Daddy’s Orders (Silver Fox Daddies)

“Get your fucking hands up!”

I pointed my gun at Charles, then the armed guard. Emily was on the ground, a dazed expression on her face. I’d watched her fall when I’d burst into the place, hitting her head on the ground. Fury exploded through me.

I put the thought aside as I turned my attention to the scene. Roberto was at my side, his gun drawn. Charles stood over Emily, the guard behind her, a pair of rich-looking men standing off to the side.

“What the hell is going on here?” I asked.

The younger of the two men narrowed his eyes at me.

“We were supposed to be conducting a business deal,” he said, his voice heavily accented.

“What is this, Charles?” the older man asked. “Why is Logan Stone here, pointing a gun at me and my son?”

“He’s not going to be around for much longer,” Charles said, a tinge of worry in his voice. “Now, let’s talk about this deal. I know she’s not what you expected, but maybe we can work with that. How about five million? Five million and you take her right now?”

It didn’t take a genius to realize what I’d walked in on. Charles was trying to sell his daughter as quickly as possible, to put this whole situation behind him. We’d made it just in time.

The older man and his son shared a look, speaking a few quick words to one another in Russian.

“The deal is off, Marone,” the older man said. “Keep your damaged goods.”

He nodded to his son, and without another word, the pair began to leave.

“Let them go,” Roberto said in a quiet voice, as if understanding my dilemma. “We have who we came for.”

Charles’s guard stood with his gun pointed at us, Charles himself reaching quickly into his suit jacket and withdrawing a gun of his own. He clicked off the safety, then pointed the gun down at Emily.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Charles said. “Take her, I don’t give a shit. Those two will spread the word that she’s damaged goods and no one’s going to want her. As far as I’m concerned, she’s a burden. But we’re out of here. Understand? And if you take so much as a single step toward me, she’s dead.”

I glanced over at Roberto, his gun still aiming at the two men.

“Now, lower those pistols.”

I saw movement at Charles’s feet. Emily was coming back to the moment, her hand wriggling free.

Everything that happened next, happened in a blur. Emily yanked her hand out, grabbing onto Charles’s ankle and pulling hard. He pointed his gun at me in a panic, the bullet going wide. I fired twice, both rounds hitting him in the chest. Roberto opened fire, dropping the guard with a triplet of rounds.

When the dust settled, Charles and his guard were down. I moved over to Emily’s father, kicking the gun away from his hand and bending down to free Emily.

She was unconscious again. I turned toward Roberto, worry in my heart.

“Call an ambulance. Now.”