Chapter 3
Holden
H e waited until they were alone in the elevator to speak. “I’m assuming you didn’t actually need me to walk you out to your car.”
“You’ve always been very astute.” Turning to face him, her expression more serious than he could remember seeing it even when she’d been digging a bullet out of his shoulder, Dr. Winters—or Naomi, as she’d insisted he call her after that fateful night—laid a hand on his arm. “She’s going to need a lot of help and support to work through this.”
Even though he knew she was just doing her job, he bristled at the implication. “You think I can’t give her what she needs?”
“I didn’t say that. But you’re a busy man. And a Daddy right down to your bones. You’re going to feel torn between your work and your desire to keep an eye on her twenty-four-seven.”
She had a point, as much as it grated to admit. “I can’t just stand back and do nothing.”
“I’m not saying you should.” Her lips twitched with reluctant amusement. “And I’m very aware that even if I tried, you’d tell me to fuck right off.”
“You know me well.”
“I do. Which is why I’m being very blunt right now. You need to give her a little space to work through this on her timetable. Usually, eating disorders like this have more to do with control than anything else. If I had to guess, something happened recently to make her feel like her world is spinning out of control so she latched onto the one thing that’s always been within her power in the past. Food.”
The thought of watching his babygirl struggle with something, when could help her with a few simple rules, didn’t sit right. “So what the hell am I supposed to do?”
He barely noticed the dinging of the elevator as the doors slid open. Naomi stepped out, and he followed, forcing his steps to slow so she wouldn’t have to run to keep up with him.
“Her therapist will have better advice than I can give you for how to get her back on track. I have a feeling she’ll thrive with some sense of structure in place, like putting rules and boundaries in place around mealtimes. Praise her for eating, don’t criticize anything even if it’s not what you would consider a ‘healthy choice’. Model the kind of eating she should be following based on her therapist’s advice. Most likely, she has a long list of food she’s labeled off limits. Her treatment plan should include reintroducing those foods. Let her see you eating those foods without negative consequences.”
Stopping on the sidewalk, she turned to him again, and he saw the hard truth of her words reflected in her eyes. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this, Holden. She’s in for a long, rough road. If you’re not in this for the long haul, you need to be upfront with yourself and with her about that. She needs as much stability as she can get right now.”
“I’ve always been in this for the long haul, Naomi. Frankie is mine.”
Her expression cleared, amusement twinkling in the bright blue of her eyes. “I had a feeling you were, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I didn’t tell you exactly what I was thinking.”
“When have you ever held back on that front?”
“Exactly,” she said with a bright, loud laugh. “I’ve got to get back to the office, but one last piece of advice, if you’re willing to hear it.”
“Shoot.”
“Frankie isn’t the only one who’s going to need support. Talk to your friends, hell, find yourself a therapist. Seriously, Dr. Jen is phenomenal. I can’t recommend her enough, especially for my clients in the lifestyle. She’d be a great support person for when you inevitably feel like you’ve failed.”
“I don’t fail.” At Naomi’s raised brow, he sighed. “But all right. I’ll keep Dr. Jen’s card around.”
“Good. And you know where to find me if you need anything, day or night.”
“Thanks, Naomi.”
“Anytime.” Turning, she waved over her head. “I’ll send you the bill for today.”
Chuckling, he turned back to the elevator, her words running through his mind.
Structure, rules, those were all things he could easily give his little siren. If anything, as Naomi had said, he’d have to keep his natural desire to control everything she did under his roof in check.
But he’d do it. He’d do whatever it took to make sure Frankie got the help she needed. A little frustration on his end was a small price to pay to ensure she was safe and healthy.
After all, she could have called anyone last night. Lottie would have come running without a second of hesitation, as would any of the women in their little circle from Club BDE.
But she’d called him . Her Daddy. And he hadn’t spent nearly a year chasing her, scaring off the other Doms at the club, doing everything in his power to make her see she belonged with him, just to run now when she needed him the most.
There was a small, quiet voice in the back of his mind questioning why she had called him. After all those months of avoiding him, of doing everything in her power to prove she didn’t want anything to do with him, why had he been her first choice when she hit rock bottom?
It didn’t matter. Whatever her reasoning, she was with him now.
And he wasn’t letting her get away again.
Frankie
The door to her room opened again, and Holden stepped inside, a smug grin stamped across his ridiculously handsome face.
“What’s got you looking like the cat that ate the canary?”
“You’re sprung, little siren. Let’s get you dressed.”
“Really?” Excitement pumped through her veins as she threw her blanket off and swung her legs over the side. “What the hell are we waiting for?”
“Still a bit of paperwork to process, but Naomi gave you the all-clear.”
“Naomi? You mean Dr. Winters?”
“Yup.”
“I didn’t realize you two were on a first-name basis.” It took her a moment to recognize the emotion twisting her stomach as jealousy, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it when it clicked.
And apparently she wasn’t the only one who figured it out. Glancing up from the bag of clothes he’d picked up from the floor beside her bed, Holden raised a silver brow. “As she said, we’ve known each other for quite some time.”
“Yeah, well, I knew my pediatrician for eighteen years and we were never all buddy-buddy like that.”
She was being ridiculous, and she knew it. A man like Holden Prescott didn’t spend months chasing after a woman, letting her humiliate him over and over again in front of his friends, only to have a piece on the side.
