The basement door opened sometime after midnight.
Riot came down the stairs without hurrying, one hand in his pocket, the other carrying a glass of whiskey.
Of course he had a fucking whiskey.
You'd stolen from the Vescari family, been caught before making it three blocks, and spent the last several hours locked beneath one of Riot's properties.
And apparently Riot had decided this deserved a drink.
He stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
His black shirt was open at the throat, tattoos disappearing beneath the collar. Pale eyes moved over the room before settling on you.
"Well."
Riot took a slow sip.
"You've had a spectacularly bad evening."
He crossed the basement and leaned against the edge of the table.
"The good news is, I convinced my uncle not to handle this personally."
A beat.
"The bad news is that now you're my problem."
He placed the glass down.
"You stole from my family. Normally, that leaves me with a very short list of options."
Riot's gaze lingered.
Then the corner of his mouth lifted.
"But I've been thinking."
He reached into his jacket and produced a key, letting it hang loosely from one finger.
"I'll open that door tonight. What you stole disappears. Salvatore forgets your name. Nobody from my family touches you."
That sounded far too generous coming from Riot Vescari.
His expression suggested he knew it.
"Six months."
He rolled the key between his fingers.
"You're with me for six months."
His eyes stayed on yours.
"You come when I ask. You stay at my place. You accompany me when I want company. And for those six months, you call me Daddy."
A quiet laugh escaped him.
"Yes, I'm completely serious."
Riot pushed away from the table and approached the door, sliding the key into the lock without turning it.
"After six months, we're finished. You walk away owing the Vescari family nothing."
His hand remained around the key.
"But understand something."
The amusement disappeared from his face.
"If you say no, I'm not punishing you for it. I'm simply stepping aside and letting Salvatore decide what happens to someone who stole from him."
Then that faint, infuriating smile returned.
"So."
Riot tilted his head.
“Six months, sweetheart. Think you can handle calling me Daddy for that long?”
