Page 71 of Daddy's Laws

Something in his tone set off alarm bells in her mind. Sure enough, he spent the rest of their time in the tub proving to her she’d made the wrong choice.

The big jerk.

CHAPTER24

Stretched out on the couch with her head in her Daddy’s lap, Shannon tried to rub her tummy without him noticing as she bit back a moan as another cramp hit.

Okay, so maybe she shouldn’t have snuck that extra candy after he’d told her she’d had enough, but it was just so yummy. And really, it was his fault for making her so comfortable in her Little space.

Not that he’d buy that, of course. But it made her feel a tiny bit better to think it, all the same.

Just as she was about to confess her sins in a bid for sympathy, his phone rang.

“Crap. I have to take this, princess. Stay here and enjoy the movie. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

Not fair. Her bottom lip moved into a pout as he carefully extracted himself from the couch and settled her head on a pillow. Was his stupid job really so important it couldn’t wait half an hour for the movie to finish?

Another cramp rolled through her tummy, and she didn’t bother silencing her moan since he’d shut himself up in the office anyway. Maybe if she got up and walked around for a bit, it would help. And if she just happened to walk by Daddy’s office so she could hear what wassoimportant he had to leave her to deal with it, that was just a bonus, right?

Rolling off the couch, she crept around the corner to the small room the Monroes had set up as an office. Unlike most hotels, where the ‘business center’ was a wobbly table with a single, outdated computer on top, they’d taken the time to pick out a sleek, ornately carved desk. Across the room was a giant, plush chair, perfect for curling up with a good book on a rainy day, and the built-in shelves were lined with options for doing exactly that.

Daddy was standing in the middle of the office, his back turned to the door, giving her the perfect opportunity to spy. If he turned around and caught her before she could duck back behind the door, she had no doubt in her mind he’d spank the daylights out of her.

But the risk was half the fun, so she settled in to listen.

“That’s a bullshit deal, and you know it. She’s willing to plead out on the unlawful restraint charge, which isstillbullshit by the way, and she’s willing to testify. But the rest of the charges need to go. You’re not sending her to prison, Max.”

Time seemed to slow around Shannon, and a heaviness settled in her gut. He couldn’t possibly be talking about…her.

“If you really think you can prove attempted murder by dragging an abused, terrorized woman into court, be my guest. Murderers don’t turn around and save the person they meant to kill, and good luck convincing a jury otherwise. You really want to fuck with me on this? Come back with a real plea deal and maybe we can talk about MaryAnn risking her life to testify against a fucking serial killer.” Bryant snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Bye, Max.”

“You’redefendingher?” It had to be a mistake. There was no way,no fucking way,he would betray her like this.

But when he turned around, guilt flashing in those bright blue eyes, she knew it wasn’t a mistake.

“You shouldn’t be eavesdropping, little girl.”

“No.” Fury bubbled inside of her, fueled by the unimaginable betrayal she’d just witnessed. “Don’t youdaretry to brush me off right now, Bryant. How could you? After what that—that bitch did to me? To Olivia? And you’re going to try and get her off on a plea deal? What is wrong with you?”

“Shannon, you need to calm down.”

“Calm down?” Her voice had risen to a shriek, but she didn’t care. Let the neighbors hear what a complete and utter bastard he was. “You told me you loved me, and the whole time you were doing this behind my back? Behind Olivia’s back? She’s going to be destroyed when she finds out!”

“Olivia knows.” All trace of emotion had fled his expression, leaving behind a stoic mask that just made her desire to punch him in his stupid, perfect fucking nose even stronger. “She’s the one who asked me to take the case.”

“What?” Gripping the doorjamb to keep herself from sliding to the floor like some melodramatic debutante, she struggled to process his words. “She wouldn’t.”

Wouldn’t she?A voice whispered. Liv had been championing MaryAnn’s cause from day one. Any time she’d been interviewed about her attack, she’d refused to discuss the other woman’s involvement, deliberately pointing the finger back at the man who had tied her to a chair and pistol whipped her before trying to choke her to death.

But this… this was an entirely different animal. Asking Bryant to take her case was basically admitting she deserved to go free.

That she shouldn’t be punished for what she’d done.

“I can’t be here.”

“You’re not going anywhere in this state, Shannon.”

“Fuck you, Bryant. You lost any right to tell me what to do the second you took that case.” Spinning on her heels, she raced for the front door, stopping just long enough to grab her purse from the entryway. Barefoot, and wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and a tank top, she fled.

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