Page 3 of Paying Daddy's Debt Collector

I want to hop in beside him and tell him to floor it, but my legs just won’t work. I’m still coming to terms with what he did. Did my father just trade me to get out of paying his debts? How could he do this to me? He was never going to win the “Father of the Year” award, but this…this is low even for him.

The truck speeds off, leaving me standing in complete disbelief. I watch his taillights fade into the distance, the engine’s roar still echoing in my ears. Oh god. What did he do? I feel so small and helpless as I look up at these men. The two who held my father step aside, and the big one comes toward me. What are they planning? Is my life about to end? Am I about to be shipped to another continent and sold off?

“You need to come with me now. I’ll explain everything.”

The little white kitten rubs against my leg and I look down at it.

“Can I take this one with me?” I don’t know why I’m asking. Maybe if he says yes, it means he’s a better man than my father.

“I don’t think so. She won’t be safe where we’re going.”

“Will I be safe where we’re going?” I ask as my eyes fill up with tears.

He stares at me, a muscle in his jaw ticking, and nods. “Take the cat. Let’s go.”

Afraid he might change his mind, I pluck the kitten off the ground and hold it in my arms. He walks closer to me and takes my arm gently, leading me to a limo parked two blocks away. His touch is supposed to scare me. Instead, I resist the urge to lean on to him. Somehow, I feel safer with him than I ever was with my own father…even if this guy still hasn’t told me where he plans to take me.

“W-where are you taking me?”

“Why? What do you think I’m going to do with you?”

“My father says that your kind of people do all kinds of terrible things to girls.”

“Like what?”

“Sell them for sex.”

That stops him in his tracks. He turns to me, eyes narrowed into slits. “So let me get this straight. Your father thinks I’m a sex trafficker, and yet, he handed his only daughter over to me. What kind of father is that?”

I shrug. “Not much of one but I didn’t get a choice in the matter.”

He nods slowly and clears his throat. “For the record, I’m not going to sell you. I’m going to employ you. You’re going to be my new nanny.”

Nanny? So, he has a family? That’s the last thing I expected, but then, why wouldn’t he have a family? He’s a powerful, rich man. If that wasn’t enough to convince a woman to marry him, he’s also very ruggedly handsome. Like seriously. All those guys on TV and billboards? They have nothing on him. And I mean nothing.

I already noticed it before, but now that he’s close, I see he has this way about him that draws me to him. Maybe it’s his confidence? How sure he is of himself? Of course, it doesn’t help that he’s way too easy on the eyes. Massive frame, broad shoulders, strong arms.

He’s much older than me, that I can tell. If he’s just a random guy on the street who asks me out, there’s no way I can resist him.

We take a long drive up the freeway and turn onto an exit I’m not familiar with. The landscape takes a quick turn from the grungy concrete of the city to a lush green. Few very large houses sit on acres of land on either side. The kinds of houses I just know are worth millions.

Wow. I’ve only seen places like this on television. I didn’t think they existed around here.

The limo turns off the road, and his driver punches an access code into a keypad. An alarm beeps and the wrought iron gate slowly opens. We traverse a long, blacktop driveway and stop in front of what I would call a mansion.

The three-story limestone house is surrounded by columns that sit on gray slate tiles. Canned lights are positioned to make the entry as bright as day even in the dead of night.

My mouth hangs open. So this is how the 1% lives. “This is your house?”

“Yes, welcome home.” He stops and furrows his forehead. “Do you have a name?”

“Yes, do you?”

He turns to face me, and I see how intimidating he can be when he puts his mind to it. “I don’t know where you think this tough girl act is going to get you, but I know it’s just an act. I know you’re scared shitless right now, so stop pretending. If you behave and do as you’re told, you have nothing to worry about with me. So, I ask you again, what is your name?”

I gulp. “Cassidy. My father’s a Butch and Sundance fan.”

“It’s a lovely name. You don’t know who I am?”

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