Page 9 of Danger and Dominance (Black Fox Security Doms #1)

David

The evening was winding down, and David was finding himself reluctant to actually leave, even though he had an early morning tomorrow.

Once the dishes were done, everyone ended up in the living room, taking turns talking to Cassidy and getting to know her a little better.

At one point, Mick stepped outside and came back in, smelling vaguely of pot.

David shot Jensen a glance. Grimacing, Jensen reassured him that the only reason Mick was indulging in his vape was because there were so many of them there.

Mick had some social anxiety about large groups and tended to keep pot around, but he didn’t smoke it all the time, and he definitely never would if it was just him and Jensen in the house with Cassidy. He understood the stakes.

Only slightly reassured, David knew he’d be keeping an eye on that situation, though he had no reason not to just accept Jensen’s assessment. And Mick wasn’t supposed to be a line of defense, not really, just an extra set of eyes. This first night, his eyes were not something they needed.

Even if her ex had been watching her, David felt sure he hadn’t followed her. With all the precautions they’d taken, as far as her ex knew, she had just disappeared. She’d even left her phone behind and had a new burner phone, which only Kincaid and a couple people at Stronghold had the number for.

It sucked to cut her off from her friends there, but hopefully, it wouldn’t be forever.

If the incidents down in D.C. against the club members stopped, they’d be able to reassess the situation.

He did hope that her disappearance from the area would mean that her ex lost interest, but considering the man had waited a whole freaking year already, he didn’t have high hopes.

Obsession and that kind of patience was never a good sign.

But it was always possible. And he couldn’t worry too much about the Stronghold and Marquis clubs and their members and possible escalation down there once Cassidy’s ex realized she was gone.

They weren’t his responsibility. It always felt wrong to compartmentalize like that, but he’d found during his time in the military that it was necessary.

They would have to take care of themselves.

He and his team would focus on Cassidy, even though she was now out of the danger zone.

His phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket, checking the caller ID, then grinned widely, his heart jumping up a bit in his chest. Turning away from everyone, he headed to the kitchen to get away from the general noise as he answered.

“Hello.”

“Hey, big brother, how are you?” Audrey’s warm voice filled his ear, an extra bounce in her tone which he was happy to hear. She’d been out of sorts the last few times they’d talked.

“I’m good, how are you?”

“I’m fantastic .”

“That’s really good to hear. Any particular reason why?”

“I’m moving to Pittsburgh!” She sounded oddly triumphant.

“What?” He leaned against the counter in the kitchen, blinking in surprise.

Of all the things he’d expected her to say, that had to be toward the bottom of the list. “Why? I mean, not that I’m not happy to hear it, but I thought you were solidly set on staying in Philly.

” With their parents. That was the part he left unsaid.

He and Audrey had an unspoken agreement about not talking about their parents.

“I was.” Now, there was a slight hint of hesitation in her voice, which meant that, yes, this decision did have something to do with getting away from their parents.

Something she’d been loathe to do after David had cut contact with them and “ruined” all their dreams, according to them.

“But I decided it was time. And I bought a bakery. I found one for sale in Pittsburgh, and I bought it.”

“Congratulations!” David hesitated because he knew that was what Audrey had always wanted to do. He wondered how their parents had reacted, but he didn’t want to ask.

“It’s actually on the same street as your office.”

Immediately, David’s brain flashed through the street. There was only one empty storefront, formerly a café. They’d occasionally gotten lunches there, but the food had gone downhill after the owner retired and new management took over, and it had ended up closing.

“Where Joe’s Café used to be?”

“That’s the spot!”

“That’s a great spot.”

“Right? I’m not moving quite yet. I need to find a place to live, and there’s some work that needs to be done to turn the café into a bakery, but I have the lease, and I’ve started figuring out what I want to renovate and everything.

” She sounded so gleefully happy, David hated to put a damper on her mood, but he couldn’t help but ask.

