Page 17 of Fixate

“You’re delicious, Daddy.”

With those three words, reality came crashing down. I opened my eyes to find myself alone, covered in cum, and desperate for a reality that didn’t exist.

How the fuck was I going to face Ricardo now? And why was I dreaming about a man I couldn’t have only hours after watching my wife be eaten by wild hogs after she betrayed me?

I’d thought my head wasn’t fucked from all the years in this business. Clearly, I was wrong.

CHAPTER 7

Ricardo

I barely gotany sleep last night after leaving Pharrell’s room. All I did was toss and turn for hours until eventually I passed out. Even then, I woke up at the fucking crack of dawn.

Pharrell’s entire situation rubbed me the wrong way. Knowing he’d been forced to marry a woman to create an alliance isn’t anything outrageous given the organizations we’re part of.

The insane part is that her family was still going to give him shit for her backstabbing even though he had proof. I’d shown up at his room with drinks in an effort to check on him. Besides, there was no point in checking on Dante anymore. He had Preacher to ensure he was ok.

Who did Pharrell have now?

The answer was an easy one.

Nobody.

He was all alone and facing shit he shouldn’t have to. Talk about a fucked-up set of circumstances.

Since I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, I got out of bed and got ready for the day. A quick shower later, I was dressedand headed downstairs to see what I could find to eat. I wasn’t the best chef in the world. Still, I’d make do for us.

When I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I found Pharrell already waiting there. His entire body froze as I stepped into the room. I wondered if it was me, or simply the fact that he was no longer alone that had him tensing.

“Morning,” I called out as I moved past him to get some coffee.

He hummed, sipping his own drink. It made sense he wasn’t in the mood to talk. Maybe he wasn’t a morning person. I couldn’t exactly remember a time when we were around one another so early in the day.

This was a first.

There’s been a lot of firsts where Pharrell was involved.

I ignored those thoughts to focus on grabbing what I needed to doctor my drink. The fridge had cream and milk, though it was pretty barren otherwise.

“Well, shit. There’s nothing here. I wanted to cook before everyone woke up.”

In a gruff voice, he asked, “You cook?”

I turned to see his eyes on me. There was something else in the look he sent my way. For the life of me, I had no clue how to interpret it.

“Somewhat. I can make the basics. What do you think we should do now?”

Pharrell took another sip from his mug as he watched me make my own. After I put the milk away, he spoke up again.

“We could go get breakfast. There’s no reason for you to make a big deal cooking. Besides, we would be back before either of them are awake. To my memory, they tend to take their time in the morning.”

The laugh came so quickly I didn’t have time to stop it. My eyes widened in horror.

“I’m not laughing at you!”

He smiled gently. “Oh? You’re not?”

“No! I swear it.” I rubbed my hand on the back of my neck. “I was laughing because I know exactly what those two are probably up to. They might not show up early, but they’re likely awake.”