Chapter 2
CHAPTER
TWO
Maxim
I was fucking annoyed. Work kept me out all day, people in my fucking face when all I wanted to do was to be at home with my kid. It was her last day before she went off to college, and here I was showing up at five AM, basically hours before her flight took off.
Cursing, I unbuttoned my shirt, stripping it off to take a shower. It was early, but I planned to take Lettie to breakfast. I’d been home today but briefly and hadn’t gotten to see her.
I grunted as I stalked through the house. The sun wasn’t out yet, the house and the world still dark. I made my shower quick, dressed, then tapped on Lettie’s door. “Sweetheart?”
I used to call my daughter a wallflower, but that stopped being relevant the moment she found dance. Ballet really brought her out of her shell and now she was even going to school for it. I had a Juilliard girl and was very proud.
I pressed a hand to the door. “Lettie?”
She was no doubt trying to get some sleep before her flight, but I needed to see her. I didn’t have a lot of time.
Trying not to think about that, I cracked the door, letting sconce light from the hallway into the room. Her small form rose softly in slumber beneath her bedding. “Lettie?”
The air felt different in here, smelled different. I stepped inside, aware something felt…off.
Passing it off as working late, I sat on Lettie’s bed. I put my hand on her shoulder. “Hey. I know it’s early, but what do you think about getting some breakfast before your flight takes off?”
It was the least I could do, but my daughter didn’t move when I spoke to her. I shook her a little, and the moment I did, the scent of something hit me. Something soft…
Foreign.
My nose lifted at something sweet and delicate. It distracted me, and the form beneath my hand scurried away.
It hit the headboard.
A girl with brown skin and wide eyes brought the sheet up over her body, a fury of vibrant curls surrounding her face. She clawed desperately at the sheets, trying to keep them over her body. I rose to my feet. “Who the fuck are you?”
Right away, I flicked the light on the end table and, where I’d normally go for my knife, I stopped upon seeing the girl’s terror. She looked horrified, but she still didn’t answer my question.
“I’m going to repeat myself, malyshka ,” I said, low, menacing, and it did the fucking job. She shrank under the sheets. I snarled. “Who. The. Fuck. Are. You. And where is my daughter?”
And why the fuck was she in Lettie’s bed?
This little one wasn’t speaking fast enough, and I leaned forward. Her brown skin flushed, the fear radiating off her.
I could taste it.
My blood heated, my eyes rolling back a little. My hand moved for my knife, but my kid’s voice had me pivoting around.
Lettie had her purse on her shoulder. “Dad, what’s going on?”
I blinked before I could see her by the door, well aware of the haze I’d placed myself in. It happened sometimes, but I was fully out of it by the time Lettie made her way inside the room.
And this girl went to her.
She was about my daughter’s size, same height but fuller, curvier. She scrubbed her hand through all those brown curls, her eyes dark and light brown cheeks flushed with color. I’d scared her, clearly.
Good.
I pointed at her, then looked at my kid. “Explain.”
The petite little thing next to Lettie rocked on her toes, doing everything she could to hide the fact she wasn’t wearing a bra. She had a big shirt on that ran down to her knees, but her hugging on herself and fidgeting the way she was didn’t hide the fact she had tits.
My eyes narrowed at her, but then, Lettie was at my side.
“Relax,” Lettie said, her voice in the background. I leaned down when she hugged me. My daughter was a hugger. “This is Sia Reynolds. She’s caring for Polly.”
“The fuck’s a Polly?” This Sia was at the door now, looking on the verge of retreat. I smirked at her. Scared, little one?
She was scared. My mouth lifted a little, but when I looked at my daughter, she was frowning.
Her head cocked. “Polly is your dog, Dad. The dog I got you?” She rolled her eyes. “I hired Sia to take care of her. Don’t you remember?”
Faintly. Hardly. I looked at Sia. She was at the doorframe now. “Nowhere did I hear you say she’d be staying in your goddamn bedroom.”
Which isn’t appropriate. There were places for staff.
I’d been quite observant of Sia during this exchange. She’d been well on her way out of the door but stopped. She stood solid in the doorframe and, where she’d been scared before, she wasn’t now.
Now, she just looked pissed.
Her little lips pouted like she was pissed, pissed at me, and I laughed.
This only made her scowl deeper, like she knew my thoughts and was mad at me. Her head cocked, she puffed up like the man I had bleeding at my feet earlier this morning. He’d had a lot of fight in him before he gave up information.
They did that sometimes.
Ignoring this Sia, I faced Lettie. “We’re going to breakfast. I expect you downstairs in ten.”
And this wasn’t a negotiation. My daughter had a lot to answer for. The first question I had was why the dog trainer was in her bed and not down the hall with the rest of the staff.
I left, passing Sia. She didn’t move for me, and I smirked again.
“Dad—”
“Downstairs in ten , Lettie,” I barked over my shoulder, still walking. “And maybe you’ll convince me to actually let you go to school now seeing as how you’re clearly sneaking back into this house.”
She was probably out with that reject boyfriend of hers.
Growling, I slammed the door behind me, my steps quick. I had ten minutes to cool down.
So I didn’t say things to my daughter I’d regret.