“So… do Mom and Dad know?” Silence. Crap. He felt like a jerk. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s fine. I mean… you know. They’re not thrilled. I’m pretty sure they think I’m gonna fail and come crawling back to them.” The cheerfulness in her voice was more forced now. “They didn’t try to forbid me or anything, though.”

“I guess they learned their lesson with me,” David said with a dark chuckle; being cut off from his family hadn’t really been funny at all.

“I think they might be coming around with that, too,” she said. “They weren’t at all upset that I was moving to Pittsburgh. They even said they might come visit for the holidays once I’m settled. I think they’re hoping to see you.”

“So, they’ve stopped thinking I’m an abusive, perverted horror because I’m kinky?” he asked dryly.

“Well… Mom’s been reading some books…”

Yikes. Okay, he did not want to know more about that. Though if it helped his parents better understand the lifestyle, he was all for it. He just didn’t want to hear about it.

But as much as part of him wanted to see his parents again, wanted their approval again, there was one more sticking point.

“Good to know, but if we’re doing the holidays, they’re going to have to see Grandma, too, because I’m not leaving her out.

” Their only living grandparent wasn’t actually blood-related to them.

She was their mom’s stepmother. She’d married their grandfather when David was two, so neither he nor Audrey remembered life without her, and she’d always been a good grandparent to them.

His mom didn’t feel the same ties, and when her father had died and her stepmother had gotten sick, her attitude had been ‘let her family take care of her’.

As far as David was concerned, she was his family. So, taking care of his grandmother was exactly what he’d done. Just another disappointment for his parents to add to the list of ways in which he’d disappointed them.

They’d disappointed him first.

“Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Audrey said, that forced cheerfulness back in her voice.

She couldn’t help but try to play peacemaker, which put her in an awkward position.

One that David tried not to exacerbate. It was hard being the only person who talked to everyone.

“I’m looking forward to living closer to Grandma so I can see her more often. ”

“She’ll be thrilled to see you,” he said honestly. “And I’ll do whatever I can to help you with the bakery and the move.”

“What bakery?” Jensen asked as he came into the kitchen, dropping his beer bottle into the recycling bin and going to the cupboard to get a glass. David watched approvingly as he switched over to water.

“Audrey’s. She’s opening one in Pittsburgh.” All of his team knew of Audrey, and a few of them had met her, though it had been years since they’d actually gotten to see her. Jensen was one of the ones who had not had the pleasure yet.

“Hey, Audrey!” Jensen said loudly. “Congratulations on the bakery!”

“Bakery?” Mason popped through the kitchen door as if he’d been summoned, which wasn’t too surprising.

He had a carb addiction and a sweet tooth a mile long, which was why he worked out more than any of them.

He had to counteract all the sugar and carbs he put into his body if he wanted to maintain his physique—and he did want to maintain his physique. “What bakery?”

“Audrey is opening a bakery in Pittsburgh. On our street.”

Mason’s eyes lit up with interest. He was another one of the ones who hadn’t met Audrey before since he’d had his own family things going on when she’d been in town to see David.

“Do you think she’d be open to making baklava?”

On the other end of the phone, David could hear Audrey laughing.

“Tell whoever that is that I’m happy to make baklava and whatever other requests they want to put in,” she said.

“It was Mason,” he replied. He looked at Mason.

“Audrey says she’s happy to make baklava.

” He did not pass on the rest of her message because he had no doubt that Mason would take her up on it, and Audrey was too nice to say no, even if the requests got overwhelming.

And Mason would have a lot of requests if he knew he could be indulged.

Cassidy

Only being able to hear snippets of what was going on in the kitchen was slightly maddening.

She’d noticed the moment David had left the room, even though she’d been in the middle of talking to Drew and Naomi about the women’s shelter where Naomi worked.

Although Peggy’s House technically took in whoever needed help, the majority of their clients were women.

Cassidy had donated some of the clothing, shoes, and jewelry she didn’t expect to wear.

Part of her had wanted to donate everything to them and go shopping for a brand-new start, but she couldn’t afford that, and she wasn’t allowed to use her credit cards or apply for new ones.

It left too much of a trail for right now.