Page 167 of Shades of Loyalty
Seeing the two people I love the most like this together? It’s the best feeling in the world.
The moment feels timeless, like nothing else in the world matters. I watch the two of them together, and all the words in the world fall short of how much I love them both.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
The amount of times Mary has called Daniel her daddy in the last three hours is insane. It could fill up a whole dictionary.
By now, we’re sitting in a restaurant, the three of us eating dinner.
“What’s your favorite color?”
He takes a sip from his water while thinking. “I guess, black.”
She rolls her eyes. “But what about purple? Or pink? They’re so pretty! Black is so… So… Boring.”
Daniel laughs. “If you say so, sweetie.”
“Hm… And your favorite animal?”
Oh, God. Yeah… I can tell this is gonna take a while. I grin at Daniel, but he just shakes his head laughing.
“Lions, maybe.”
Mary nods. “Okay… I can understand that. Did you watch the lion king?”
“Of course. Did you?”
“Yes! Oh, do you like unicorns? I love unicorns!”
“Who doesn’t love unicorns?”
Daniel doesn’t, it’s obvious. This man is into guns, bikes, weapons and torture techniques.
Unicorns don’t do it for him. But… Let’s not mention that to my daughter.
“Do you prefer cats or dogs?”
The sigh he lets out seems inaudible to my daughter, but I can definitely tell he’s aware that she won’t give up until she knows everything about him.
“Dogs. Hey, do you like Rottweilers? Or Dobermans?”
“They’re scary! I like kitties more.”
He sighs, looking at me. “We’ll never get a Doberman, am I right?”
I shrug, grinning back at him. “Maybe. If you ask nicely.”
The smile on his lips melts my heart. God. I need this man with me forever, and I’m willing to do everything to achieve that.
“Daddy?”
His eyes turn toward her with a sparkle of admiration. “Yes, sweetheart? Do you have more questions?”
Mary nods immediately.
“If mommy gets a pretty dress, will you buy me a dress, too?”
