Chapter 8
PATRICK
We discussed her job expectations further before I sent her off with Collin to move into her new place and to give her a behind-the-scenes tour of the property.
And because all the talk of daddies and littles was giving me a few aches, I needed some time out of her presence.
I wish it were confined to my head, but my heart and my cock were distracted as well.
Being around Kylie did things to my nervous system I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Yes, she was inquisitive. The girl was not afraid to ask questions.
Something in the way she talked about her little took me back to the time when I had last been a Daddy Dom to a sweet little girl.
It was why Kylie’s question about my priority between Kyler and Rayna threw me.
My little and I didn’t last very long because I couldn’t make her a priority.
I had too much riding on my relationship with Kyler.
When his parents died tragically, Josh and I both felt an obligation to help Kyler preserve his family’s legacy.
Josh was like a brother to Kyler. They had grown up together.
Josh was like a protector to me. I met them both in high school.
I was a new kid, a poor kid, attending their private school because my dad was the maintenance man and I could attend tuition-free.
Josh and Kyler took me under their wing from day one, and even when other students tried to bully me, I had their protection to stand up for myself. I owed them for that alone.
Upon graduation, while they were off to NYU and then Columbia Business School, I enlisted in the Marines.
Did my stint and completed college courses when I could.
I kept in touch throughout the years. Once I got out, I worked in a security firm and was bored out of my mind, but learned a lot.
When I found out the Grants had died, I knew I had to pay back the favor and protect Kyler and those who were important to him.
“Did I overstep?” Kyler’s voice broke my reverie.
I spun around from my perch near the window in my office. “Fuck, Kyler.” I held my hand to my chest.
“You know, for the head of my security, I figured you’d be more aware of your surroundings.”
“Fuck you. Fire me so I can go off to the Caribbean and live my life drinking Pina Coladas and basking in the sun.”
“Nice to see your retirement plan is all figured out.” He approached the opposite end of the window, staring out with his arms crossed over his chest. “Well?”
“You saw the contract; she signed it.” I turned back to the window.
“Yeah, but you’re upset with me.” The pout in his voice was unmistakable and bullshit. Kyler didn’t need anyone to like him. He did need my respect for some reason, and I’d yet to figure out why. Asking him why was out of the question. Maybe I could get Kylie to ask for me.
“I’m not upset. I guess it served its purpose. No confusion as to what she’s doing here.” I faced him. “If she’s here to take us down, then the leverage is a good thing.”
“Yeah, there’s that, and then there’s the other thing.” He walked to the mini-refrigerator behind my desk and grabbed a bottle of water. “You want something?”
“No, thank you.” I shook my head. “And what’s the other thing?”
“You know.”
“Stop playing coy, Kyler. You’re ruining the tough guy everyone’s afraid of persona.” I chuckled and leaned against the arm of the couch.
“A, it’s not a persona.” He sipped the bottle of water. “And two, I can’t change the way people react to me. Not now anyway. It’s too late in the game and I don’t care enough about how people perceive me to change it.”
“I think Rayna would have something to say about that.”
He grinned. “Yeah, well, speaking of littles.”
“We weren’t speaking of littles.”
“Well, now I am.” He sat in the chair opposite my desk. “And I can do whatever the fuck I want to do. My name's on your paycheck.” I fought the urge to tell him people don’t get paychecks anymore. Although the transfer does come from Grant Enterprises.
“Okay, speak, oh powerful one.”
He smirked. I matched it, fully aware no one except his brothers and Josh can mess with Kyler like I can, but unlike his brothers and Josh, there is a line, and I was coming dangerously close.
His outing Kylie, rubbed me the wrong way.
I knew the purpose and still wasn’t sure it was worth embarrassing her about.
Mainly because he didn’t exactly do it for Rayna and Tinley.
They didn’t know she was little. Hell, she barely accepts her little.
“You are interested in Kylie, and that’s okay.” He tilted his head. “I am happy for you. You should pursue it and see where it goes.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“Beside the fact that there are laws against it —”
“Please, bosses fuck their employees all the time. It’s inevitable. Now, yeah, the dynamic can cause a lot of abuse, but we both know you’re not that guy. There would be no coercion, no quid pro quo, one hundred percent consent; you’ll make sure of it. I trust you.”
“I can’t, Kyler.” I stood and paced by the window.
“And why not?”
“Priorities.”
“Priorities,” Kyler stood up. “You’re using me as an excuse not to fall in love. That’s pretty lame.”
“Hey, what’s pretty lame?” Josh knocked once but entered the room without permission. The whole conversation was being held without my consent.
“Patrick here—”
“Kyler.” I shook my head.
“Is interested in Kylie.”
“The former FBI agent and now Grant Enterprises’ newest analyst.” My eyes cut to him. He raised his hands. “What? An alert came across my phone a few minutes ago.”
“Why does the COO need to be aware of a hire in security?” I was curious.
Josh rarely got involved in matters that don’t concern him.
He stayed in his lane. And with Tinley, he’s been taking less on at work, delegating, concentrating on his little girl.
I couldn’t ignore the tightening in my chest when I thought about it.
He’s lucky. Kyler too. They had found their forever littles in the most unlikely circumstances.
“Well, I don’t. I guess I’m just being nosey.”
Kyler laughed.
“Sorry.”
“No, don’t worry about it.” He shrugged. “I have cut back a little, but I still have Kyler’s finger on the pulse of this organization.”
They both chuckled. Glad they could have so much fun while I was so conflicted.
