Chapter 20
Frankie
“ W hat time is your therapy appointment today?”
Fuck. She’d forgotten all about her pretend appointment. What time had she told him? “Um. Two, I think. I’ll have to double-check the email they sent me.”
The corners of his lips dipped down into a frown, and her heart pounded against her ribcage. If he called her bluff somehow, there was no doubt in her mind she wouldn’t be sitting very comfortably the rest of the day. Or he’d make her write more fucking lines.
Ugh.
“Show me the email, please.”
Shit, shit, shit. Panic dug its thick claws into her chest, making it ache, but she forced an apologetic smile. “Left my phone upstairs. Can I get it after breakfast?”
In a Hail Mary attempt to distract him, she opened the fridge. “I think I want some eggs this morning. Maybe bacon. Do you want anything?”
“Eggs and bacon?” Suspicion crept into his voice. “Really?”
“Yes. Is there something wrong with eggs and bacon?”
It was manipulative, putting that hint of worry in her own voice, as if she was scared she’d made a bad decision with her food. But it cleared that look out of his eyes, and she was rewarded with a smile.
“Of course not. How do you want your eggs?”
“Oh, um, I can make it myself. You don’t have to do that.”
“I know, but I enjoy cooking for you. And you can run upstairs to grab your phone while I’m making us breakfast.”
So much for her Hail Mary. Should she just come clean? Maybe if she told him the truth now, it wouldn’t be quite as bad as if he found out all on his own later. And she really did feel bad lying to him, especially about something so important.
But before she could bring herself to fess up, he frowned again, this time reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone. “Merlin. What’s up?”
Watching him go from concerned Daddy to ‘work Holden’ was fascinating and, she could admit, a bit terrifying. Spine straightening, his head snapped up, and there was a look in his eye she’d never seen. Flipping off the burners on the stove, he strode out of the kitchen without even giving her a second glance.
What the hell was going on?
Keeping her footsteps light, she followed him to his office, where he’d luckily left the door ajar. She positioned herself hopefully out of his sight and peeked inside.
“Move them. Now. The safe house in Walhalla is available. How far out are you?” His fingers flew across the keys as he listened to whatever this ‘Merlin’ had to say. “I can have a team there in an hour for the initial prep and sweep. Keep me and the team updated. You know the drill.”
Another pause, this time without the clickety-clack of the computer keys. “Don't fucking apologize unless you’ve got something to apologize for. We’ll debrief when the dust settles. Stay safe.”
Since that seemed like the end of the call, Frankie scurried back from the door and raced to the kitchen, where she slid onto a seat, pretending for all she was worth that she hadn’t been eavesdropping.
“Everything okay?” she asked when he strode back into the room.
“Yeah.” But the expression on his face clearly said everything was very much not okay. “I have to go into the office. We’ve had an incident.”
Her heart, which was still beating fast from her race back to the kitchen, sped up even more. “Is everyone safe?”
“For now.” Holden turned as if to leave, then paused and shifted back to face her. “Send me a picture of your breakfast, before and after you eat it. Just because I’m not here doesn’t mean you get to skip a meal.”
Even in the middle of what was clearly a major crisis, he was taking care of her. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Good girl. I’ll see you tonight. Do you want to ride with me to Ice and Silver’s or would you rather stay home?”
She’d actually completely forgotten that they’d invited everyone over for dinner. “No, I wanna go.”
“Good.” Glancing down at his watch, he grimaced. “I really have to get going. Lottie is still taking you to your appointment?”
“Yup.” The smile on her face felt frozen, brittle. Not only was she getting herself in trouble, she was dragging Lottie into her lie, as well.
“I expect an update tonight.”
“Yes, Daddy. Shouldn’t you be leaving to go save the world or whatever?”
“Watch the snark, little girl. I’ll see you tonight.”
And with that, he finally turned on his heel and left the kitchen. She didn’t pull in an easy breath until she heard the front door shut behind him, followed by the beeping sound of him setting the lock.
But even then, worry churned in her gut. All he had to do was ask Lottie if they’d gone to her therapy appointment and the gig was up. Would Lottie lie for her? After she’d gotten out of rehab, Lottie was the one who had made her go to her therapy appointments regularly. But she also had a habit of shielding Frankie whenever she could, so it was entirely possible she’d lie to Holden and then lecture Frankie later on the importance of therapy.
Groaning, she dropped her head into her hands. She couldn’t ask Lottie to lie for her. Braden was far too strict for that, and the thought of Lottie getting punished on her behalf made her stomach ache even more than it already did.
Plausible deniability. She needed to give Lottie some kind of plausible deniability. If she just didn’t bring Lottie into it at all, then her friend could easily tell the truth and say she didn’t know what Holden was talking about if he asked.
There. Problem solved.
Now to make her breakfast, so at least she wasn’t lying about one thing today.
Holden
A regular day running one of the most exclusive security firms on the East Coast was exhausting enough. A day spent chasing down where the fuck his team potentially screwed up, fixing holes in their processes he would have sworn before Congress didn’t exist, and assuring clients they were still safest with his team instead of on their own had him bone-fucking-tired.
If he hadn’t already made plans to take Frankie to the get-together tonight, he’d beg off completely. But she needed the normalcy of hanging out with her friends as part of her treatment. At least, that was what he’d learned from his deep dives on the internet. He’d have to ask what her therapist thought of everything they’d been doing so far when he had her alone again.
