t you be leaving to go save the world or whatever?”

“Watch the snark, little girl. I’ll see you tonight.”

And with that, he finally turned on his heel and left the kitchen. She didn’t pull in an easy breath until she heard the front door shut behind him, followed by the beeping sound of him setting the lock.

But even then, worry churned in her gut. All he had to do was ask Lottie if they’d gone to her therapy appointment and the gig was up. Would Lottie lie for her? After she’d gotten out of rehab, Lottie was the one who had made her go to her therapy appointments regularly. But she also had a habit of shielding Frankie whenever she could, so it was entirely possible she’d lie to Holden and then lecture Frankie later on the importance of therapy.

Groaning, she dropped her head into her hands. She couldn’t ask Lottie to lie for her. Braden was far too strict for that, and the thought of Lottie getting punished on her behalf made her stomach ache even more than it already did.

Plausible deniability. She needed to give Lottie some kind of plausible deniability. If she just didn’t bring Lottie into it at all, then her friend could easily tell the truth and say she didn’t know what Holden was talking about if he asked.

There. Problem solved.

Now to make her breakfast, so at least she wasn’t lying aboutonething today.

Holden

A regular dayrunning one of the most exclusive security firms on the East Coast was exhausting enough. A day spent chasing down where the fuck his team potentially screwed up, fixing holes in their processes he would have sworn before Congress didn’t exist, and assuring clients they were still safest with his team instead of on their own had him bone-fucking-tired.

If he hadn’t already made plans to take Frankie to the get-together tonight, he’d beg off completely. But she needed the normalcy of hanging out with her friends as part of her treatment. At least, that was what he’d learned from his deep dives on the internet. He’d have to ask what her therapist thought of everything they’d been doing so far when he had her alone again.

She was waiting for him when he got home, and damn if his heart didn’t leap in his fucking chest at the sight of her curled up on the living room in his couch, her tablet in hand as she scrolled mindlessly through some social media site. The security expert in him hated that she even had a presence on those sites, but since she was in no immediate danger from anyone other than herself, there wasn’t really a reason to forbid her from using them, as much as he might want to.

It took every ounce of willpower he had not to walk over and kiss her. To wrap her in his arms and hold her, not because he had any expectation of something sexual, but just tofeelher. To know she belonged to him.

But she didn’t. Not completely. So he held himself back and settled for a forced smile when she lifted her gaze to his. “Gonna run upstairs and shower real quick, then we can head over.”

By contrast, her smile was quick and easy, with a teasing edge that had his cock growing hard despite the exhaustion dragging at him. “Want some company?”

Fuck, it was tempting to take her up on that offer. After the day he’d had, the thought of pinning her against the cool tile, pounding into her hot, tight pussy as she screamed for Daddy nearly unraveled him.

---