Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Celeste stared at the envelope, wondering what it could be. When she opened it, she gasped. It was the thousand dollars she’d left with Sadie to prepay for her stay at Danger Bluff. “Why are you giving me this?”
Sadie shrugged. “I was only holding it for you so you wouldn’t panic when you first arrived.”
Celeste’s eyes went wide as she looked around the room. “You all already knew my problems before I got here?”
Hawking rubbed her back. “We did, CB. Mr. Kingsley is a powerful man, and he uses his immense wealth to help those in need who are deserving of his kindness.”
Celeste felt tears welling up in her eyes. “Like he did earlier today for that woman and her son.”
Hawking nodded. “Yes.”
“How did he even know I was in trouble?” she murmured, mostly to herself.
Hawking leaned closer and kissed her cheek. “I doubt any of us will ever know or understand how Kingsley knows anything. We just have to accept it and do our part to help make the world a better place.”
“One Little girl at a time, apparently,” Sadie said jokingly.
Celeste was startled at her suggestion. She had a point. “Is that how you met Rocco?”
“Yep. He was assigned to protect me. He knew immediately he was my Daddy.” She leaned over from her chair and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Celeste turned to look at Hawking. “Like you did,” she said, stunned.
He shrugged. “We’re starting to wonder if Kingsley has some kind of psychic matchmaking skills.”
“When will I meet him?” Celeste asked.
“We’re all wondering that, CB. None of us have met him. We don’t even know where he is.”
Her jaw dropped open as she looked around the table. “How did you all end up here in the first place then?”
Rocco answered her. “We were all saved by Kingsley at some point in our lives, and we owed him a marker. He called us all together here a few weeks ago to start collecting our debt essentially.”
Caesar chuckled. “Not that it’s a hardship, mind you. We quickly fell in love with this place. The truth is that once we’ve each finished our assignments, we are free to go, no longer owing Kingsley, but we’ve agreed that we’re a team. The six of us. None of us is going anywhere, certainly not until we’ve all finished our missions.”
Celeste turned toward Hawking again. “Do I also owe Kingsley a marker for helping me out?”
He shook his head vehemently. “No, Little girl. Not you. Kingsley chose us because of our skills in order to assemble a power rescue team.” He gave her hair a playful tug. “Though you are a magnificent scientist, I don’t think he has any use for your skills when it comes to combat or surveillance. You won’t owe Kingsley a thing. I promise.”
“Speaking of which…” Magnus said, “I was digging around in your life and discovered you are quite accomplished. PhDs in both microbiology and chemistry. Amazing accolades from your university. Several published works. And, I’m no scientist, but I’m smart enough to know that the data you have on that computer would suggest you’ve discovered a treatment that will keep cancer cells from reproducing as rapidly as they do.”
Everyone stared at Celeste.
She lowered her gaze, letting her hair fall across her cheeks to hide her embarrassment while she shrugged. “It’s just a job.”
“Celeste!” Sadie exclaimed. “That’s not just a job.”
Hawking tugged her chair closer to his and wrapped an arm around her. He pulled her cheek against his shoulder and kissed the top of her head. “You’re an amazing woman, Celeste Blanke. I’m humbled to be your Daddy.”
She bit her lip at his announcement to the entire room, though she suspected everyone already knew he’d claimed her as his Little girl. Hell, the truth was, he’d probably claimed her as his own before she’d ever met him. Out of everyone in the room, she’d been the last to know.
“We should eat before this food gets cold,” Phoenix announced.
Celeste was grateful. She still felt a bit overwhelmed by all the attention.
The moment Phoenix took the lids off the steaming food in the middle of the table, the room filled with the amazing aroma of Mexican spices.
Celeste’s mouth watered as she stared at the giant pans of enchiladas and burritos. There were also large bowls of refried beans and rice, as well as all the fixings.
“That smells so good,” Hawking said as his stomach grumbled. He was the first to reach out and pull a pan of enchiladas toward them. “May I serve you, CB?”
“Yes, please, Daddy.” She couldn’t see any reason to hold back on calling him Daddy in front of everyone in this room. It felt good. It felt real. It felt like home. And Lord knew it had been a long time since Celeste had had a family to call her own.