She was waiting for him when he got home, and damn if his heart didn’t leap in his fucking chest at the sight of her curled up on the living room in his couch, her tablet in hand as she scrolled mindlessly through some social media site. The security expert in him hated that she even had a presence on those sites, but since she was in no immediate danger from anyone other than herself, there wasn’t really a reason to forbid her from using them, as much as he might want to.
It took every ounce of willpower he had not to walk over and kiss her. To wrap her in his arms and hold her, not because he had any expectation of something sexual, but just to feel her. To know she belonged to him.
But she didn’t. Not completely. So he held himself back and settled for a forced smile when she lifted her gaze to his. “Gonna run upstairs and shower real quick, then we can head over.”
By contrast, her smile was quick and easy, with a teasing edge that had his cock growing hard despite the exhaustion dragging at him. “Want some company?”
Fuck, it was tempting to take her up on that offer. After the day he’d had, the thought of pinning her against the cool tile, pounding into her hot, tight pussy as she screamed for Daddy nearly unraveled him.
But they were keeping things platonic for a reason. Good reasons, ones he’d do well to remember, especially when faced with the temptation that was his little siren. “Not today.”
Horror flashed over her features. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… I wasn’t thinking. God, I’m such an asshole.”
“You’re not. And what have I said about talking shit about yourself?”
“It’s not talking shit if it’s true.”
He shouldn’t punish her when he was on edge, cranky, borderline out of control. But he’d had more than enough of how she talked about the woman he loved. And, as he’d proven before, he didn’t have to lay a hand on her to make a point.
Lifting a hand, he pointed to the far end of the room. “Nose in the corner and leave it there until I come back downstairs.”
“Daddy, no!”
The protest came out as a whine, and despite himself, he nearly chuckled at her sounding exactly like a bratty teenager.
“That’s not fair!”
“You can spend time in the corner down here, or you can come upstairs with me and get your mouth washed out before I put you in the corner. Your choice, Francesca.”
“Ugh!” Huffing out an annoyed breath, she hopped up from the couch and stomped over to the empty corner, crossing her arms over her chest. “Happy?”
“Hands behind your back.” He waited for her to shift positions. “Good girl. Do not move from that position until I tell you to. Understood?”
“Yes, Daddy.” Reluctance made the syllables drag a bit, but he was satisfied she’d stay where he’d put her. Or at the very least she’d do a decent job of pretending she had.
With that handled, at least for now, he headed upstairs for a quick shower. The steaming hot water helped wash some of the exhaustion of the day away, and if he took a little more time than usual to enjoy the pounding spray of the shower jets he’d had installed for exactly that reason, well, who could blame him?
Chuckling at the thought of what his little siren would have to say about it if she found out he’d deliberately left her in the corner longer than usual, he dressed for dinner and made his way back downstairs, keeping his footsteps as light as possible on the stairs. Between his military training and his security business, he was pretty damn sneaky for a man his size.
And so, when he stepped into the living room and found his babygirl still standing where he’d left her, arms folded neatly behind her back as she shifted restlessly from foot to foot, pride welled in his chest.
“Come here, Francesca.”
She might have been able to sneak away from the corner and then back again if she’d listened close enough. But he was fairly certain the way she jumped at the sound of his voice was entirely genuine, which led him to believe she actually had stayed put for her punishment.
Head down, she turned away from the corner and crossed the room to stand in front of him. Gripping her chin between his thumb and forefinger, he gently nudged her head up until he could see the pout on her lips and the wariness in her deep brown eyes.
“Do you understand why you were punished, Francesca?”
At the word ‘punished’, her pupils dilated, ever so slight and her breath caught. “Um. Not really. I was an asshole and?—”
Tightening his grip on her chin, he forced her head back a bit further. “Stop. You said something without thinking, just like we all do. It doesn’t make you an asshole.”
“I hurt you.”
There was so much pain in that whispered phrase it nearly drove him to his knees. How the hell was he supposed to respond to that? Saying it hadn’t hurt to be so violently reminded of everything he couldn’t have would be a lie, but he didn’t want to hurt her with the truth.
“We all make mistakes, little siren. That doesn’t make you an asshole, it just makes you human. You acknowledge them, you learn from them, and you move on. Beating yourself up over them doesn't help anyone, least of all the person you hurt. Does that make sense?”
“Not really. I’m… I’m not really used to just being allowed to make a mistake.”
Her fucking parents. If he had just five minutes alone with them…
Breathing deeply, he reigned his temper back in best he could. “Whose job is it to decide if you need to be punished for something?”
“Yours, Daddy.”
“From this point forward, you can consider it a rule that you are not allowed to punish yourself for anything. That is my role and my role alone. If I catch you calling yourself names or putting yourself down or otherwise punishing yourself for a simple mistake, you will answer to me. Am I making myself clear, Francesca?”
Eyes wide, she inhaled sharply through her nose. “But?—”
“No. There are no exceptions to this particular rule, little girl. Am I clear ?”
“Y-yes, Daddy.”
“Good girl.” Still gripping her chin, he leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. “We should get going. Being late is definitely a punishable offense in this house.”
When he released her, she shot him a glare and grumbled something that sounded distinctly like “Bossy jerk” under her breath.
But he caught the hint of a smile on her lips when she said it, and if it meant seeing his babygirl smile again, he could overlook some sassy words.
At least for now.