Chapter 6
PATRICK
Recognition finally flickered in her eyes, followed by the sharp realization she’d messed up. Disappointment soured in my gut. Even after what Randall discovered, I figured she would play it smarter than that.
“I have to fix this,” she whispered. It took a second to realize what she meant.
She took off toward the back hallway. It led to Kyler’s office.
His private office, which we were currently using new technology to ramp up his security.
It went into lockdown if anyone entered without proper clearance.
Kylie did not have proper clearance.
“Kylie.” I ran after her and spotted her as she stepped across the threshold; the steel door slammed behind her. “Fuck.” It was almost comical.
I veered towards the security office just before Kyler’s door and punched in my code. The bank of monitors sprang to life, the center one with a view into the room. I turned on the audio. Rayna came running in.
“What’s going on?” Her wide eyes scanned the monitors. “Where’s Daddy?”
She gasped and headed back out the door. I grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her toward me.
“Let me go,” Rayna struggled. “She’s trying to hurt my Daddy.” Kyler locked in his office with a woman brought up unpleasant flashbacks for Rayna. She was territorial about her daddy. Natalie, Rayna’s old friend, had the scar on her lip to prove it.
“Rayna.” I sat down and pulled her onto my lap. “Look. He’s fine.”
We added biometrics to the entire security system after the Natalie fiasco, another one of my failures. The room could protect Kyler from a bomb, a plane crash, or a small army, but apparently, it wasn’t little proof.
We watched on the monitor as Kylie ran back to the door and tried to yank it open. I turned up the volume. “Let me out,” she said.
“Unfortunately, I can’t,” Kyler remained calm, if not a little amused, sitting behind his desk. “Kylie, please sit down.”
“You can’t keep me here against my will.”
“I have no intention of keeping you against your will.” He shut his computer screen. “Security measures make this room off-limits.”
“What are you going to do to me?”
“You came in here.” He leaned forward. “What were you going to do to me?” The snark in his voice was unmistakable. He was enjoying this.
“We were having a conversation, and you walked away.” She approached the chair opposite Kyler’s desk but gripped the back of it instead of taking a seat.
“Well, yes, I thought we were having a conversation, but you felt the need to assert some sort of dominance to prove some point. I’m sure you’ve seen in my FBI file, dominant is my default, but not yours, am I right?”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s be honest.” Kyler stood up. She didn’t move, but her knuckles were white where she gripped the chair.
“You have an agenda. If you want to tell me what it is, I’ll listen.
But even with that in mind, you are right; we did come to you.
We have a need, and you have a specific skill set to benefit me and the people I choose to protect. ”
Kyler was being fair, but she was about to walk into a word trap where she would have to reveal something about herself.
“What skills are those, exactly?”
“You’re a former analyst with the FBI. You are fully informed on the latest regarding the sex-trafficking trade. And eliminating it in the world is my personal goal. We align in that regard.” He leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “Plus, you’re a little.”
Rayna gasped in my arms, but the sound harmonized with the gasp from Kylie through the monitor. She stepped back toward the door. “No, I’m not.”
“Kylie, surely you know being a little is not something you should be ashamed of,” the smug bastard said. “And, as I’m sure my file states, you are already aware my dominance leans toward the Daddy Dom side.”
She turned back toward the exit and pulled on the doorknob.
It wouldn’t budge. Kyler stepped up behind her.
He reached around her, and Kylie scrambled away.
He pressed his thumb against the scanner near the keypad and punched in the four-digit code.
The scanner beeped, and the lock disengaged.
He turned around and leaned against the frame.
“Now that it's all out on the table. If you’d like to join us, we’d be happy to have you, but we have some rules for littles under our protection and under our employ.
It’s up to you to determine if you want to follow them or not.
I’ll leave it to Patrick to continue with your orientation.
Welcome aboard or not. The power is in your hands, little one. ”
I half expected him to offer his hand to shake, but instead he stepped out into the hall. Rayna leaped off my lap and ran into Kyler’s arms.
“Daddy, are you okay?”
“Of course, Rayn Drop.” He kissed her neck and carried her off down the hall. I watched the monitors as Kylie lowered herself onto the couch along the wall, staring at the open door.
