Page 25 of Santa's Dark Secret
She’s been waiting a long fucking time for tonight, and I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure she gets every last thing she has asked for. No matter how long it takes.
Leaving her there on that rooftop last year was a fucking punch to the stomach, and the thought of having to do it again just doesn’t sit right with me, but what am I supposed to do? Kidnap her and bring her back here? After all, that’s exactly what she wished for, right? She wants to be with me forever, and it’s not as though I can do what I need to do in New York. I need to be here at the North Pole, and if she intends to be with me, then she’s going to have to be here with me too.
Fuck. Am I seriously considering this? She’ll be pissed. It’s one thing to give her what she wants, but I know damn well she didn’t understand what she was asking for. It works for me though, and it’s not like she’s exactly loving her life in New York right now. I could offer her a whole world she’s never imagined. Sure, she might be pissed for a little while, but she’ll get over it eventually.
Shit. It’s barely an hour before I’m due to take off for the night to be the perfect Santa Claus for billions of children, and I’mthinking about kidnapping a woman out of her home. The fuck is wrong with me?
A soft knock sounds at my office door, and I barely have a moment to grab the checklist of Mila’s wishes and shove it deep into my pocket before my father strides through the door with a stack of papers in his hand, not bothering to wait for an invitation.
“I think it’s about time you and I had a conversation,” he says in that gruff tone that suggests I’m about to have my ass handed to me.
My boot falls from the desk, and I sit up, my gaze flashing toward the clock on the edge of my desk. “Uhhhh, can it wait until the morning? Now really isn’t the best time. I need to start checking on the reindeer.”
“No, Nicholas,” he says, dropping the papers down in front of me, only for me to realize these are copies of Mila’s letters. “We’re going to talk now.”
Fuck.
He reaches for one of the letters. “To the Midnight Pussy Penetrator with exceptional tongue game,” he starts to read out before pinching a few more. “To the Dick Me Down Demon. The Pussy Perpetrator. The Beastly Bitch Banger.”
I cringe, but I can’t help the laughter that creeps into my tone. The Beastly Bitch Banger was definitely a favorite of mine. “You saw all of them, huh?”
“No, son. I didn’t see them. Frederick did,” he snaps. “He almost had a heart attack when he discovered these this morning. I’ve had to go send him to lie down. You know our helpers are innocent of heart. They can’t be seeing filthy letters from your girlfriend in New York. The magic of Christmas comes from the innocence of belief, and these letters put that innocence into question and our whole enterprise at risk.”
Hmmm. Girlfriend.
Tell me why I like that so much.
“Shit, Dad. I’m sorry,” I say, getting to my feet and grabbing my red coat before pulling it on. “I know these letters have definitely been pushing the boundaries of what we do here. I thought I was catching them all before anyone else saw them. Seems I forgot about the backup drive. I’ll apologize to Frederick, but I don’t really know what more you want from me. Mila is a grown-ass woman. I can’t control her Christmas wishes any more than you can. You know just as well as I do that her wishes are her desires, and the only thing I can do about that is to grant those wishes.”
My father gapes at me. “It’s Christmas Eve. You can’t seriously be thinking of entertaining this . . . this filth.”
“Sorry, Pops. It’s my call. I’m Santa Claus now. I was able to spend time with her last year and get my job done. I don’t see why I can’t do it again this season.”
My old man simply stares at me in horror, and I can only imagine the million thoughts running through his mind. He regrets retiring because he thinks I’m going to fuck this up, but at some point, he’s going to have to learn to trust me.
“Dad,” I say, stepping around my desk. “I truly am sorry for the letters. I’ll do better to keep that shit to myself in the future, but I won’t apologize for anything else. I love her, Dad. I’ve loved her since I was eight years old, and now that she finally knows who I am, I’m not about to turn my back on her. She’s waited twelve long months to see me, and you bet your ass that the moment the last present is delivered, I’ll be right there on her rooftop, rushing to see her.”
Dad watches me for a moment, his gaze softening. “You’re really in love with this woman? This isn’t just some filthy need to get your rocks off with some random girl and get under my skin.”
“No, Pops. Getting under your skin is just an added bonus.”
He lets out a heavy sigh, and I watch as his walls slowly fall down. “Alright then. See to it that you talk to Frederick, and remember, the job comes first. No child is left without a gift before you go see her.”
“I know.”
“Good,” he says, before turning his back and striding to the door, only to stop and glance back. “Oh, and Nick. Keep your filthy sexcapades out of the Christmas wishes. Find another way to communicate with this girl that doesn’t traumatize our helpers.”
I nod. He has a point. “Noted.”
And with that, he’s gone, leaving me to prepare for the biggest night of the year. Only this year, everything is going to be different.
9
MILA
The revealing black lingerie fits better than anything I’ve ever worn, and as I tie a big red bow around my waist, I can’t help but feel like the most desirable woman in the world.
God, I can’t wait for him to arrive. It’s going to be perfect, even better than last year because, this time, I’ve spent every day of the last year anticipating his return, trying to remember what he smelled like, how big he was, how demanding. Just the memory of his deep voice gives me chills.
