“I’d be risking my job, Cosmo.”
“Maybe I’d be worth it.”
When Hunter didn’t respond, I gave him my back. Virgil would have forced me around or yanked my pants down and spanked me. It’d taken me a while to understand why he had to take off even my underwear.
“Cosmo, turn around.”
“Come on. Don’t give me the silent treatment.”
“I don’t want to fight with you.”
“Will you be my Daddy?” I asked.
He went silent. Too silent. I turned around. He was watching me, his eyes reflecting his internal struggle.
“I-I’m afraid if I start, I won’t know when to stop. And when this is all over, we have to go our separate ways.”
This would never be over unless he betrayed me, like Virgil.
“I want to call you Daddy, Hunter. I want it more than anything else in this world. You’d take care of me better than anyone else. I just know it.”
He let out a sigh. “Maybe just in private. Not when others are around. It’d be too hard to explain that this isn’t sexual.”
But it would be.
I smiled at him. “Daddy.”
Color rose in his cheeks, but his eyes lit up. He liked it when I called him that.
“You’re going to be the best Daddy in the world.”
“And I need you to be a good boy and listen to me, Cosmo. Your life is in danger, and more than anything else, that scares me.”
“You don’t want me to die?” My old Daddy had wanted me dead. This was a step in the right direction.
“Good god, no. You’ve barely lived. Do you know when your birthday is?”
I shook my head. “They told me how old I was, and I just used the day they told me as my birthday.”
“Jesus, Cosmo.” He took my hand and rubbed the skin. “I know this is temporary and convenient, but I’ll try to make you happy and teach you how to take care of yourself so you don’t have to depend on anybody.”
I shrugged. I had no interest at all in taking care of myself, and with him being my Daddy, even less so.
“I’ve got good news,” he said. “They arrested the first criminal on the list. It might take them a while to find out about you, so we think you’re still safe for now, but eventually, they’ll have worked it out. Did they know about you?”
“I don’t know. They never came to the house. Nobody else was allowed. Virgil said it was for my safety. That people would hurt me.”
“He was a sick, twisted man, Cosmo. Half the things he told you were not true. Just his way of keeping you dependent on him.”
“Mother didn’t like that he paid me so much attention. Whenever he was gone, she would lock me in the display box for hours without food. She always told me it was because I was getting fat, but sometimes when she did, I wasn’t even over a hundred pounds.”
“That’s another myth, Cosmo. You’re allowed to weigh more than a hundred pounds.”
“But then I won’t be beautiful anymore.”
“That’s simply not true. I don’t think you can ever not be beautiful. You’re adorable.”
I dropped my eyes. “Virgil always called me that.”