Page 20 of Collision of Winters (Hillcroft Group #4)

“I was gonna let you search for the gifts initially, but we have to get going soon,” he said, his voice strained. Until he literally dropped me on the couch.

I yelped and cracked up. My stomach tickled!

“When we get to the retreat, we can play our own version of hide-and-seek,” he finished.

I grinned slyly. “Can’t wait.” I scrambled into position and folded my legs under me, and I eyed the delicious-looking food. Two big steaks, lots of green beans soaked in butter and herbs, and breakfast potatoes. Yummy, yummy, yummy. “Sit close to me, please.”

“Of course, baby. I’m just gonna grab our beverages.”

I whipped my head around and smiled so widely as he went over to the kitchen.

“You called me baby,” I said.

He glanced over at me, and maybe he smiled because I smiled.

“I fear I’m going to suffocate you with terms of endearment,” he admitted. “I want to keep you in my pocket all day. Hell, I almost couldn’t leave the bed earlier because it meant replacing me with a pillow.”

I slapped my hands over my face and fell back against the couch. He was saying all the right things! Every damn word, I loved.

“If I get any happier, I might explode,” I groaned.

“Good to know. We’ll throw out your presents.” He could be so silly. He came back just in time as I sat up again, and he’d brought coffee and a soda. He must’ve hidden the soda somewhere. “Only because it’s your birthday,” he said pointedly.

I stuck out my tongue at him. “Soda is awesome.”

“Soda is packed with sugar.” He sat down and sipped his coffee. “You better believe I’ll fight to negotiate that off the table unless it’s a special occasion.”

I snickered, too happy to care right now. He wanted what was best for me, and he had always cared about health stuff. Dad was the same.

“Is diet okay?” I wondered.

He flicked me a glance and offered me my utensils. “I thought you didn’t like diet soda.”

I scrunched my nose and started cutting into my steak. “It’s not my favorite, but Sprite Zero is good.”

“You can drink however many of those you want,” he replied. “We’ll discuss the rest, okay? We’ll compromise. As sad as it is, Daddies don’t set all the rules. But they do have the right to pinch someone’s tongue if it comes out again.”

Oops!

Duly noted.

I took a big sip of my Coke, and it was so good. Ice-cold and perfect.

“Let me help you.” Daddy took my utensils again and cut my steak for me.

I smiled and drank some more.

He loved this, didn’t he? It was easy to focus on how he was making my dreams come true, but he was going through a significant change with me.

All these little Daddy-isms were coming out.

Cutting my steak, watching my sugar intake, being protective and caregiving—last night, he’d made sure I brushed my teeth. Stuff like that.

Before long, we were both scarfing down our meals, and since Daddy had cut my steak for me, I could use one hand to open gifts.

This was so exciting!

“This steak is soooo gooood,” I said with my mouth full. And the green beans? Spectacular! “What’re your favorite breakfasts, Daddy?”

He smiled and handed me the smallest gift. “Few things top a good steak. When I’m home, I rarely eat breakfast at all. On the weekends, I sweet-talk Yaya into making me a sandwich if Quin and I work out together in the morning. That’s it.”

Damn. I would die if I didn’t eat breakfast. Literally die.

I unwrapped the first gift and lit up like whoa when I saw a few packs of Pokémon cards.

“Yay! Thank you so much.” I was about to open the first pack when Daddy told me I could do that in the car later. And that confused me. “Are we in a rush? Wait—everything is still okay with Chris, right?”

Because that’d been the last thing that’d made yesterday one of the best days ever.

Before Wade and I had gone to bed, Dad had reached out to let us know that Chris and his coworkers were en route to go home.

Apparently, details couldn’t be discussed, and we had no confirmation about the “case” being over, but…

I assumed so…? I hadn’t personally been on the phone with them; Wade had handled it.

“Yes, everything is fine,” Daddy assured. “I just happen to know that Declan is letting a new litter of Husky pups out into the courtyard at ten, and I’m thinking you’ll want to be there.”

Holy crap, I definitely did.

I made a gimme motion. “Next gift, please. We gots to hurry!” I shoveled more food into my mouth too.

Daddy chuckled and handed over a flat package, and I tore the wrapping paper.

“Yaya helped you wrap these, didn’t she?

” I asked knowingly. “Oh my God, yes! I love them!” Shit, I was gonna have to rewrite all my lists, because he’d given me these awesome metallic gel pens, and they were perfect for list-making.

“I’ll pretty up all my lists later.” I reached up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.” He extended the third gift next, and yeah, he admitted that Yaya had helped him wrap the presents.

