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“Grady,” Steele said in a low voice.
“That could be me. If it wasn’t for you.”
Steele shook his head. “I didn’t do anything.”
Grady leaned forward. “You saved me. Before I could get to the stage of desperation. Which is what I saw in her face.”
“You can’t save everyone.”
“I know that. I’m not a selfless person. But I can save her. And I want to. So she’s coming to work for me and I’ll be paying her wages myself.”
Steele’s eyes widened. “You what?”
“I’ll be paying her out of my own money. I’ll get her to sign an NDA, don’t worry.”
Steele stood and then placed his hands on the desk, leaning toward him. “You won’t be paying her fucking wages. That will be paid for through the business. Like it would for any employee. Got me?”
Grady bit back the need to snap at him. Cool and calm.
“And I’ll be coming tomorrow night.”
“There’s no need,” Grady said coolly.
“I think there’s every need.” Steele stared down at him for a long time. “She had a soft toy in her bag.”
“What?” Grady asked his gaze up to Steele. “What are you talking about?”
“When I was looking through her bag, I saw it.”
“And what do you think that means? She could have a kid.” Shit. Did she? Had she turned up for the job interview because she had a kid at home to feed?
“Possibly. Or it could be something else.”
“It doesn’t mean she’s a Little,” Grady warned, knowing where Steele’s mind had gone.
Steele’s brother-in-law, Spike, was a Daddy and his girl, Millie was a Little. Spike’s wife, Jacqui, had also been Steele’s adored baby sister. When she’d died, well, Steele had changed.
He’d given up the idea of ever falling in love, ever having a family, of ever having a Little.
Grady had gone to BDSM clubs with Steele. And there were parts of it he had definitely enjoyed. He liked having control. It had just felt right to him. He didn’t even need to get off, but tying up a partner and getting her off or punishing her was enough to satisfy him.
He wasn’t so certain about being a Daddy Dom. That required more nurturing and care than he thought he was capable of.
It was hard to care for someone when you were frozen inside.
“No signs that she’s not either.”
“You have a rule about getting involved with employees,” Grady reminded him.
“Yep. Which is why I wasn’t planning on letting her become an employee.”
“And you don’t want to be a Daddy Dom anymore.”
“No. I don’t.” There was something strange about the way he said that. Something that had Grady studying him closely to see if he could understand what was going on. But then Steele turned away. He left, slamming the door behind him.
Well. That could have gone better. Could have gone worse too. Leaning back in his chair, Grady closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples. He knew Effie had gotten home safe because he’d already checked in with Raul.
The other man hadn’t been all that impressed by her neighborhood. Which meant Grady was going to need to make sure she got paid enough to be able to move.
