Chapter Seven #3
a feel for who this woman really was. Anger hadn’t spurred her to make a
confession. When he’d told her the night was just okay, he’d seen the hurt on
her face. Her own pain hadn’t forced her to drop the act.
It had been his pain.
It was me.
Three words that would prove to be fateful for the little
brat because he wasn’t about to let her go now.
“She doesn’t have a concussion.” Nate settled himself into
one of the big conference chairs. He cuddled her close and couldn’t miss the
way she curled against him. “She’s got a big case of doesn’t want to be
here-itis.”
And her lips quirked up slightly.
She was so much fucking trouble, and his dick did not care.
He was pretty sure his heart didn’t either. Falling madly
for his friend’s sister hadn’t been the plan, but he was going with it. He
could have walked away if he thought she’d truly only wanted him for sex, but
she’d clung to him. She’d wanted him as much for the personal connection they’d
formed as the sexual one.
His father had told him sometimes a man’s purpose wasn’t a
job. Sometimes it was keeping one gorgeous bombshell alive and happy.
“Nathan Carter, you’re fired. Get your things and get the
hell out of my office,” her father said.
Daisy went slightly stiff in his arms.
Nate knew how to handle O’Donnell. “No.”
Liam got red in the face. “What do you mean no?”
“I think he means he’s not leaving.” Ian Taggart was a
bastard who obviously enjoyed a good show.
Well, he had to admit his baby knew how to play out a beauty
of a scene. “I mean, you can fire me, but I’m not leaving Daisy. Tell me
something, Liam. Was it you or Aidan who scared all the Doms off her at The
Hideout?”
Devi walked in with a pitcher of water, and her eyes went
wide. “Scared off the Doms? No one would do that. The club is a place where we
can be honest. You don’t understand. We have rules, and no one is going to
shame anyone or scare them off. Daisy just… She hasn’t had any luck.”
“Sure, the stunningly gorgeous submissive with an hourglass
figure who looks like she’ll melt in your fucking mouth can’t find a guy to top
her for a night,” Nate shot back.
Daisy’s eyes fluttered open. “You think I’m gorgeous?”
Her father had done her no favors. “Of course you’re
gorgeous. I thought you were gorgeous with a silly mask on your face. Taking it
off didn’t make you any less stunning, love.”
“What the hell are you on about?” Liam stood, the conference
table between them. “Daisy, get up. We’re leaving and we won’t come back until
your uncle gets rid of the dead weight.”
“You know now that I think about it, it is kind of
weird,” Devi said. “When we go out to clubs in the city, Daisy is always the
one who gets hit on. Like dance clubs or bars.”
“My Daisy doesn’t go to clubs or bars,” her father insisted.
“The only reason she goes to The Hideout is to be around her friends. She
doesn’t play there. Daisy is a good girl.”
“And my Devi isn’t?” Erin was back, staring at her long-term
partner.
Liam froze. “I didn’t say that, Erin.”
“No, you said Daisy doesn’t go to clubs because she’s a good
girl.” Erin’s tone had gone cold. “Devi does go to clubs. She dances and
parties and has fun because she’s young and she gets to do that. So I’ll ask
again, partner, are you slut shaming my daughter?”
“Mom, I’m not… I mean the word slut is really triggering,”
Devi said with a frown.
“Devi, darling, you know I adore you.” Liam O’Donnell seemed
to realize the trap he was in. “Of course you’re a good girl. But Daisy is very
innocent.”
Her father started going over all the ways Daisy was na?ve,
just a sweet babe out in the woods.
Daisy looked up at him, shifting. “What did you mean I made
my choice? Are you mad?”
“I’m not particularly happy you left me sleeping last
night,” he admitted. Then he looked at Liam, who was still arguing with the
Taggart women. Charlotte had joined in. He totally deserved it. “Though I kind
of understand. Is he always like this?”
Daisy nodded. “I don’t think he likes who I actually am very
much. I love him but he doesn’t know me. But I want to know what you meant by I
made my choice.”
He should be plain with her and her father. “I mean you
sought me out last night. You knew who I was and you chose me, and now you’re
stuck with me. You might decide to walk away after you’re safe, but from this
moment until the second they put the bastard in jail, you’re mine. While I’m
your bodyguard, you’re going to be my sub. So take this time, Daisy. Enjoy it.
