Chapter 5
JOSH
Isat up, rubbed my shoulder, and groaned. I was too old to be sleeping on the floor. I sat up and stretched. The tightness in my shoulder screamed before working itself out. I blinked and stared over at the bed.
My heart raced.
She was gone. I pulled myself up. Took a step and tripped over the coffee table and banged my ankle.
“Fuck.”
I small gasp drew my attention.
My little houseguest was curled up in a corner, under blankets, her head covered. Her eyes were visible in a small slit in her little fort.
“Hey.” I sat on the edge of the bed and examined the knot forming on the ball of my ankle bone. “I’m sorry to wake you. I thought you had left.”
She peeked out of the covers again and sat up.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I wasn’t asleep.” She rubbed her eyes and yawned with a stretch.
She spoke. My eyes grew wide, but I looked away. I didn’t think she realized.
I checked the time. It was 8:00 a.m.
“Was the bed not comfortable?” I bounced on it before standing up. I tested my ankle. It was sore.
“You okay?” Her gaze fell to my feet.
“Oh, yeah.” I circled my ankle and took a few steps toward her. I squatted to get to her level but kept my distance.
“Why didn’t you sleep?”
She stared behind me at the door.
“You are perfectly safe here with me. I made you a promise, remember?”
“You always keep your promises?” She untangled herself from the blanket. It took some effort.
“I do.” The position was hard on my ankle. I stood and sat on the edge of the coffee table. “What kind of people are we if we don’t keep our word to each other?”
She scoffed.
“I hate that you experienced differently in your life.” I rubbed my face.
“Why?” She stood up and placed her arms across her chest. “You don’t even know me.”
She had an East Coast American accent, but not New York. And her little attitude gave me hope she wasn’t as broken as I first thought. She was a fighter.
“You don’t have to know someone to be kind to them. And not breaking a promise has nothing to do with you and everything to do with my character.” I rubbed my chest and stood up. She side-eyed me but dropped her arm.
“So, sweetheart. What would you like for breakfast?” We both turned toward the beeping coming from my computer. I took a step but stopped.
“Tinley.”
My head whipped around. She cowered back toward the wall.
“What was that?”
“My name.” She held a hand to her chest. “It’s Tinley, not sweetheart. Or baby, or honey, or sugar.”
“Noted.” I nodded and failed at keeping the grin off my face. I flipped on the screen and spotted a few missed calls from Randall, Kyler, and my assistant. I had a call list for the morning already. I also read a text from Agent Stanley with a folder attached.
I clicked on the folder and Tinley’s passport photo popped up on the screen.
“Oh my God.” She pointed and crept over to the desk. “That’s me.”
I flipped through a few more pages. The words missing, abducted, and companion killed drew my attention from an article on the next few pages.
A tear slipped from her eye. She hugged herself. She was about to disappear into herself again. I couldn’t let that happen.
I flipped the computer screen down and sat down.
“Tinley.”
She didn’t answer me at first. She was off in her head.
“Tinley,” I said more forcefully. She jumped but turned her attention to me. I drew the desk chair over in front of me.
“Why don’t you sit down?”
She didn’t move at first. She glared in my direction but took the seat. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms.
I stood and grabbed the blanket from her little corner and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“I have a feeling my friend who works for the FBI has found out who you are and have a lot of information on you, but I wouldn’t feel right invading your privacy.”
She pulled her knees up and hugged herself.
“I would like to ask you some questions.”
She nodded.
“But let’s have some breakfast first.”
Her stomach growled and her eyes grew wide before breaking out in the perfect little giggle. She nodded with a grin on her face. Her feet dropped to the floor. She looked over at the bathroom.
“Go ahead.”
She stood and scurried off. She had to stop and gather her shorts before she tripped over them. She shut the door behind her and locked it.
My Daddy senses tingled. I didn’t like locked doors, but I understood. If what she’d been through was what I thought it was, it would take her a while to trust anyone, especially me.
I ordered some food and sat down at my desk. Tinley needed some clothes. I sent a message to my assistant to order some things, guessing her size. I also sent out a message to Kyler and Agent Stanley, letting them know I’d speak with them later.
I called Randall back.
His face appeared on the screen before it finished the first ring.
“Hey, man. Where have you been?”
“Sleeping, Randall.” I rubbed my face. “You ever hear of it?”
“Hey, Josh.” Chandler’s face appeared on the screen behind his brother’s.
“Hey, Chandler.” I checked the time. It was late in the US. “What are you doing up?”
“Yeah, breaking up an international sex trafficking ring is an adrenaline boost.” He bobbed around like a kid on a sugar high. “Where’s Tinley? Is she okay? Fuck, what that girl has seen.”
I frowned. He knew more about my little brave girl than I did.
“Physically, she seems okay.” I heard the shower turn on. “How many did they arrest?” I changed the subject.
