AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You need your sleep, kid,” Steele said. “Make sure you get it.”
Brooks threw his shoulders back. He wasn’t ready for them to look out for him. Probably a good thing since Grady didn’t have a clue about looking after a sixteen-year-old kid.
“I can take care of myself.”
“Sorry. Meant no disrespect. You have my number, use it if you need to.”
Brooks just nodded.
“Lock up behind us,” Grady urged.
“I always lock up.”
26
After making sure that Brooks had locked up, they walked to the car and got in. But Steele didn’t tell Raul to leave yet.
“That went better than I thought,” Steele said.
“It did?” How was he expecting it to go?
“Kid is protective of his aunt. But I think he knows I’ll look out for her since I looked out for him with those little assholes who were bullying him. He’s a good kid, and Effie had a big hand in raising him. And that’s despite the fact that she’s obviously had a lot of struggles. She’s strong.”
Good. Effie was going to need to be strong in order to be with them.
“I don’t want to leave her,” Grady said. “Not when she’s . . . vulnerable.”
“I don’t either. But the kid was going to freak if we said we were staying.”
“Never known you to care so much about someone else’s feelings when you want something,” Grady commented.
“He means a lot to her. She freaked the fuck out when she thought he was in trouble at that school. The kid is her kid, even if she didn’t give birth to him. That means we have to tread carefully with both of them. I’m not real good at treading carefully, we both know that. So I’m going to need your help.”
Ordinarily, he’d give Steele whatever he asked for. But in this instance, he wasn’t sure that he could help Steele hold back.
“I’ll try. It won’t be easy, though. I want her out of there. Both of them.”
Steele grunted, but he was clearly deep in thought. He hit the privacy screen button, lowering it. “Take us back to Pinkies, Raul.”
“You bet,” Raul replied.
He raised the screen again before turning to Grady. “She’s definitely a Little.”
“Yes, she is.”
“You’re not a Daddy Dom.”
Grady frowned.
“I wasn’t going to say anything bad about that. Just feeling you out . . . are you all right with her Little side? You know I’ll take care of her. You don’t have to do any of that.”
Grady tapped his fingers against his thigh, thinking. “I know that. But if this happens again. Or if she needs to regress . . . I want to know how to take care of her.”
Steele shot him a startled look. “Yeah?”
“Yes. Perhaps there is some Daddy Dom in me after all. I’m not sure how it will go, though. Perhaps I’ll fail at it.”
“Thomas, you’ve never failed at anything in your life.”
