The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The First Collection by Frost, J (i love reading txt) 📗

an Australian accent I had no idea she could do. Fleur, one of the nightclub subs and someone I’ve always been a little afraid of because of how beautiful and aloof she is, is the last to read and she does an amazing gangster accent, straight out of The Godfather and Untouchables. She even finishes with “capiche?” which makes everyone crack up.

When I hear deeper, masculine laughter echoing the subbies’, I glance over the wing of my chair and find Daddy, Niall, and Warrin standing near the door, watching us with big smiles. I hop up and patter over to Daddy.

“Wasn’t that good?”

“Excellent.” Daddy gives Fleur a big wink. “Luisa and her husband have checked in to their hotel and are wondering if they can come over before dinner. Would you like to meet them now or would you rather spend this afternoon with your friends?”

A little knot of butterflies gathers in my tummy. I twist my hands together. “What do you think, Daddy?”

“I think either is fine, sweetie. Luisa and Vic can find ways to amuse themselves this afternoon if you’d rather spend some time catching up with the people who are here already.”

While I’m debating, a warm weight slides across my shoulders and I tip my head to look into brown eyes framed by a fall of sapphire dreadlocks. “Doan make ‘em miss th’ fun,” Brenna mumbles around a wad of gauze. She gives me a big wink.

I haven’t mentioned to her that I’m a little nervous about meeting Daddy’s former sub. I mean, the last two I met didn’t turn out all that well. But Daddy says Luisa is as different from Miranda and Rachel as night and day. Also, I know Brenna’s met Luisa since Daddy brought Luisa to the club many times when they were dating. If Brenna’s not intimidated by Luisa, then I don’t need to be, either. And I don’t want to cut a fellow subbie out of the fun, either.

“Please invite them here whenever they’re ready, Daddy.”

He gives me a big, approving smile that says he would have supported whatever I decided, but he’s proud of me for making the braver choice.

As Brenna leads me back to my chair, Martyn appears, wheeling an antique-looking rattan cart. Both tiers of the cart are covered with pots of tea, blue-patterned teacups, and plates of little cakes. Martyn waves off my objections that he’s going to too much trouble and arranges tables so that everyone has tea and cakes to hand. Even Mistress Maude looks impressed. Poor Piper is utterly starry-eyed when Martyn whisks off to collect a tiny tea set with a teddy bears on the cups that he places in front of her with a flourish and a smile, after he sees her with Professor Teddington in her lap.

I nearly burst into tears when Daddy brings me Peter Aloha Bunny and Piper passes me a teddy teacup for Peter Aloha Bunny.

That is, of course, how Luisa finds us when she walks through the door a few minutes later. I don’t have any expectations—except that she’ll be gorgeous because all of Daddy’s exes are—and I haven’t seen any pictures of her because Daddy hasn’t been one for taking pictures of his subbies until he met me.

I do not expect a 1940s pin-up girl to walk into the bar on the arm of man wearing a full Lindy Hop suit, from flat cap to orange and brown Derbys. The Eartha Kitt lookalike walks straight to Daddy, who gives her a warm hug. She steps back without even mussing her Victory rolls and her Dom steps forward to shake Daddy’s hand. Daddy leads them over to where I’m sitting with my more-than-gently-loved bunny in my lap, trying to swallow a strawberry tartlet that’s turned to ash in my mouth.

“Luisa, Vic, this is my fiancée, Emily,” Daddy says.

I start to rise but Luisa waves me back into my chair, bends over at a perfect right angle, and hugs me in a cloud of Dior. “It’s great to meet you,” she says. “Thank you so much for letting us crash your collaring.”

“Thank you for coming,” I manage to choke around the tartlet.

“Here, Luisa,” Laurel says, sliding out of her chair and onto the floor near my feet. “Have my chair. Emily was just going to braid my hair.”

I was?

“Oh, thank you,” Luisa says, settling into the vacated chair and smoothing the skirts of her polka-dotted, halter dress around her. Her Dom touches her shoulder and when she turns her face up to him, kisses her cheek, before he disappears with Daddy, Niall, and Warrin.

Laurel holds up a palm with a little collection of clear hair ties like we really were planning on braiding her hair—maybe she actually was?—which I take and put on the nearest table while Laurel gets comfortable between my knees. I finger-comb her brilliant crest, separate out three strands, and start a French braid.

“Your hair is stunning,” Luisa says to Laurel.

“Thank you,” Laurel says as quiet conversation starts around us. “So is yours. How many hours do those rolls take you?”

Luisa pats at a sweep of gleaming, jet-black hair. “Oh, no, once you get the hang of rolling them up, it doesn’t take long at all. Vic takes longer gelling all of his into submission. He has corkscrew curls when it’s not slicked down within an inch of its life.”

We exchange a laugh that’s only a little awkward.

“Luisa, would you like a drink? There’s plenty of tea.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Mistress Maude, who was talking to Fleur, does the honors and Luisa blows into the gently steaming cup before taking a sip. Thinking of how Daddy always tests the temperature of my tea before letting me drink it makes me smile at the top of Laurel’s head as I start on the next braid. Thinking of how many times Daddy had sex with the woman sitting to my right dims my smile a little. Then I remember that Luisa’s Dom must feel the same way and he