Page 29 of Submitting to Daddy
“Then we’ve got a bigger problem.” I heavily exhale at the thought. “If this is covert… or not the Feds… It could be another family. Could be someone trying to make a name by taking us down. We’re gonna have to look at every inch of our operation. Everything.”
“Jagger and Hawk were already on their way into town,” Enzo adds. “They’ll check the security and sweep the apartments and the club when they arrive in a few days.”
Nik folds his arms. “And if we find more bugs?”
“Then we stop talking and start fucking hunting. No one crosses the Kings and lives to talk about it.”
The room is still dark when I wake—the edges tinged with that fragile, pre-dawn gray. My head is still fuzzy from sleep, and my limbs heavy under the warmth of the blanket. I drift through half-dreams as I struggle to fully come to. Stretching across the bed for Cillian, my hand seeks his warmth. Instead, I find empty sheets beside me, cool to the touch, like he climbed from my bed hours ago. It suddenly feels vast without him—the imprint of his body gone, leaving a hollow I didn’t expect to notice so sharply.
Curling up on my pillow where he slept, I bury my face in it and catch the lingering trace of him—the sharp, spicy warmth of his cologne clings to my sheets. I breathe him in and call softly into the shadowed apartment, “Cillian?” The only response I receive is the steady hum of the refrigerator.
I reach for my phone on the nightstand, only to remember I left it on the kitchen counter last night. After slipping off the bed, I wrap a sheet around me when the cool air hits my skin. I move slowly, my body still aching and sore from last night, both from Cillian and that asshole, Hudson, as well. I lift my phone from the counter, the screen lighting up with a mess of missed messages and notifications.
CILLIAN
Sorry, firecracker. I had an emergency. Let me know when you’re up.
I smile softly, staring like an idiot at the screen as my thumbs pad against the screen.
I’m assuming you find it easier to sneak out when the women you bed are still sleeping.
His response appears almost immediately.
If it wasn’t my brothers, Satan himself couldn’t have pulled me out of your bed.
My smile deepens as a strange warmth blooms in my chest. I’ve dated plenty of men who talk a smooth game, but Cillian isn’t like any of them. He isn’t all surface charm. His words are never just words. When he speaks, it comes from the depths of his soul. I can feel it in the way he holds me. How every moment with me stirs something fierce inside of him. He isn’t just saying he wanted to stay—he truly meant it. For all his rough edges and the darkness of his cruel world, he craves this, the quiet and softness that the parts of me I’ve shared somehow bring him.
His next message arrives before I get a chance to respond.
It’s early. Go back to bed. I have some things to take care of. I’ll be back to get you this evening.
I want to argue and tell him I’m not tired or that I need him back in my bed, but I don’t.
Yes, Daddy.
Good girl.
Not being a good girl, I don’t listen. I stay in the kitchen with my back pressed to the refrigerator, trying to breathe through the swell of something that feels too much like longing.Like falling.I scroll through the rest of the messages. Seven more. Three from my mom. Four from an unknown number.
I open the first message from Mom, the time stamp glowing 12:14 a.m.
MOM
Haven’t heard from you in a couple of days and can’t sleep. Just wanted to check in. Call me when you’re up, okay?
The second at 12:33 a.m.
I’m worried about you, Maddie.
It’s followed promptly by the one that nearly breaks me.
I know you can handle yourself, sweetheart. You always have. But just… be careful, okay?
Too fucking late.
My chest tightens as I stare at her words, caught between wanting to laugh and the urge to cry. She doesn’t know. She has no clue how far over the edge I am. For as cautious as I’ve been, I jumped over that cliff without a parachute. Without a single regard for the consequences I’m going to be forced to face. And to top it off, I’m falling fast and hard.
Work has me busy. I love you and I’m okay. I promise.