I gave her a minute to collect herself. I keyed in the code, shutting down the monitors and resetting the panic room's security, my mind on the woman waiting just outside.
I stepped into the doorway, waiting for her to acknowledge me.
She sat slumped, her chin resting in her hands, scanning the floor.
Her head shook from side to side. She seemed to be having some sort of internal dialogue with herself.
“Kylie.” Her gaze shot up, taking me in. She stood and wiped her hands on her dress. She took a tentative step towards me but stopped. Her chin dropped to her chest.
“I’d like to leave, please.” She was at war with her little. Her voice came out so childlike, I had to refrain from pulling her into my arms and holding her tight instead of stepping to the side.
“I’ll walk you out.” She nodded but didn’t look at me.
She stepped around me, out the door, and down the hall.
Her steps were slow but measured. Her fingers worked at a loose thread on the sleeve of her sweater, pulling at it, then smoothing it back down, then pulling again. Something tightened in my chest.
We got to the front door of the apartment. Kylie reached out for the doorknob, but it wouldn’t turn. She gasped and tried again with more effort.
“Ugh.” She pushed and pulled at the door. Her panic turned into anger. She glared and raised her foot. I pulled her back before she broke it, kicking the double-enforced steel door that wouldn’t budge. Why was she so set on trying to prove something and not ask for help?
I pressed my thumb against the panel, and the door clicked and released. I pulled it open further.
She whispered something under her breath.
“What was that?”
“I said son of a bitch.” She raised her head and adjusted her shoulders, and walked out the door.
I followed.
“You calling me a son of a bitch?” I was more amused than angry.
“No, the door.” She waved back at it, reiterating her annoyance at the inanimate object. “This whole thing. You're trying to keep people out or keep people in?”
“Like Kyler stated, you are always free to go.” She reached the elevator and pressed the button. Nothing happened.
I pressed the button, and it lit up.
“Are you fucking serious?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“You always curse this much?” I asked.
“Yes, when I'm mad.”
“What are you mad about?” The elevator arrived. I stepped in, but she remained in the hall, biting her lip. She looked every bit the little I imagined. Feisty, defiant, bratty and super cute.
Not really the kind of little I like. I didn’t need blind obedience, but I didn’t want to wrangle a brat all day, every day.
But on Kylie, it was endearing and appealing.
So damn appealing. It awakened all my daddy senses.
The skin on my palm tingled from the need to correct her in a more impactful manner.
We were nowhere near that, but it seemed like she didn’t want to leave, and I really wanted her to stay.
She opened her mouth—
“Why don’t you hold that thought, and we can talk more in my office.” I pressed the third-floor button.
She hopped into the elevator as the doors closed.
I sent a message to my assistant to reschedule a couple of meetings. It wasn’t a good idea to let Kylie out of my sight.
The elevator stopped on the corporate floors for all the Quadrangle Hotels. We had another office in New York where Grant Enterprises was housed. The Quads were an entity under the Grant Enterprises umbrella.
I stepped out. Kylie fell in line behind me. The hallway was relatively empty. I nodded at a few people as we passed.
My assistant met us halfway to my office.
“I can reschedule everything,” Collin said. “Should I cancel your dinner with Mr. Evans?”
“Not yet.” He handed me a folder. Probably assignments for the different events going on at the hotel for the upcoming weekend.
Collin was baby-faced, but he was more put together and organized than anyone I’ve ever met.
Everyone has tried to steal him away from me, including Kyler, but when it came to priorities in the company, security was at the top of the list and what security wanted, security got.
“Ms. Stands.” He fell in step beside Kylie. “Can I get you something? Coffee, tea, soda? I can have your chocolate and peanut butter smoothie brought over from Blenders.” He looked at his phone.
“Does everyone know everything about me?” She stared at the ground and nodded toward him.
Collin blinked and looked up.
“Well, not everyone, but you know. We are in the security business.” He chuckled. “It’s kind of our job to pay attention to stuff.”
“Get her the smoothie.” I stepped through the open door of my office. Kylie stopped at the door and peeked in. “It’s perfectly safe. We can even leave the door open if it will make you feel better.”