Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Jasper
My little princess sleeps the entire ride home, so I make sure not to disturb her as I carry her into the house. Richard greets us at the door, a sympathetic smile on his lips as he looks down at the sleeping woman in my arms.
“She’s rather precious like this,” he says with a quiet laugh.
“Isn’t she? I think she’ll probably be in a much sweeter mood after that visit to Doctor D. At least for a bit.”
“The contractors are in her nursery, so it will be a bit noisy up there for a while. I’ve set up the playpen in your office if you’d like to let her nap there instead.”
Gratitude swells in my chest as I pivot to head for my office. “Thank you, Richard. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Nonsense. Just doing my job.”
“Yeah, well, I’m the boss so if I say you’re a lifesaver then you’re a lifesaver. Deal with it.”
“Fair enough.”
Pausing beside the wooden pen filled with blankets and pillows and toys, I lower Juliet to the nest Richard has made for her. She whimpers in her sleep, her brows drawing together, and we both hold our breath for fear of waking her up. But almost immediately she settles again, and I watch in fascination as she curls onto her side and slides her thumb into her mouth.
Has she always done that? Or is it merely a side effect of her regression?
Beside me, Richard shifts, pulling something from his pocket. Leaning down, he gently pries her thumb from her mouth and slips a pacifier between her lips. It’s teal, her favorite color, with a silver and diamond tiara charm affixed to the front.
“Alice will never forgive us if we let her suck her thumb and mess up her teeth,” he whispers, a grin stretching across his face as he straightens.
“Thank you, friend. No offense, but your wife scares me a bit.”
“None taken. She scares me a bit, as well, and that’s just how she likes it. Which is why I took the liberty of making your Little one an appointment to see her next week.”
I’m not sure how Juliet will feel about a trip to the dentist, but it’s a necessary evil. And perhaps since she knows Alice, it won’t be quite as traumatic as our visit with Doctor D. “Thank you, again. I’m going to see if I can get some work done while she naps. Would you mind checking in with the others, to ensure everyone is ready for tonight?”
“Of course.” He hesitates, just a beat, but it’s enough to have my internal radar pinging. “You should know, Mr. Stone has mentioned some concerns about you claiming her so soon.”
“I’m not surprised. Juliet didn’t exactly make a good impression on him this morning. I’ll give him a call.”
“Very well. And I’ll handle the rest. Oh, and a few packages arrived while you were out. I assumed, given the names, they were for tonight so I took the liberty of delivering them to your room.”
“What would I do without you, Richard?”
“Probably end up lost and wandering the wilderness somewhere. Something to keep in mind when you’re writing my bonus check this year.”
“Smug bastard,” I respond with a laugh, and his echoes in return as he closes the door behind him. Leaving me alone with my little princess.
It’s tempting to simply sit and watch her sleep, but apparently I have fences to mend, so I take my seat at my desk and put a call through to Maxwell.
His stony expression fills the screen a moment later. “Richard told you my concerns, I take it.”
Nothing gets past Maxwell Stone. Not for the first time, I count myself lucky he considers me a friend, though I know his fondness for me and the rest of our “family” only goes so far. If he even thinks one of us would be a threat to his little one, or the life we’ve built on this island, I know with absolute certainty he would eliminate that threat as quickly and effortlessly as he’s been known to dispatch business rivals.
With that in mind, I fix an apologetic smile on my face. “He did. But there’s nothing to worry about, I assure you. I have my stepsister well in hand.”
“You’re sure about this? About her? She hasn’t even been on the island twenty-four hours. What if she isn’t a good fit for you?”
“She is.” There’s no doubt in my mind, though I can understand Maxwell’s concerns. “I’ve known her for nearly a decade, Maxwell. I know her, I dare say, even better than you knew sweet little Tori before you brought her to the island. And yes, she’s a brat through and through, but you know how much I enjoy a challenge.”
Humor lights Maxwell’s dark eyes, just a hint of it, but enough for me to breathe easily. “Very true. All right. I’ll defer to your judgement on this. And I look forward to seeing how you rise to this particular challenge.”
“I appreciate your faith in me, old man.”
It’s a long-standing joke between us, based on the fact that Maxwell is exactly one day older than me. I’ve never known him to be sensitive about his age, except for when I needle him about being the oldest of our little family. Even if it is just by one day.
“Perhaps you’re right. She is a good fit for you. A brat for a brat. I’ll see you tonight, Jasper.”
The screen goes dark and I can’t help but chuckle at his parting shot as I turn to study my sleeping Little girl. Perhaps he’s right. I’ve always been of the opinion that sadists all have a bit of brat in them.
Which just means I’m the perfect man for the job of figuring out what makes my brat tick.
And what it will take to make her break.