“So, you’re into Kylie?” Josh was showing me my personal hell. “She’s cute.”
“And she’s little, too.” Kyler added.
“Why are we advertising a woman’s personal business to the world?” I tapped the desktop. “As her employers, we should not be discussing her personal life.”
“Well, what about as friends and fellow Daddy Doms hoping our other friend finds the type of happiness we have found.”
“Yeah, Pat, man, we didn’t mean anything by it, and we just want you to be happy.” Josh was always no-nonsense, but his delivery was always better than Kyler’s. I appreciated that about him.
“Fuck.” I rubbed my face. “Fuck. I do like her, but now it’s going to look like I hired her to get close to her.”
“That and to make sure she doesn’t destroy Grant Enterprises,” Kyler said.
“Destroy Grant Enterprises?” Josh sat down in the chair next to Kyler.
“I’ll explain it later.” Kyler patted him on the shoulder, then turned back to me. “Regardless of your motives, it doesn’t change the fact that a former FBI analyst would be a good fit for what we are aiming to do. She also has the skills to guard Tinley and Rayna.”
“Or she may burst into tears at the first sign of conflict.” I didn’t believe it, but it had to be said.
Kylie seemed confused. It seemed obvious to the true nature of her little side.
All littles start out like that, a deep-seated desire to recapture moments in their past where they had no worries, no bills, no responsibility and wish for an opportunity to shed their adult side and just be.
And, for a lot of littles, I imagined that all it was, an opportunity to let go and be free for a moment, but others like Rayna’s little side had always been a part of her personality and Tinley whose adult side and little side worked as a team to survive and get her to where she was today.
Me pursuing her, getting to know her and her little, could make it more difficult for her to compartmentalize her little like she had in the past.
“If you believe that can or will happen, then I trust you wouldn’t let her anywhere near our littles.” Kyler’s eyes narrowed but then softened. “Listen, I know you care about Rayna and Tinley like family, and while the situation is delicate, we trust you. Trust yourself.”
I looked at Josh. He gave a slight, affirming dip of his chin.
“You know this is a terrible idea, right?” I said.
“Well, if it doesn’t go as smoothly as you want, you can just kidnap her and lock her into your place until she falls in love with you.”
Josh laughed.
“After all, it’s what she’s accusing us of, so it wouldn’t be that big of a surprise for her,” said Kyler.
“Wait,” Josh clutched his chest. “What?”
Josh and Kyler went back to their littles and left me with my thoughts. Not long after, Collin returned from showing Kylie around.
“Collin, come on in, please.”
“Coming.”
Damn, I could let the guy have a minute to himself. I wasn’t typically this demanding of a boss.
“What’s up?” After running around all day, his eyelids drooped and he collapsed into the seat. I should give him some time off or a raise. Probably both.
“Nothing, just wanted to hear how Kylie was settling in.”
“Fine,” he nodded. “I like her. She’s nice and smart. She asks a lot of questions.”
My eyes narrowed.
“No, not like that, all relevant questions.” He seemed to want to paint her in a good light. “She talks a lot and I can talk a lot, so, yeah, I notice things like that.”
“Did she mention if she’ll need to go back to New York to get her stuff?” Her offer came with relocation benefits; if she needed to ship her stuff here, we’d take care of it.
“Yeah, she said she had already put most of her stuff in storage and she could buy stuff here.” Collin waved his hand. “She seems excited to get started. I got on IT to have her computer and phone all set up by the morning.”
“Oh, good. That’s good.” I had forgotten about that.
“I ordered her some uniforms and asked her to provide me with a list of supplies she might need.” He tapped through his phone and then looked up. “Which office do you want to give her, or is she working from her apartment?”
“Can we put her next door?”
“In Matt’s office?”
Oh, yeah, I forgot about Matt. He was head of accounting for Quadrangle Hotels. A nice man, he kept to himself and spent half his time in New York, anyway.
“I mean, check with him first, but yeah, if we can swing it.” Did my voice sound weird? “If not, then put her upstairs, but in an office, not in a cubicle. The stuff she’s working on is sensitive.”
“Sure,” Collin nodded.
“She likes the apartment?” I changed the subject.
“Yeah, apparently, her apartment in New York could fit inside the closet.” He shook his head. “Could never live in New York.”
“Aww, it’s not that bad.”
“Yeah, for a billionaire.” He smirked. “Or the best friend of a billionaire.”
“I don’t think I qualify as Kyler’s best friend.”
“Of course you are.”
“You forgot about Josh.”
“Josh is his brother. That’s different. You’re the one he trusts.” He leaned forward. “And you’re family. Rayna and Tinley talk about how much they love having you around. It’s nice. I love the concept of a found family.”
“Have you found that?”
His face dropped. I regretted asking.
“I’ve no doubt I will.” I knew little about Collin and his personal life. He was gay, but I’d never heard him talk about a boyfriend. He and Tyler Grant were friends and hung out sometimes when Tyler was in town. Collin got along with everyone.
I wondered if Collin had other friends or a boyfriend. Despite today’s events, I knew it was none of my business. He was a good man and a great assistant, and that was all I needed to know about him.
Why was the situation with Kylie any different?
Because how and why she came to us made the situation different. With her coming after us, the normal rules didn’t apply. It gave me a little more leeway in maneuvering the situation to protect my found family from her.
And Kylie from herself.
I didn’t know how this was all going to play out, but it was going to be an adventure. Whatever game she was playing, I was determined to win. I was confident that no matter what happened, I would end up on top one way or the other.