Daddy’s Orders (Silver Fox Daddies)

I paced back and forth in the hospital waiting room like a caged animal. Emily had been brought to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible, but the doctors hadn’t told us anything.

“You get in touch with them?” I asked.

Roberto approached, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Yeah. Pearl and Marianne are on their way, Renaldo and Edgar with them. Doesn’t sound like there was any other funny business at the gallery.”

“How the hell did it happen?”

“The guard I dropped snuck his way into the gallery through the back entrance, took her out the same way. You ask me, sounds like they’d been watching us for a while.”

“Pieces of shit.” The words came out dripping with venom.

“The good news, if we can call it that, is I managed to speak to the guard I took down.”

“He’s alive?”

Roberto smiled slightly. “Aimed for the knees, figured we’d want to get some info out of him. He said that this was the operation—a desperate, last-ditch effort to kidnap Emily and sell her off before she went with you forever. We acted just in time. And don’t worry, cops have the guard in custody.”

“Charles is dead,” I said. “Checked that myself.”

“Good goddamn riddance. World’s a better place without him in it.”

I sighed, shaking my head and running my hand through my hair.

“You’re right. And after everything he’s done to Emily, a quick death was a gift. All the same…”

Roberto nodded. “Yeah. All the same, you killed her dad. That’s going to take time to process.”

Commotion sounded out behind me, and I turned to see the guards enter with Pearl and Marianne. The four of them rushed over to me, Marianne opening her arms and pulling me into a tight hug that I eagerly returned.

“Is she OK?” Marianne asked. “Please say that she’s OK.”

“Don’t know yet,” I replied. “We’re still waiting on—”

“Mr. Stone?”

I turned and was greeted with the sight of a trim, middle-aged woman in scrubs and a white lab coat.

“How is she?” I asked. The rest of the group formed up around me, all of them waiting for an answer.

The doctor smiled. “She’s going to be fine, just a mild concussion from the fall. She wrenched her shoulder too, not to mention the burns to her wrist from the rope. But nothing to worry about.”

The relief was intense and immediate.

“Thank God,” I said.

“And don’t worry,” the doctor added. “The baby’s fine, too. We ran some tests and didn’t detect anything to be worried about. Anyway, we’ll have you with her as quickly as possible.”

With that, the doctor left. I stood there confused, not sure what to make of the words that she’d just spoken.

“Baby?” I asked. “What baby?”

“There’s a baby?” Marianne asked.

“A baby?” Pearl shouted.

I was in a daze. I turned to Marianne, who stood with a big grin on her face.

“Mar,” I said. “Sorry about your evening getting ruined.” The words sounded like they were coming out a hundred feet away. I wasn’t sure why I picked that moment to check in on her but hearing the word baby had done something to me, put me in a strange state of mind.

“My evening getting ruined? What’re you talking about? I sold seven paintings! And for a lot! I told the gallery that I had a family emergency and they said that it was fine and they wanted to have another showing as soon as possible!” Her grin became even wider. “And I just found out that I’m going to be an aunt!”

Roberto put his big hand on my shoulder.

“Congrats, papa.”

Still dazed, I turned back in the direction the doctor had come. It wasn’t much longer until she returned, letting me know that I could see Emily.

“I’d recommend just one at a time for now,” she said. “Her head was a little dinged up, so a whole group in there might be a bit disorienting.”

I turned to Pearl and Marianne.

“Don’t worry,” Pearl said. “We’ll head back to the penthouse and stay put.” She leaned in. “And congrats, you dog.” Pearl flashed me a smile before leading Marianne off.

“I’m staying here with you, jefe,” Roberto said. “The boys will take the ladies back.”

“Thanks.”

With that, I broke off and went with the doctor. I felt strange as I walked, the word baby repeating in my head over and over again. It felt unreal, like someone was playing a trick on me.

The doctor guided me to a door and opened it.

“She just woke up not too long ago so she might still be in a little bit of a daze.”

I nodded, entering the room.

Emily was laying there and it didn’t matter that she was bruised and bandaged, didn’t matter that she was in a hospital gown, didn’t matter that her lip was swollen. She was still the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life. Knowing that she was carrying my child only brought her beauty to another level.

She turned sleepily over to me, a weak, but warm smile spreading across her face.

“Wow,” she said. “My head hurts.”

I came over, taking her hand into mine and kissing it.

“You’re safe,” I said. “And you’re going to be OK.”

She nodded. “What about my dad?”

There was no sense in dancing around the matter. I shook my head. She turned away from me, staring off into the distance for a long moment.

Finally, she said one word.

“OK.”

I knew that wasn’t the end of it. Her father was a total piece of shit, a real bastard, but he was her father all the same. She’d need time to work through that.

Her eyes flashed and she turned to me with worry.

I placed my hand on her belly.

“He’s fine,” I said. “Or she.”

Emily closed her eyes, a tear trickling down in relief.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Sorry? For what?”

“For not telling you. But I only found out yesterday. Roberto knew too, but I swore him to secrecy. I swear I was going to tell you tonight, but—”

I didn’t give her a chance to finish, leaning in and sealing her mouth with a kiss.

“It’s OK,” I said. “It’s better than OK. I love you Emily.”

It was strange. I’d been debating back and forth how I felt, whether I ought to say the words, if I truly meant them. Now that they were out in the open like that, it seemed like the easiest thing in the world.

She smiled. “I love you, too.”