See if it’s something you want on a permanent basis.”
She sat up, looking him right in the eyes. “Are you saying
you want me?”
“I think I proved how much I want you last night. I know
when you walked in the kitchen this morning, you brought the sunshine with you.
Maybe it’ll all go to hell, but damn, I want the ride either way.” He ran a
thumb over her plump bottom lip. “Typhoon Daisy.”
Big emerald eyes stared at him. Protect me eyes. Love me
eyes. “You’ll change your mind.”
“I don’t think so. Never felt this way in my life, and I’m
going to trust it. So we know where I stand, and this is about you deciding
what you’re willing to risk,” he replied.
“My father…”
He could put the fear to rest. “O’Donnell, you need to
understand something here and now. You can’t scare me off. You can’t pay me to
leave her alone. You can’t threaten me. Words won’t work and neither will
fists. You won’t come between me and Daisy and if you try, well, there’s a nice
place in Australia where we can hide. You’ll see her again in a couple of
years.”
Liam looked like he was about to have a stroke.
“Nathan, that’s rude,” Daisy said primly.
But he understood her father in a way she didn’t. Her father
saw him as a threat. When her dad calmed down and realized he would take care
of her, they could have a good relationship. Until then, he would have to push
the man. Her mum would be an entirely different story. “It’s also true. You
made your choice when you slept with me last night. You thought you could sneak
in my bed and slip back out again. Well, that isn’t how it’s going to work.”
Ian groaned, his head hitting his hand. “Fucking Aussies.”
“You listen and you listen good, boyo,” Liam began.
“Liam, what is going on?” The only person in the world whose
authority Liam O’Donnell listened to walked in. Avery O’Donnell looked like
she’d practically run here. She wore yoga pants and a T-shirt, her hair in a
messy bun. “Daisy…” She stared at them for a moment. “Daisy, are you all right?
Why are you sitting on Nathan’s lap?”
“Because he’s holding her bloody hostage, that’s why,” Liam
declared. “We need to call Brody and Steph because their boy is running wild,
and I won’t have him drag our sweet Daisy down.”
Avery’s eyes were wide. “I didn’t even know they talked.
What is going on?”
He thought he was going to have to explain when Daisy
suddenly draped an arm around his neck and her backside wiggled over his cock
as she went all bouncy and bubbly.
His suddenly hard as a bloody rock cock.
“Mom, I went to the masquerade party last night at The
Hideout even though Aidan told me I shouldn’t, and I met Nate and we had the
best sex. I thought he wouldn’t know it was me, but apparently a small mask
isn’t much of a disguise. I will admit by the end of the night, the mask was
the only thing I was wearing, and that might have been my mistake. I should
have worn a wig or something maybe. Anyway, now he says I’m his sub and I’m
super happy, but I think Da is going to be difficult and I don’t understand it
because he always says I need a keeper and here he is. Also, Nate thinks Da has
scared away all the Doms at The Hideout so I didn’t have anyone to play with,
but Da wouldn’t do that to me, right? Also, the cartel person sent someone to
kill me but Nate saved me, and then Da pissed off Aunt Erin by saying Devi
isn’t a good girl but she is. Devi is the best. I think Da needs some time. Oh,
and Nate told Da if he tries to come between us he’ll kidnap me and take me to
Australia, and I thought it was the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Avery stood there for a moment as though she needed time to
process.
“Do you need some tea?” Erin asked.
“I think she needs some therapy,” Charlotte quipped. “Or
some vodka.”
“I am so confused. Perhaps my family should regroup and find
a quiet place to have this discussion,” Avery said.
Ian stood. “I’m sorry, Avery. That’s going to have to wait
because our friends are here. Derek, thanks for coming. How bad is it?”
Derek Brighton was a handsome man who’d made his way to the
high ranks of the Dallas Police Department. “Well, as I walked in MaeBe told me
to let you know she found a bounty on Daisy’s head on the Dark Web. She’s
running it down now. I think we need to talk about witness protection.”
Daisy went stiff again.
And Liam O’Donnell finally sat down.
Trouble, it seemed, might just be the thing to bring them
all together.