Please Me Daddy (Gracie) novel Chapter 172

+25 BONUS

Dinner is ready

Grace

I didn’t linger in the bathtub after he left. I washed quickly, stepped out, and pulled on the first clean clothes I could find, a loose white top and soft shorts. Nothing special. Considering Apollo Reed was downstairs, I should’ve tried harder, but I didn’t have the time to waste.

My hair was still damp, so I ran my fingers through it and tied it into a ponytail, doing my best to look at least somewhat human.

Without thinking twice, I spun around and rushed out of the room.

Going down the stairs felt like walking straight toward my execution. Each step was too fast, and clumsy, my heart was pounding so violently it felt like it was lodged in my throat, stealing my breath away. I nearly tripped over my own feet.

God. This was going to be a disaster. A bigger disaster than anything that happened in the bathtub.

I knew I said reckless things when I panicked, but Eleanor and Liana were worse. Those two didn’t have a filter between them. If a thought existed in their heads, it came out of their mouths.

Which meant Eleanor was probably teasing him, and saying things she absolutely shouldn’t. And Apollo Reed was not someone you teased casually. Not unless you wanted a death wish.

I couldn’t let them offend him. I didn’t care if he snapped at me, his temper never lasted with me, and most of the time, I could handle him. After all, when he got angry at me, he punished me in ways that left me trembling, soaked, and desperate for more. But with anyone else? It was a completely different story. Everyone who had ever crossed him hadn’t exactly walked away unscathed.

My stomach twisted. What if they already said something stupid? I could already imagine a list of disasters forming in my head, each one worse than the last. I picked up speed, holding the handrail as I hurried down the stairs.

Everything in me was preparing for chaos.

By the time I reached the last step, I inhaled, opened my mouth, “Eleanor, you-”

The words died in my throat the moment I stepped into the living room.

For a moment, I actually wondered if I’d walked into the wrong house. The sight in front of me didn’t make any sense, my brain couldn’t process it.

Apollo, the most powerful man in the country, was in the tiny living room. He sat with dominance, legs crossed, one arm draped lazily over the back of the couch. He looked too elegant, and imposing to be on a sofa that probably cost less than his socks. His expression was calm, unreadable, and somehow, he made the couch look expensive, like it had spent its whole life waiting for him to sit on it.

But that wasn’t the shocking part. What shocked me was the scene on the floor.

Liana and Lucas, two tiny hurricanes of chaos who couldn’t sit still for five minutes, were sitting cross- legged with notebooks open in front of them, actually studying.

Books and notes were scattered around them, pens in hand, eyes glued to their work like honor students

Det e

born for academic greatness.

I blinked. This had to be a fever–induced hallucination. Lucas studying made sense, he always studied. But Liana? Liana, who would rather eat grass than touch a textbook. Liana, who used to make Lucas do her homework because studying was against her religion, was actually studying.

And to make it worse, Apollo was tutoring them. He pointed out mistakes in a tone I’d never heard him use before. When Lucas asked a question, Apollo leaned in slightly, explaining the answer like he had all the time in the world. When Liana hesitated, he tapped the correct line in her notebook and waited until she fixed it.

I felt my soul leave my body.

This man, this terrifying, intimidating, untouchable man, was sitting in my home helping two kids with their homework as if this was a normal Tuesday evening activity.

My brain failed. My lungs failed. My ability to move failed. Everything failed!

I just stood there, stunned, completely frozen in place, staring at them like an idiot.

What the actual fuck was going on?

“Are you going to stand there all day?”

The deep voice cut straight through my thoughts. I jerked my head up, completely snapping out of the shock that had frozen me in place. Apollo still wasn’t looking directly at me, his eyes were fixed lazily on Liana and Lucas’s worksheets, but somehow it felt like every part of his attention was on me.

Liana and Lucas turned at the sound of his voice, and the second they spotted me, their faces lit up.

“Aunt Grace!”

Before I could even open my arms, they ran at me full–speed and collided into my waist. I stumbled backward, my hand shooting out to the wall in time to steady myself. They clung to me with so much force that I almost toppled onto the floor.

“H–hey, guys,” I whispered, reaching out to touch the tops of their heads. “How are you doing?”

Lucas looked up at me, eyes wide. “I’m so happy you’re okay, Aunt Grace.”

Liana hugged me tighter. “Yeah! How are you feeling? Are you still sleepy? Does anything hurt?”

I crouched down so I could pull both of them into a real hug, one arm around each tiny body. “I’m fine now. Thank you for taking care of me.”

“You’re welcome, Aunt!” they chimed.

They didn’t let go for a full minute.

When I finally lifted my head, Apollo’s gaze met mine, as if he was analyzing every single detail on my face. I swallowed hard. I had absolutely no idea how to read this man, and that uncertainty alone made my pulse jump.

Just as I was trying to figure out how to break the tension, Eleanor walked into the living room, a grin

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Dinner is ready

28 BONUS

plastered across her face like she’d just won the lottery, Trouble was coming, I could feel it.

Her eyes flicked between me and Apollo, that grin stretching wider by the second.

She clasped her hands politely, looked him dead in the eye, and said, “Dinner is ready. Please, come and eat.”

My jaw literally hit the floor.

Come and eat?! Did she just tell Apollo Reed to come and eat?!

My eyes snapped to Apollo. No way. There was absolutely no way this man was going to sit at our regular dining table, eat normal food, in a normal house like a normal person.

I was certain he wouldn’t. I knew he wouldn’t.

But then, to my horror, he stood up and nodded. He walked toward the table without arguing or saying anything.

“Oh my fucking God,” I mouthed silently as he lowered himself into a chair.

Liana and Lucas immediately ran after him, sitting beside him like it was the most natural thing in the

world.

My gaze shot to Eleanor, who only shrugged and smiled like nothing about this was strange at all.

She tried to turn away, but I grabbed her wrist immediately. “Oh no. You’re not going anywhere,” I whispered harshly. “Come with me.”

Before she could complain or pretend she had no idea what I meant, I grabbed her wrist and dragged her into a corner of the hallway, far from Apollo’s line of sight.

I stared at her, demanding answers. “Explain.”

Eleanor blinked at me innocently. “Explain what?”

I glared even harder. “You know what.”

I pointed toward the living room dramatically. “What is going on here? Why is Apollo here, why was he helping Liana and Lucas with their schoolwork, and why am I the only one freaking out about this?”