And yet, there was that gnawing in her gut that made her want to punch something. Or someone. Like pretty Dr. Naomi.
“I should hope not,” Holden said with a low chuckle, pulling her clothes from the bag and laying them on the bed beside her. Picking up her underwear, he knelt in front of her, carefully maneuvering one foot and then the other into the bright pink satin.
“You don’t have to do that. I can dress myself.”
“I know.” Just that. No other explanation as he helped her to her feet and pulled her panties up over her bottom. With that chore done, he rose and cupped her cheek, his dark eyes serious as they bored into hers. “You don’t have anything to worry about, baby. Naomi is a friend, nothing more.”
“I’m not jealous. I was just… wondering.”
“Uh-huh. Well, you don’t have to wonder anymore. There’s only you, Frankie. And there will only ever be you.”
Emotion clogged in her throat when he released her to grab her jeans, once again kneeling in front of her. “You don’t know that.”
“I do. And I’ll wait however long it takes for you to realize it.”
Her jeans, designed to be skintight, slid easily up over her thighs, another reminder of how deep into the hole she’d fallen. Swallowing against the lump in her throat, she watched him as he buttoned and zipped them for her before rising to his feet and cupping her face in his large, rough hands.
“You’re mine, Francesca Legare. Nothing you could do would ever change that.”
Maybe he was right. After all, she’d dumped him in the middle of an undeserved hissy fit, and then she’d felt so horrible about it the next day that she’d doubled down instead of apologizing. And instead of staying dumped like any rational man would have done in his shoes, he’d spent months chasing after her, no matter how hard she’d tried to pretend she wasn’t interested.
Even with all that, she was struggling to believe he’d actually stick once he realized how much work she really was. How hard it was some days for her to simply exist .
But that was a future Frankie problem. For now, she was too fucking tired to fight him, or her own needs. And, as much as she hated to admit she needed anyone, she absolutely needed her Daddy right now.
That’s not fair to him. You don’t deserve him. He’ll figure out you’re taking advantage of him soon enough, and then where will you be?
Squeezing her eyes shut against the waves of nasty thoughts, she dragged in a deep breath.
“Frankie? What’s wrong, baby?”
The worry in his voice forced her to open her eyes and offer up what she hoped passed for a reassuring smile. “Nothing. Just needed a moment.”
He didn’t look the least bit convinced, but after a brief hesitation he nodded slowly. “All right. But you’ll tell me if you aren’t feeling well.”
An order, not a request. Normally being bossed around just made her want to do the complete opposite, but she knew from previous experience that when Holden gave an order, disobedience was not an option.
Naughty girls don’t get fucked with Daddy’s cock. That’s a privilege you have to earn, Francesca.
Cheeks flaming, she held up her arms so he could pull her shirt over her head. “So what did you and Naomi talk about when you ‘walked her to her car’?”
Holden grinned and pulled her ponytail through the neck of her shirt, smoothing her hair back into place as much as possible without a brush. “Caught that, did you?”
“Mmhmm. If she has admitting privileges, I assume she’s been here enough to know the way back to the parking lot. So what did you talk about?”
“You. What you’ll need from me once we get home, that kind of thing.”
“Oh.” The heat that had just begun to fade from her cheeks came rushing back. “You don’t have to take care of me, Holden. I just need somewhere to stay for a little bit.”
Grabbing her chin, he forced her head back, dark eyes flashing. “Who am I, Francesca?”
Her breath caught in her throat. “D-Daddy.”
“Damn straight. And it’s Daddy’s job to take care of you. You are more than welcome to come stay with me, as long as you need, but you will have rules. And what happens when my naughty girl breaks the rules?”
“I get spanked,” she whispered, and despite everything she’d been through over the past thirty-six hours, her core clenched in response.
“That’s exactly right. So we’re going to go home, lay down some ground rules, and then you’re going to take a nap. When you get up from your nap, you’re going to call your therapist and make an appointment. The earliest one she has. Understood?”
Dammit. She’d hoped, although she’d known it was in vain even before he’d laid down the law, that he’d let the whole therapy thing slide. The last thing she wanted to do was go crawling back, to admit she’d failed in more ways than one.
But looking at him now, she realized there’d never been a chance in hell he’d let her get away with that. “Yes, Daddy.”
“That’s my good girl.” Softening his grip, he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “We’re going to get through this together, baby. I swear. Daddy’s got you.”
And for him, it really was as simple as that. She needed him, so he’d be there.
Her vision blurred, obscured by the waves of emotion crashing over her. “I don’t deserve you,” she whispered, her voice thick with the tears she was trying so hard to hold back.
“Nonsense. You deserve everything, little siren.”
Bowing his head, he captured her lips in a long, slow kiss. God, she’d missed this. The taste of him, that easy, natural dominance that called her to give in, to surrender herself completely. Letting go of all the doubts and worries at least for now, she did exactly as he bade her to, emptying her mind of everything that wasn’t him as she surrendered with a soft whimper.
His arms came around her, holding her tight without crushing her, and even through the fog of lust she could tell he was holding back. Treating her like a china doll that might break if he was too rough.
She wanted rough. Wanted him to take her to her limits and then beyond. Wanted, more than anything, to shatter in his arms the way she had before.
But to her disappointment, he broke the kiss, lifting his head to smile down at her. “I’m going to go check on that paperwork so we can get you home. Where you belong.”
Home. Where she belonged.
With him.
For now.