Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Rocco looked around to confirm his words. Everyone nodded.
“It only works for him,” Kestrel confirmed.
Rocco held up the flash drive. “Could you take a look at this and see what’s on it?”
Without a word, Magnus plucked the drive from Rocco’s fingers and plugged it into the computer. Instantly, a flash of letters and numbers flew across the screen. Magnus leaned forward, watching carefully.
“How long will it take?” Rocco asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the man.
“No clue.”
Frustrated by the terse answer, Rocco asked, “Give me more than that.”
Shaking his head, Magnus added, “The drive uses a higher-level program, but it appears that the system recognizes it.”
A picture opened on the screen. Sadie.
“That’s interesting,” Caesar said as he walked toward the large display.
Rocco looked around to see that everyone had clustered behind him. Annoyed at their intrusion, he gave everyone a back-off warning look.
“Chill, Dude. We’re supposed to be a team, right?” Kestrel pointed out.
Forcing his protective instincts to calm down, Rocco weighed his options. Could he tell the men part of the truth, or would he need to lay everything on the table? “Sorry, guys. Sadie’s important to me.”
“You just met her. You aren’t one of those players who’s going to sleep with everyone at the resort, are you?” Hawking asked.
“No. I’m a Daddy who just found his Little girl,” Rocco confessed.
“Is that why you really came to New Zealand…to find your daughter?” Kestrel asked.
Rocco grimaced, wondering how much he’d have to explain. “I don’t have a daughter. I’m not that kind of daddy. I found my Little girl—as in, my submissive.”
“No fucking way,” Magnus growled and looked up to meet Rocco’s gaze fully for the first time. “I’ve been looking for mine since I figured out how I was wired. And you’ve determined the reception manager we just met is your Little?”
Rocco nodded. “Yes.”
“Congratulations,” Kestrel said with a smile.
Kestrel cleared his throat. When everyone looked at him, Kestrel continued, “I’m guessing we’re all Daddies. Has anyone else found their Little?”
One by one, everyone except Rocco shook their heads.
“Do you think Baldwin Kingsley III knows we’re all Daddies?” Caesar growled.
“I don’t think there’s anything that man doesn’t know.” Magnus gestured at the bank of computers lining the wall. “Anyone who has put this together isn’t lacking in information. The guy must be loaded.”
“We’ll figure that out later. Magnus, show us what’s on the file,” Rocco urged. The fact that they were all Daddies reassured him that any information contained in the file would be kept confidential.
A picture of a rough-looking man in his mid-fifties appeared on the screen, followed by a list of convictions and suspected accomplices.
“Meet Sylvester Pushkin. As you can see, he’s involved in a variety of scams and swindles. Sylvester was Sadie’s previous employer.”
“I don’t like that guy,” Rocco muttered.
“You shouldn’t. He’s the reason she’s here. Sadie sent herself a large accounting file on her second-to-last day in his employ,” Magnus said, displaying a file.
Screenshots of Sadie’s handwritten notes, highlighted in the margins, indicated discrepancies and credits coming from sources outside the United States. The vast majority came from unconfirmed sources in Russia. She’d helpfully noted, Russian mob? in red highlight.
“Well, that’s not subtle at all,” Caesar murmured. “So, they know she suspects they’re the bad guys.”
“And now, they’re after her,” Rocco said, shaking his head. Instantly, his mind flashed back to the day he’d gained his marker. He’d had skills but would have died without the help of that team who’d come to his aid. He didn’t like that someone had Sadie in his crosshairs, and she certainly needed someone to come to her aid. He would be that someone. Based on the looks on the faces of this entire team of men who’d only met today, they would all have her back.
Kestrel pointed to a report at the corner of the large screen. “There have been several attempts to abduct Sadie or to eliminate her. Your Little is either savvier than she looks, or she’s the luckiest woman in the world.”
Rocco felt sick. “Do you think she knows?”
“She accepted a job in a foreign country working at a resort with no guests,” Hawking pointed out. “Sounds like she’s getting as far away as possible from something.”
A picture popped up on the screen—Sadie working on the computer, her white teeth worrying her lower lip. With a few keystrokes, Magnus changed the view from her to the monitor she was viewing.
Rocco appeared on her screen.
“Is this live?” Rocco asked.
Magnus nodded. “Yes. I have access to security cameras all over this property. It would seem our benefactor spent a good deal of time and money ensuring the security system and this computer station were decked out with state-of-the-art equipment before he brought us all together.”
Rocco leaned forward to see what Sadie was doing. It seemed she had pulled up his personnel file. As he read the information with her, Rocco was relieved to see that the data contained very little information and nothing that indicated that Rocco was anything except a guy with mountaineering experience. As he watched, she adroitly plugged in a drive and copied his information.