“You understand that there are separate rules for little girls and for daddies.” I removed the covers from the dishes I had ordered. Kylie’s beloved pancake was under the first cloche. She frowned until she revealed the whipped cream underneath another.
“Oh, this looks yummy.” She pulled away the covers and swung her legs off the side of the bed. I pulled her onto my lap. She grabbed a strawberry off the nearest plate and popped it into her mouth.
So open and free. It made me regret the conversation we had to have. I wanted that smile to remain on her beautiful face forever. It belongs there. But I had to ask and share some not so pleasant things.
I let her eat for a while. She tasted everything, even my boring bowl of oats, before returning to the pancakes.
I fed her a piece of pancake, but when I took a bite, she snuck a piece with her fingers.
“There are forks, you know.” I pointed.
“Then why did God give us fingers?” She giggled and swiped another strawberry.
I waited until she had eaten most of her breakfast before I asked the first of many questions to ensure my little sneak had stopped sneaking around for information.
“Kylie.” My voice was neutral, not wanting to manipulate her by using my daddy voice. “I need to ask you some things that might be upsetting, but I need you to understand why I’m asking.”
Her smiling, easy going mood drifted away immediately. She wiped her hands on a napkin and slid off my lap onto the bed.
“Your inquiries about Tinley on the dark web. You got some responses; did you follow up on them?”
She exhaled.
“Anyone answering that type of inquiry could be dangerous.” I took her hand.
“Don’t you think I know that?” She pulled her hand back. “I contacted one of them. The one who knew about my sister, but he never replied.”
“Where did you contact him? Not on that server.”
“No, I set up another account, an untraceable one to communicate with him. But like I said, he ghosted me.” She bit her upper lip. “I promise. No other contact. I can erase my inquiry.”
“Did you moonlight as a hacker in your spare time?” I held her hand firmer, lacing our fingers together. “Why don’t we let Randall handle that?”
“You believe me, right?”
“I believe you.” I shifted to face her. “We’ve been monitoring the responses, and I hate to think you are on any of those people’s radar. No matter how protected you thought you were, someone always knows more. Once you’re associated with the Grants the target on your back gets bigger.”
“Daddy.” She leaned her forehead against my arm. “Why are you so loyal to the Grants?”
The question caught me off guard, but if I wanted her to open up, I had to do the same.
“They saved my life.” It was the simplest answer. “I’ve known Kyler and Josh since high school. I went to NYU with them, too, but I left after my first year to join the military. They had gotten me into NYU with Kyler’s connections, and while I knew I could keep up, I wanted to forge my own path. Felt like being Kyler Grant’s second-best friend would get me far in life, but how would I know if it was because of me or who I knew.”
“I can understand that.” Kylie stopped fidgeting.
“I made it through the ranks, got my college degree while in the service, and became an officer. Went through specialized training and was a Raider. I spent the next four years doing specialized operations all over the world. I might still be there if my last op hadn’t gone horribly wrong. Half my team got killed. The rest had severe injuries. I shattered my leg and broke more bones in my ribs and arms. An injured teammate had to drag me through a jungle to our extraction point. He later died of internal injuries.
“I had a year of surgeries and rehab, and the only reason I wanted to get better was so I could go back to that place where most of my team’s blood flooded the ground. I wanted to rest with them. They were the only family I had ever known. Or so I thought.” I blinked away tears before they fell, surprising myself with how emotional the story still made me.
“Oh, Daddy. No.” She cupped my face and kissed my cheek. Tears pooled in her eyes. I pressed my forehead to hers until we both got our emotions under control.
“I had always stayed in touch with Kyler and Josh over the years. Sometimes we didn’t communicate for months, but whenever we were together, it was like old times. After getting hurt, I went silent on them.”
“But you got better.”
“I did, but it took a long time. While healing, I worked for a security firm, but the plan was always to go be with my brothers.” I closed my eyes. “Then Kyler and Josh showed up.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” She whispered.