“The four guys who brought the girls and then four other guys, two Americans, businessmen, but wealthy with much to lose. A Saudi prince who’s already on a plane.”
“Fuck him, I’ll still ruin him.” Randall typed away on his computer.
“Rand, be careful, man.”
“Always careful.” He paused, stretched his neck, and then went back to typing.
“There was a Paris government dude who claims he was set up.” Chandler adjusted the monitor and Randall slapped his hand. “He put the whole party together. They were only staying for the night, so thank God your girl took a chance to escape when she did.”
“What about the other girls?”
They are in the hospital. They all seem fine physically as well. They were wondering about Tinley, but they didn’t know each other.
“Whatever the girls need.” I didn’t have to say it but did so anyway.
“We’re on it.” Chandler nodded.
“Are they connected to Santorini?” I flipped through the file Agent Stanley sent me. “It seems like a coincidence but then maybe not.”
“Ky thought the same thing. Be a nice little fuck you to us for what we did to him in Vegas.” Chandler stepped out of the picture.
Last summer, we helped raid a sex-trafficking party.
Santorini, a minor gangster and hotel owner in Vegas used young women to recruit girls in college looking for a summer job.
Once they got there, they were put to work.
They had a type. A girl with little family and desperate for money.
That’s how Kyler found Rayna. She was promised a job in a hotel making good money for her tuition and attended a party where, unbeknownst to her, she was going to be “given” to one of the party guests for the summer.
The water shut off in the bathroom.
“Guys, thanks for being on top of this.” I nodded.
Randall stopped typing and looked up. He gave me a curt nod and went back to typing.
“I’ll check in with you guys this afternoon.” I reached to hang up.
“Kyler wants you on a plane by tonight.” Chandler slid back into the picture. “Doesn’t want you there by yourself in case they figure out you’re involved.”
“I’m not leaving Tinley.” I blinked; a bit surprised the statement came out of my mouth with so much conviction. After one night, I was connected to her in an inexplicable way. I wouldn’t leave her side until I knew she would be all right.
“Bring her.” Randall said it like I was trying to smuggle a puppy out of the country. There had to be procedures, protocols for these types of things, and what about her family? Why hadn’t they been looking for her?
“I’ll check in later.” I hung up on them and turned when the bathroom door opened. Tinley had her hair pulled back and braided. She gave up on the ill-fitting clothes for the robe.
“I ordered you some clothes.” I checked my phone, and my assistant was contacting our contact at a local place to get what Tinley needed. “It should be here after breakfast.”
I stood up, and she sat on the couch and drew her legs up under her. The robe engulfed her, too. We both jumped at the knock on the door. I grabbed the tray of breakfast and set it on the table in front of her.
“I’m going to jump in the shower.” I grabbed some jeans and a polo shirt from the closet “Start eating.”
She watched me as I crossed the room.
“Don’t worry, Tinley.” I smiled. “Remember my promise.”
She nodded and smiled back.
I stepped into the bathroom feeling like the luckiest man in the world to experience Tinley’s smile.
When I returned, Tinley had finished off a pancake and half an omelet. She stopped mid-chew.
“I’m sorry, did you want this?” She held the plate out to me. I resisted the urge to tell her not to speak with her mouth full. She had laid a napkin down across her chest and lap, but she ate with uninhibited joy. It was fun to watch.
“No. I’m good.” I held my hand out. I poured a cup of coffee and dug into the fruit plate, which she’d yet to touch.
“I can share.” She held the omelet plate out to me again.
I grabbed a plate and cut half and slid it onto my plate.
“Thank you for sharing.”
She grinned and set the plate down. She reached for her glass of apple juice. She gripped it with both hands and took a big gulp.
“How’s your tummy feeling?” I sipped my coffee.
“I think it’s good.” She rubbed it. It was the cutest gesture. “I think it will stay down this time.”
I watched her finish the rest of the omelet and start on another pancake. She sighed and sat back. She picked up the juice again and took smaller sips.
“Did you have enough?” I asked.
She nodded and set her drink down. I gathered the plates back on the tray and set them outside. She wiped her hands on the napkin and then rubbed her hands together.
“I’m all sticky.” She sighed.
I walked into the bathroom and got a wet towel. Without thinking, I reached for her hands and wiped them clean. I swiped the towel across her mouth.
“There.” I placed her hands on her lap. “All clean.”
She stood stock-still and stared up at me. I stepped away from her.
“I’m sorry.” I sat back on the bed. I’d touched her without permission.
She didn’t need that from me right now. Jesus, Josh.
What were you thinking? I rubbed my chest, surprised the washcloth was in my hand.
She sat back on the couch, hugging herself.
She didn’t appear upset or agitated. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes.
“Tinley, I… ” My words faded away. I wasn’t sure what to say.
“Are you a Daddy Dom?”