Juliet
“Come on, princess. Time to get up.”
The familiar, cajoling voice pulls me out of my slumber just as I’m lifted from my warm cocoon. Instinctively, I cling to the person carrying me, whining around the thing in my mouth as he cradles me close.
Jasper. I recognize his voice, but I can’t quite remember why I would be in Jasper’s arms. Or what this odd thing is in my mouth. I suck at the rubber and whine again, more unwilling than usual to fully wake.
His chest vibrates with laughter beneath my cheek. “I know. Daddy interrupted your nap. Bad Daddy.”
Daddy . The word pierces my consciousness, dragging me fully back to the land of the waking. My eyes fly open, taking in my surroundings as he begins our ascent up the stairs.
His home. The nursery. Auntie Cat. Doctor D. Memories of the past day flood me, bringing with them all the pain and humiliation I’ve endured at my brother’s hands.
And yet, he is the one I turn to for comfort, pressing my face into his neck as the memories threaten to overwhelm me.
“Hey now. What’s all this?” His tone is almost sweet as he takes a seat, cradling me in his arms like a small child. “What’s wrong, princess?”
Unable to find the words to explain the chaotic jumble of emotion in my chest, I shake my head and try my best to curl into him even further.
“Poor Princess Juju,” he murmurs, and for the first time it actually sounds like an endearment rather than the merciless taunting of an older brother. “It’s been a big day, hasn’t it, baby?”
I nod, and he presses a kiss to my hair, making my heart tremble at the sweetness of the gesture.
“Would it help if I told you I have some presents for you?”
Presents? I do like presents.
Lifting my head, I look around the room, taking in our surroundings for the first time. We aren’t in my strange nursery, but in a much larger, more masculine room, seated on a giant, wrought-iron bed.
I pop the rubber from my mouth, realizing with some horror that I have been voluntarily sucking on a pacifier. “What kind of presents?”
“The kind fit for a princess. Would you like to open them?”
“It’s not something that goes in my ass, is it?”
Throwing his head back, Jasper lets out a long, loud laugh. “No, princess, these gifts do not go in your cute little bottom. But if you keep using naughty words, I can certainly rectify that.”
“Sorry, Daddy.”
“Good girl. Why don’t you go grab that big box over there first?”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I slide off his lap, heading straight for the small pile of boxes at the end of the bed, and pick up the largest one first to lay on the bed before tugging at the beautiful pale blue ribbon tying it closed.
My breath clogs in my lungs when I lift the lid from the box. Inside is a dress, but not simply any dress, the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen. Shimmery layers of deep purple satin and tulle are dotted with little stars and moons, and I carefully lift the creation from the tissue paper and hold it in front of me. It reminds me so much of the dress in my daydreams of me and Jasper in Paris it brings tears to my eyes.
I don’t even care that it’s far too short, like the other dresses I tried on at Solene’s. I only care that it’s beautiful. And it’s mine.
“Do you like it?” For the first time in my memory, Jasper looks unsure of himself. “It reminded me of that one dress you had. You wore it to one of your mother’s charity balls, and she had a conniption fit because she’d picked out some pale pink monstrosity and you’d thumbed your nose at her by getting your own dress.”
I can’t quite place the emotion that rises up in me, threatening to choke me as I run my hand over the star-studded fabric. I remember that night like it was yesterday. My mother berating me in the womens’ bathroom, Jasper “accidentally” wandering in and pretending like he’d simply gone through the wrong door, which had pissed my mother off enough that she stormed off and didn’t speak to either of us again the rest of the night.
In that moment, he was the closest thing to a hero I’d ever known.
“I can’t believe you remember that,” I whisper, blinking hard against the tears burning in my eyes. “It was forever ago.”
“It’s one of my favorite memories of you. I’d never seen you laugh or dance the way you did that night. And the way you looked in that dress… well, I probably shouldn’t have enjoyed it quite so much considering you were barely eighteen at the time. Made me feel like a dirty old man, watching you all night.”
“You are a dirty old man. But thank you. I love it, I really do.”
“Good. Now open this one.” He hands me a square box, and though I hate to relinquish my dress, I carefully return it to the tissue paper and accept the next gift.
“Is this… holy shi-crap, is this a tiara ?” Stunned, I can only stare down at the gold crown inside, adorned with the most perfect amethysts I’ve ever seen in my life.
“It is. Can’t have my princess going around without her crown, now can I?”
Pulling the tiara free, I drop the box with a squeal as I rush over to the full-length mirror standing in the corner of his room. “Can I wear it, Daddy, please? I’ll be so good, I swear!”
His laughter, deep and rich, once again echoes around the room as he comes to stand behind me. “Of course you can, princess. After your bath.”