Bad Daddy (Blue Collar Daddies #3)
1. Carter
CHAPTER 1
Carter
S itting on a bench, traffic buzzing, and people milling around, I grow increasingly annoyed with myself. The fizzling sound of the hot dog stand barely fifteen feet away only adds to my aggravation.
I lift a burning cigarette to my mouth and inhale deeply before blowing out a smoke ring into a city that has no idea what carnage unfolds inside me.
Cece fucking Brown.
Barely eighteen.
Still attending Atalanta Prep.
Younger than my fucking daughter, Della. And the object of an obsession I can’t control.
It’s been a little over a year since I met her, since my life started spiraling out of control, and I can’t seem to stop thinking about her. It doesn’t matter that she’s basically a child or that she’s oblivious to the way I want her. She has no idea of the lengths I’ve gone to in order to keep an eye on her.
I’ve installed cameras at her school and in her house and put a tracker on her phone and backpack because she always forgets her phone but never that damn bag. Cece loves to draw and write. It’s where she allows herself to feel life.
Her egg donor is a fucking bitch. A woman who has spent more time spreading her legs than cooking for her own child. Because of that, she doesn’t have a clue who Cece’s sperm donor is either.
Our chance meeting at the Cavanaugh’s house last year changed my life and, unbeknownst to Cece, hers, too.
I’ve been waiting, biding my time, setting up the logistics to finally bring her home. My intention was to wait until Cece graduated high school and decided which college she would attend. Thanks to Della, I know she’s mentioned taking classes at one of the art schools here in the city, and she already has a gallery showcasing some of her artwork. However, a couple of weeks ago, I caught wind of her mother’s plans for her once she finished school. Turns out, Cece has been sold for a pretty penny to some asshole up North.
Those cameras in the house paid off big time.
Today, I have a meeting with that same asshole to offer him the money back plus ten percent so he’ll back off because Cece is mine. If he doesn’t take my deal, he’ll find himself at the bottom of the Long Island Sound, never to be seen again.
I’m half hoping he fights me about this. I’ve got too much tension swirling through my body, and I need an outlet to burn it off before getting my hands on Cece. I don’t want to harm her inadvertently.
I’ve spent most of my adult life alone by choice. Della has always come first. Before business, before lovers, before everything. Once in a blue moon, I’d slake my need for relief with an escort, but I never desired an emotional connection with a female before. Not even with Della’s mother did I feel much more than care.
As soon as my eyes feasted on Cece, however, I was done for.
I became bitter.
I became angry.
I became obsessed with a girl who wasn’t even a woman yet.
It was sick and depraved. Someone should have blown my brains out for the things I wanted to do to her innocent, curvy body.
Then, one night, I drove her home.
We kissed. A light touching of lips because I couldn’t help myself. I needed a taste. To Cece, it was innocent. To me, it was only the beginning. I had stamped my ownership on her, and she had no idea.
When she was nearly killed with Odette Cavanaugh, I began surveilling her. The cameras, the stalking, the craving I have for her is unparalleled to anything I’ve ever experienced.
For nearly twenty years, I’ve run the guns and drugs coming in and out of Long Island with the help of several deals between the Cavanaugh, Torrio, and Moretti families. We’re allies in the underworld of New York and New Jersey. Our families have worked together for generations.
We’ve never been closer than we are today, and having found Cece through her friendship with Odette will only solidify our relationship in the future. All I need to do is get the woman in my home safe and sound before her mother follows through with her own devious plans for the unsuspecting girl.
“What are you doing here?” Malice Sinclair says and sits next to me. I give him a surly look while keeping my eyes on the front doors of the school. “Cece.” He says her name while shaking his head. “Never thought I’d see the day, Carter.”
“What are you doing here, Malice?” I’m not up for reminiscing about my fucking love life. Not today, not when Cece can’t be in my fucking arms.
“Was on my way to pick up a birthday gift for Odette when I saw you sitting here all on your lonesome.”
I think I liked him more when he was all dark and gloomy. When he didn’t give a flying fuck about anyone.
“You can leave,” I snarl as the bell rings, and I stub out my cigarette.
“See you at her party.”
He’s gone before I can correct him. I don’t do parties. Haven’t in a long-ass time. They’re a waste of time and money.
I don’t stand until I see Cece exit the school, her bookbag hugged tightly to her chest, head down, and hair covering her face as she rushes down the front steps and starts speed-walking up the sidewalk to the subway station.
I keep my distance, not wanting to spook her but needing to keep her in my line of sight so nothing happens to her. This has been a ritual for a few months now, and I just can’t bring myself to stop.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I reach for it to find my assistant, Kimbell Rigsby, texting me to call him.
“What?” I snap before he even says a word.
“Sorry, man, I know this is your quiet time. I just wanted to let you know that Alvin Lisbon is on his way here now. I think it’s a power move on his part. The fool doesn’t realize that he’s meeting on your turf.” Kim has been with me for almost eight years now and loves it when I make a show of force or throw someone off guard. He gets a weird kick out of how people relent to my demands.
“Make him wait in the den. Only him, none of his men. Have Yelena offer the worst coffee she can make.” He chuckles at my suggestion because she can be mean with her beverages when she’s unhappy. “Is Della home?” I might have to change plans if she is.
“She and Holy just left for the cabin for the weekend.”
Malice and Holy have a cabin they like to get away when they can. It’s somehow become Della’s safe haven since her first visit last summer. Despite being abducted from there, she loves the clean air, the lack of population, and having no one to answer to.
“Good. I don’t want her there.”
Following Cece down the stairs to the subway, I keep her in my line of sight while talking with Kimbell about the plans for Alvin. When I hang up with him, I pocket my phone and stay near the stairs as I watch Cece sit on a bench waiting for the next train. She’s tense and keeps looking around, almost like she’s anticipating an attack.
A few rowdy teenage boys enter the platform, and I notice her turn away so her back faces them. It’s a blatant attempt to conceal her identity.
I hold back and watch as they shout and jump around, being menaces to the other passengers before they spot her. They stop a few feet away, and I slowly begin moving towards them as the tallest boy approaches Cece. She shakes her head and scoots away when he sits next to her.
A hand curls around her back to bring her closer to his side, and that’s when I move. Gripping the two other boys by the sides of their heads, I bash them together, and they collapse in front of me.
Sitting behind the boy who is touching Cece, I grip the hand he has on her waist. He turns to glare at me, opening his mouth to spout off, when I bend his hand backwards until I hear his wrist snap.
“Make another sound, and I’ll keep breaking bones until I reach your neck,” I warn. Cece’s wide brown eyes meet mine. They’re filled with a mix of fear and relief as she subtly moves away from him and closer to me. “Cece Brown is off limits. Spread the word.” I release him as he cries out and runs off, ignoring his confused friends on the ground.
“What are you doing here?” The screeching of the approaching train nearly drowns out her voice.
“I came to take you home,” I respond, leading her out to the street and my parked car, a few blocks from her school. She doesn’t protest, which is a relief as we get in and drive off.