Page 6 of Double Daddies
“Yes, Headmaster,” he responds with a cheeky grin.
“Brat. You’re lucky this car isn’t large enough for me to put you over my knee.”
The banter seems to distract him from his worries, at least until we pull up in front of our building. Thomas is waiting for us at the front door, his face an unreadable mask.
“Turns out it was a break-in after all,” he tells us as we approach.
Beside me, Byron practically vibrates with fury. “Where the hell are the cops?”
Thomas’s gaze shifts to mine, long enough for me to see the hint of worry in his eyes before he looks back at Byron. “Thought you might want to see this for yourself before we called anyone.”
“Why? Someone broke into our home. I want them put in jail. Tonight.”
There is only one reason I can think of why Thomas would wait for us to arrive and check out the situation before calling the police. Placing my hand on Byron’s arm, I give it a gentle squeeze. “Let’s go inside and have a look, then we can decide what to do next.”
“Fine,” Byron says with a snarl. “I want to get a look at the asshole who thinks he can violate the sanctity of this place.”
Behind his back, I roll my eyes at his theatrics, earning the smallest twitch of his graying beard from Thomas. He was my personal head of security before I hired him on at the university, so he’s well acquainted with how dramatic my boy can be.
Thomas leads us inside and up the stairs, which I admit intrigues me. Byron grumbles about not using the elevator for two whole floors until I’m finally annoyed enough to land a sharp swat to his ass. He turns to glare at me, but he wisely doesn’t give voice to any of the thoughts clearly running through his head, and he does quit his grumbling.
Halfway up the last flight of stairs, he comes to a halting stop and I nearly run into him.
“Is that…” He trails off, swallowing hard at the sight that greets us.
“It is.” Thomas keeps his voice low so as not to disturb her. “You can see now why I wanted you to see this before I made any calls.”
“I can,” I assure him. “You did the right thing.”
Slipping past Byron, I climb the last few steps in silence, my gaze locked on the huddled form curled up beneath a worn, hole-filled blanket in various shades of pink. Her face is streaked with caked on dirt, and she reeks, as though she’s been outside for days without showering. Which, if the state of her shoes is anything to go by, is exactly what happened.
“Oh, Ezra. Look at her.” Behind me, Byron’s tone is filled with the same awe I feel looking down at her
The girl at the top of the stairs whimpers, her nose scrunching slightly in her sleep and I know in that moment I won’t be calling the police.
Whoever this mysterious trespasser is, she isours.
Chapter Three
Nicole
Cozy. I’m so warm and cozy, and even though the sunlight is basically stabbing me in the eyes, I don’t want to get out of this soft, warm bed.
Have I ever felt this comfortable before? If I have, I can’t remember. It’s been so long since I slept on anything that wasn’t an old mattress with springs that poked me in the back, or the literal ground outside that it seems like that’s all I’ve ever known. And maybe it is.
So why am I so cozynow? Despite my desire to simply stay snuggled in this impossibly soft bed, my brain is awake, wondering what’s going on. Last I remember, I fell asleep at the top of a stairwell in a building I broke into.
Alert now, I open my eyes but otherwise stay perfectly still. Cool mint-green walls are the first thing I see, along with what looks to be drawings of zoo animals.
Slowly easing the blanket down, I shift my gaze, intending to look around the room, but my vision is partially blocked by wooden slats of some kind.
Where the hellamI?
Heart pounding, I push myself up, and the more I see as I look around the room, the more confused I become. It’s almost like a child’s nursery, except scaled up. The rocking horse in the corner would easily hold a full-grown person, and even the wooden blocks stacked neatly beside the dollhouse seem far too large for a toddler to properly handle.
Across the room, a door opens and the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen steps inside. Thick, dark hair is swooped back from his face and even from a distance I can see his eyes, so brown they almost seem black, boring into mine. I've never had someone stare at me so intensely, and even though the fear is starting to overtake the confusion, I can’t look away.
“You’re awake. I trust you slept well, little one?”
