Daddy Knows Best by Vincent Drake Read Free Book Online Page A

admitted.
    “Necessity?”
    “I’m a loser, Georgia. A wash-out.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I was on my final warning with work when I took that trip, my last ditch attempt to save my job and become part of the team again.”
    “Did you steal some office stationary or something?” she smiled in an attempt to lighten the mood.
    “Hardly. I over extended myself financially before the market collapsed. Buying property to let like it was going out of fashion. I stood to lose everything, my houses, my car, my holiday home and all the trappings of status that go along with them. I was a desperate man trying to save my fortune.”
    She didn’t even blink, just stared over at me with curious eyes. “How?”
    “Gambling,” I said. “I was trying to catch a lucky break. Aren’t we always? Instead I ended up with massive debt and an addiction I couldn’t control.”
    “Ladyluck69,” she said. “Your laptop password.”
    “It was my poker pseudonym. Didn’t turn out to be quite so lucky.”
    “So you had a bad streak? So what?” she shrugged. “No big deal, right?”
    “I’ve got nothing left, Georgia, just a poxy downgrade job with the management breathing down my neck.”
    “Does my mother know about all this?”
    I laughed. “Of course she knows. I had nothing when I met her, just a suitcase of clothes and a soon to be repossessed apartment.”
    “I don’t get it,” she said. “So, she loved you but you didn’t love her?”
    “How likely does that scenario sound?”
    She frowned, weighing it up. “I don’t understand. Why get married then?”
    “I got a new start. She got a husband.”
    “I wanted her to get a husband my whole life, Andrew. I wanted it more than anything, but it didn’t matter shit to her. I figured maybe one day I’d have a proper family, and maybe then she’d love me. I never even saw her with a man until you, but still I wished for it. Stupid, hey?”
    “Not stupid,” I said. “Normal. Everyone needs love, Georgia.”
    “Yeah, they do,” she snapped. “I’ve always had money, Andrew. It doesn’t mean anything to me. Someone who’ll hold me through my nightmares and ask how my day went. Who’ll expect me to behave like a civil human being and put me in my place when I don’t. Who’ll look at me like I’m the hottest, sexiest piece of ass he’s ever seen, and ravage me like a monster, that’s what means shit to me. If you think you’re little I’m broke confession is enough to put me off then you’re a fool, Andrew. A stupid fool.”
    “You can do better,” I smiled. “A lot better. Look at you, sweetheart, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you.”
    “I didn’t have a life before you,” she snapped. “Nothing that meant anything. I was a drop out too, remember? On the edge of college expulsion without a single clue what I’d do with the rest of my life.”
    I took her hand across the table, squeezing her fingers tight in mine. “You’re sure this is what you want?”
    “Deadly,” she said. “Another stupid word and I’ll put you over my knee, Daddy. ”
    She had me, finally, coaxing a smile despite my better senses. “This may well be love for me, Georgia Tate,” I said. “It’s yours if you want it.”
    “I want it.” She squeezed my fingers right back, brushing angel curls from her eyes. “Now, tell me about my mother...”
    Oh shit.
     
    ***
     
    Cynthia was furious, but not for reasons expected. She didn’t give a shit about me boning her daughter, or about confessing my financial insufficiency. As usual Cynthia Tate cared only for herself, and her guarded little reputation.
    “Let’s get this straight, Andrew,” she snapped. “I leave you alone for three weeks. Three poxy weeks to keep up appearances, and in that time you manage to fuck my daughter, spill the guts of your unfortunate predicament and tell her our marriage is a sham. That’s good going.”
    “You could see it that way,” I said. “Alternatively you could