AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Larissa sighed. “Adam can take care of himself. You have to trust him.” Her words hit me like a hard left hook.
You have to trust him.
Adam had asked me to trust him ten times in the last few days. I said yes every time, but my actions didn’t back that up. I needed him to know I trusted him and taking a deep breath, I found my calm.
“I gotta go, Larissa. I’m okay now.”
“You want me to come over? I can be there in like half an hour. With my friends Ben & Jerry.”
I spluttered a laugh. “Nope. I’m good. I’m going to trust him. I told him I did, so now I have to prove it. Thanks, bestie.”
“You’re welcome. Let me know what happens, okay?”
“Yep. I will. Bye.”
Two hours, three, four… Finally, my cell phone buzzed. I didn’t recognize the number so I let it go to voice mail, hoping is wasn’t Adam’s one phone call from jail.
I stared at the phone, figuring it was a spam call, then, ding. A text from that same number.
Babe, it’s me. I got a new phone, my other one had an accident. Everything’s fine. I’m coming home. See you in ten.
Daddy
“Oh my god!” I jumped and bounced on the bed like a little kid, screaming and kissing the phone. Relief rushed through me.
I ran to my ‘little’ room. Scanning the clothes, I picked out a pretty night dress, stripped off my other clothes, swooped my hair into two pigtails and stood looking at the grown-up little girl in the mirror.
I knew it would make Adam happy to have me dressed like this when he got home. And I had some ground to make up when it came to us, so little clothes it was.
It seemed so odd to me, thinking that three days ago, Adam and I were at the end of our rope. Now, here I was, dressing in this elaborate little girl’s room made just for me, in a ruffled nightie, excited for Daddy to come home.
Life is strange, but I’d never felt more at home, more settled and surrendered, as I had been since Adam opened up this new world to me.
It seemed like an eternity plus two hours before he came through the back door. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see someone in my life. It was as if he was a soldier returning from a long deployment. I thought I might never see him again, and here he was, bigger than life.
I threw myself his way, the sobs from earlier returning, only this time, they were from joy.
“Hey, baby. It’s okay, I’m here. It’s all over.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and jumped up, wrapping my legs around his waist. His strong arms held me against him as he carried me into the living room, collapsing onto the soft sofa, face to face. “What happened, Daddy?”
Adam gave me a rare, full, gleaming white smile and a deep laugh. “It’s all taken care of. Ron’s in one piece, I promise, and I have plausible deniability. No worries, babygirl.”
“You didn’t hurt him?”
“I could give a shit about that worthless asshole. Ron’s car had a little breakdown along the Cass Corridor on his way home from work. Too bad, it’s not a good neighborhood for a skinny hipster like him. Yeah, and for some reason his cell phone didn’t work.”
I frowned. “His cell phone didn’t work? That’s a coincidence.”
Adam chuckled. “Yeah, no coincidence. An old army buddy of mine sells phone blockers and shit. He gave me a device and told me to turn my phone off before I used it, but I was so angry I forgot the instructions and fried my own SIM.” He stroked my hair, tugging gently at a pig tail. “Last I saw, Ron was taking a long walk down a street where he did not belong. No streetlights and no other place for him to go.”
“Daddy, that’s not nice.”
“He’ll be okay. He’ll probably come home a little lighter in the wallet than when he left and his slick little convertible will be stripped by the time he gets back to it, but he’ll be okay.”
That crooked grin crept over the corner of Adam’s mouth. His stunning blue eyes brighter than usual, his face so devastatingly handsome. “But, he will be having a visit from the IRS. Seems they want to know all about his offshore accounts.”
“He could go to prison…”
“Shit, Angel, I wanted to kill the little fucker, so this is a cakewalk. It’s been a shitty few days. You’re lucky I’m not up in the penitentiary serving twenty to life myself.”
“Oh, come on.” I swatted his arm. “It hasn’t been that bad.”
“Fuck that, little girl. You haven’t been on my side of the fence. Shit, I’m ready for a month at our place in Barbados. Or, at least a week. What’d’ya say? Can you get a week off? I know you like your work at the firm, but we need to get the hell away for a while. You don’t need to work. I need to spend some quality time with my babygirl, show her exactly what this cock needs. Like, right now…”