Totally knew it.

The next gift was a hand-sized box, and I lifted the lid. And cocked my head. What was… Ohhh! How did he know?—

“So, Chris told me this is something new you’re collecting,” Daddy said, maybe a little unsure. “You spruce up your old Chucks by replacing the shoelaces…?”

I nodded furiously and sifted through the ones he’d given me. There had to be over ten pairs here. All cool colors too.

“It’s much cheaper than buying new shoes all the time,” I said. “This is awesome, Daddy.”

“I’m glad you like them, but I hope you’ll let me take you shoe shopping if you need new shoes.” He extended the last gift.

I didn’t respond, because it was going to take a while before I didn’t feel weird accepting such things from him. I was already gonna need to borrow money from Dad to buy some gear before I started my training at Hillcroft.

This gift was heavier, and once I’d removed the wrapping paper, it looked suspiciously like a watch box. Wasn’t Hamilton a watch brand?

“Uh-oh…Daddy, what did you do?” I lifted the lid carefully, and sure enough… Sweet Jesus, it was an incredibly cool watch. Sleek and dressy, yet casual and subtly sporty. All black with silver details. Leather strap.

He smiled and took the watch to attach it around my wrist. “Everyone needs a good watch. Especially now that you’re going to work at Hillcroft. You won’t always have access to your phone.”

I had no words. The watch looked ridiculously good on my wrist, and it felt so extravagant.

“I love it, but it looks expensive.” I crawled up in his lap and hugged him tightly.

“Nonsense. I got it from a gumball machine.”

I laughed and shook my head.

He grinned and kissed the side of my head.

“Let’s finish our food so we can—” He was interrupted by the phone ringing.

“Unless Yaya’s security is calling to wish you a happy birthday, I’m going to guess it’s Quin.

” He got off the couch and retrieved the phone from the kitchen counter.

“Huh. Or it’s Chris.” He answered the call. “Everything all right, Coach?”

Oh, right. Chris was known as Coach at Hillcroft. And Daddy was Doc. I had to keep that in mind.

“That’s a relief,” he replied, returning to the couch. “Have a safe flight. Here he is.” He handed me the phone. “He wants to talk to you.”

“Yes, Sir.” I accepted the phone and placed it to my ear. “Hey, Coach!”

Chris chuckled. “Hey, baby brother. Happy birthday.”

“Thank you. Is everything okay?”

“Hell yeah,” he responded. “You think you can go someplace private? I’m about to piss off your bodyguard.”

I lifted my eyebrows. As in Wade?

“Sure thing.” I scrambled off the couch and gestured to Daddy that I was going into the bedroom.

It seemed to confuse him, but he nodded, nonetheless.

“I’m glad Doc filled you in, by the way,” Chris added. “Makes this a whole lot less complicated.”

“Okay. Um, I’m in the bedroom.” I closed the door behind me.

“Fantastic. So I hear you’re our next logistics officer at work.”

Dad must’ve told him. Or Daddy had filled him in too.

“Yessir, if I pass the training,” I said.

“I’m sure you will. I’ve seen you drive and organize projects. You’ll fit right in.”

I snickered. Maybe I was an aggressive driver. Not as in…I was violent or reckless or anything; I was just confident and comfortable behind the wheel.

“On that note, do you trust me?” Chris asked next. “Do you trust me to never put you in harm’s way?”

I knitted my brows together. “Of course I do.”

“That’s what I was hoping to hear.” He turned more serious. “We have one last threat to eliminate—stateside—so I’m wondering what your thoughts are on acting as bait.”

Holy shit. “Um.”

“You’d be out in broad daylight, among people, in DC,” he went on.

“The hell we raised in Colombia caught the attention of some of their associates back home, and we discovered one faction that has more intel than we’re comfortable with.

In short, they wanna kidnap you and deliver you to the new management that will take over in the coming months. ”

Oh my God.

I swallowed nervously, my stomach knotting up. “So people still know who I am.” I kept my voice down so Wade couldn’t overhear.

“This last little outfit does,” Chris confirmed.

“But nobody else. We took care of them. In cases like these, a higher-up might get desperate when he realizes it’s game over, so he sends out information to associates elsewhere to finish the job.

The problem in this instance is that the recipient of said information is a second cousin in Miami and his two buddies.

They’re small-scale hustlers. They sell cheap yaba pills and steal copper wire and car parts.

They’re not killers. We have access to all their communications on the matter, and they’re hoping a kidnapping will impress the new management and lead to better jobs and connections. ”