Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 50619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
“Breathe, Angel. It’s okay. I know my Daddy has examined lots of men and women without their clothes. His job bothered me for a while, but then he pointed out that he had chosen me. He’s examining his patients as people he cares for so that they can be healthy. He’s checking for what’s wrong. Not noticing what looks right. Does that make sense?”
Angel replayed that statement in her mind. That made perfect sense. Honey was confident in how much her Daddy loved her. Her friend understood that doctors chose the reason why they scanned people.
“Angel?” Honey asked when she didn’t respond.
“Sorry. I’m here. Thank you, Honey. I was replaying what you said in my brain. You’re pretty smart.”
“Except when I’m battling PMS and temptation is staring at me,” Honey whispered.
“I can understand that. You should eat chocolate.”
“See, Daddy. Angel says I should have chocolate,” Honey crowed.
“Angel doesn’t know you’ve already eaten a king-size bag of chocolate pieces,” Razor reminded her.
“Oh, yeah. Angel? Want to play? I’ll have this cleaned up in ten minutes or so,” Honey asked.
“I’d love it,” Angel answered. She liked Honey a lot. Honey couldn’t be mad if she wanted Angel to come visit.
“Give us a half an hour, Angel. Two thousand pieces take a while to corral,” Razor told her. “We’ll meet you outside.”
Vex disconnected the phone and slid it into his pocket. “Just so you don’t get any ideas, no throwing things at Daddy. I believe in multitasking too. A Little girl can pick up puzzle pieces with a red bottom.”
“I’d never. That’s so naughty.” Angel immediately rushed to assured him.
“Oh, you’ll find something else naughty to do,” Vex said. “Let’s talk some more about what you’d like to do after Razor gives you the green light to work.”
Sitting on her Daddy’s lap, Angel basked in his attention as she told Vex about her training and previous job. He seemed impressed by her knowledge and asked great questions. She’d attended an excellent university after high school. That’s what everyone did. A degree was expected.
“Did you think of continuing your studies?” she asked Vex hesitantly.
“No, Baby girl. College wasn’t ever for me. I worked two jobs through high school to help my mom support my brothers. My classes were fine. Some teachers were great. Others, awful.”
“How did you become a Devil Daddy?” she asked.
“Believe it or not, Lucien’s bike broke down in front of my mom’s house a few years ago. I arrived pissed off because the printing business I’d been at since my sophomore year in high school had announced they were retooling to automated machinery. Everyone in my division got fired.”
“They didn’t keep you because you’d been there forever?” Angel asked.
“No. A new guy I met in the parking lot held onto his job, while I was out on my ear even though our tasks were similar. Then I pull up at my mom’s place and some motorcycle thug with tattoos all over was camped out in front of her house casing the joint.”
“He was going to rob her?” Angel asked, shocked and instantly upset as well.
“No. His bike had a flat. He’d stopped on the street under Mom’s big oak tree to plug the tire. I, of course, came at him hot and angry.”
“He didn’t react?”
“Oh, yeah. The look he gave me set me back on my heels. That was Lucien. Something about him warns you he’s not to be messed with. I turned around and slammed my way inside. I almost knocked over my mom, coming out with cookies and iced tea.”
“Oh! She’s so nice.”
“She’s a sweet soul. Mom lives with my youngest brother and his family. She looks after the kids and the house for him after my sister-in-law passed away from breast cancer.”
Tears pricked Angel’s eyelids. She was instantly sad. “I’m sorry, Vex.”
“I’m sad for my brother, but this situation works for them. The kids are doing well in school, and Mom loves being part of their lives and taking care of people again.”
“She was helping Lucien too, huh?”
“She was. He’d knocked on the door and retreated ten feet, so he didn’t scare her. After explaining why he needed to work in front of her house, he focused on getting his tire fixed.”
“That was good of him,” Angel said.
“It was. I took him the refreshments, apologized for jumping to conclusions, and grabbed my mini air compressor to fill his tire.”
“And he offered you a job?” Angel guessed. Lucien looked scary, but she felt something more from him. Maybe he frightened some and kept those he had ties with closer. An effective way of screening people.
“He did. I followed him back to the warehouse and filled out the paperwork. I started the next day.”
“How long has Inferno been there?”
“It started about five years after he hired me. By that time, I’d joined the Devil Daddies.”