Page 17 of Fixate (Devious Mafia Daddies #2)

Ricardo

Pip holding a gun to my head was troubling but not the end of the world.

Pip flirting with Pharrell right in front of me was enough to send me on a rampage.

I wasn’t even sure why it bothered me.

Liar.

My inner voice was a dick.

Ok, fine. I knew exactly why seeing the pair standing so close made me angry. Pip’s annoying smirk didn’t appear to get Pharrell’s attention all that much; however, knowing what we’d done and how he’d kept a straight face all day gave me little comfort.

What if they were fucking too? Could I share him like that?

Wait — what?! Share him?

I’m supposed to be avoiding him. Clearly, my inner dialogue was off after a day spent with Pharrell. It couldn’t be trusted to think rationally anymore.

This man made me irrational. I only wanted his approval. I wanted to know how he was feeling and what he was thinking.

Sure, I could have asked him all those questions.

The answers were what I was afraid of though.

He had already shown me how he felt. The fact that he was ok with me calling him Daddy was unsettling.

Not because I wasn’t judging the kink or anything. A big part of me wanted it too. I wanted anything he would give me. It was more that it all felt so rushed. We barely talked about any of it.

“Everything okay?” One of the men asked me when I couldn't turn my eyes away from Pharrell quick enough.

I shook my head, then nodded. “Yes, let's finish going over the plans.”

We spent another half hour discussing the paths that would work best. I knew a bit about Las Vegas; however, I trusted the map and their opinions on what could provide the safest routes.

None of them would know the true plan until it was time to go. My intentions would prove to be easier that way.

I was going to set a few traps along the way. Each man would know something different, and hopefully we'd be able to weed out the rest of the rats underneath Pharrell's reign.

When we finished up, I found Pharrell sitting with Pip and Henri in his office. They weren't talking. Instead, Pip and Pharrell were drinking while Henri scowled at his clipboard. I don't even think he was reading it.

“Are you ready to go?” I said to the room as a whole.

Pharrell's gaze panned my way. There was heat in his stare. I knew whatever came next was going to challenge me again.

I knew that he was going to challenge me again.

“Are we going somewhere?” Pip asked me.

I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back the sassy retort.

“I'm going to bed,” I replied.

He smirked. “Is that an invitation?”

A growl tore from Pharrell's chest. Pip's grin kicked up another notch as he turned to look at the other man.

“I’d say you could come too, but you turned me down.”

That one sentence changed the energy of the room. My shoulders dropped as I visually deflated.

Pharrell must have seen me from the corner of his eye because his smile bloomed so quickly, I had to blink a few times to take it in.

It was powerful, like looking directly into the sun and knowing you shouldn't stare but being unable to stop. I wanted to bask in it, to take in the joy he felt and make it a part of me.

Henri coughed, then stood quickly. “I think we should leave, Pip. Boss has other plans.”

Pip grumbled a bit at being manhandled, though I suspected if he truly didn't want to be pushed around, he would be able to get out of Henri's hold. He turned his flirtatious smile on the other man as they left the room.

Once I was alone with Pharrell, I felt foolish for even thinking about him and Pip that way. Being self-conscious was not something I was used to. In my role in the Romano family, I had been confident in everything I did. They had trained me to the point where I could not mess up.

But here, I was in a new territory and under new management.

I might have had the same abilities as Pharrell as far as getting around the businesses were concerned, but I did not have the sway he did. It was going to take time for all the men to warm up to me completely.

And the minute they found out that I was leading the charge on getting rid of the bad eggs, they would begin to distrust me.

It was a choice I was okay with making. So long as it kept Pharrell safe and had the business under control, I would do it.

Pharrell prowled across the room until he stood toe to toe with me.

“I'm ready,” he said.

Not wanting to get caught any deeper in his stare, I turned and made my way back to the main area. Pharrell passed me, nodding to the workers he saw still there as he led us back out of the warehouse and into his waiting car.

Neither of us spoke on the way back to the hotel. Exhaustion weighed heavily on my shoulders. The weight of the day had been too much.

And the tension I felt creeping over me had little to do with how much my brain was on overdrive going through plans and trying to remember names with faces.

No, my tension was built solely on the man beside me with how good he smelled and how handsome he was. It was no wonder I'd been caught in his web.

I was his prey waiting for him to decide what to do with me.

I remembered earlier in the tailor’s shop when him calling me his boy had thrown me for a loop. I questioned why that was and the reaction that I had had to it.

Pharrell had only wanted to comfort me. He'd wanted to give Lennox a reason as to why he needed to take care of my clothing and do a good job.

It wasn't as if he screamed it from the top of his building or bought out a TV commercial to tell the world that I was his submissive.

Why had I made such a big deal when all he wanted to do was offer me pleasure and comfort?

It was as if everything came into clear view as we climbed out of the car and made our way up the elevator to his suite. I stood closer to him than I had all day.

Pharrell's stare in the mirrored glass doors told me he saw what I was doing. It told me he knew what I couldn't vocalize, and he would take care of me.

When the doors opened and we stepped into the main area of his home, he stopped me with a hand on my wrist.

“Ricardo,” he said softly as if not to spook me.

I took a deep breath and then turned. His eyes met mine and everything else fell away. I opened my mouth and uttered the word that would completely change how our evening would go.

"Daddy.”