Chapter 32
Holden
“ H ave you heard from the girls yet?”
Looking up from the stack of papers on his desk, Braden raised a brow. “Lottie texted ten minutes ago to say they were on their way to the club. Which you know, because I told you that ten minutes ago.”
“Right. Right.” Hands shoved in his pockets, Holden paced Braden’s office at Club BDE. “I don’t know why I’m so fucking nervous.”
“Me neither. It’s not like you’ve never done a scene with her before.”
“Not like this.”
Rising from his seat, Braden rounded the desk, stepping in Holden’s way and bringing his pacing to a stop. “Do you need me to tell you it’s a good scene and that I think you’re doing the right thing by finally getting off your ass and making her see reason instead of waiting around for her to suddenly realize she’s in love with you?”
“Yeah, actually. That would help a lot.”
Gripping Holden’s shoulders, Braden gave them a hard squeeze. “It’s a good scene. You’re a good man and a good Daddy. Everything is going to be fine.”
Surprisingly, the pep talk did help to ease his nerves, though not as much as he would have liked leading up to a scene as important as this one. “Thanks.”
“Any time. Anything else I can do since I’m apparently not going to get any work done tonight?”
Asshole. But he was an asshole taking time out of his day to help Holden win his girl back once and for all, so he let the jab pass. And there was something Braden could potentially help him with. “What do you know about Frankie’s parents?”
The twist of Braden’s mouth, as if he’d just tasted something particularly foul, told him everything he needed to know before Braden even said a word. “They’re the worst kind of rich people. Selfish, full of themselves, always putting their public appearance and their reputation above everything else. Including their own daughter.”
“That’s the vibe I got from Frankie. Part of me feels like she’d be better off without them.”
“Honestly? She might be. But that has to be her call to make.”
“I know.” And as much as that protective Daddy side of him wanted to step in, to put his foot down and forbid her from ever talking to them again, he knew he couldn’t.
And damn if that didn’t kill him inside.
Braden’s phone buzzed on his desk and he turned to retrieve it. “Five-minute warning. You should head down to the pit and set everything up. I’ll make sure Frankie gets to you.”
“Thanks. I appreciate your help with this.”
“My pleasure, friend. Go get your girl.”
Frankie
From the passenger seat, Lottie sighed before turning and flashing Frankie an apologetic smile. “Daddy wants me to come by the club. Do you mind if we make a little detour?”
All Frankie wanted to do was get home to her own Daddy and see if she could work up the nerve to tell him she loved him. But when Lottie looked at her like that, with those big puppy-dog eyes, she couldn’t say no. “If it’s cool with everyone else it’s cool with me.”
“Works for me.” Ruby sighed, her bottom lip pushing out in a pout. “Beckett has some work thing tonight and I hate being at his house by myself. It’s too damn big.”
“That’s what she said,” Ivy chimed in with a giggle, earning her an amused look from her girlfriend.
“Someone had too much champagne at the dress shop,” Cordelia drawled, wrapping an arm around her girl’s shoulders. “No more alcohol for you tonight, blossom.”
“Awww, but we’re goin’ to the club and we don’t even gotta work!”
“Exactly my point. I have plans for you tonight and I need you good and sober for them.”
“Oh.” In the rearview mirror, Frankie watched Ivy’s eyes go wide and dark with need. “In that case, yes, Ma’am.”
“Silver?” Frankie asked, meeting the sultry brunette’s gaze in the mirror. “You good with a detour?”
“I need to let Ice know but I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”
“To the club it is.”
The crowd in the SUV Frankie had pleaded with Holden to borrow for their girls’ day out cheered as she flipped her turn signal on and headed for the exit that would take them to the club.
They parked out back, near the service entrance Braden had been encouraging everyone to use. Contrary to Ruby’s complaint the other night, the door did not stick, and Lottie explained Braden had gotten someone out to work on it as soon as Ruby had mentioned it.
Was that a Daddy thing or just a Braden thing, Frankie wondered. To want to take care of everyone around him, to want to make their lives as easy as possible. Holden was much the same way, so she was leaning toward it being a Daddy thing.
And if it was a Daddy thing, then didn’t that mean it was okay for her to need him? For her to lean on him, more than she’d ever leaned on anyone before? She’d already come to the conclusion that she loved him, but she still wasn’t sure how much she was allowed to need him.
Those thoughts were still rolling around in her head as she followed her friends down to the pit. It was still early in the evening, so the club was relatively empty. But there was a single black play bag up on one of the podiums and all the other lights had been dimmed, with a single spotlight shining on the St. Andrew's cross in the middle of the wooden stage.
Something interesting was about to go down.
Pausing her trek to wherever Lottie was headed, she looked up at the stage, her heart racing as she remembered what it had felt like to be strapped to that same kind of cross while her Daddy punished her in front of the entire club. Humiliating, painfully so, not to mention the actual pain. And yet, she’d craved him so badly she’d nearly wept when he’d told her she wouldn’t be allowed to come all night.
As if her thoughts somehow managed to conjure him, Holden stepped onto the stage, his silver hair glinting beneath the spotlight. His gaze zeroed in on her and time itself seemed to stop. The very air in her lungs froze and her heart literally skipped a beat.
How could she have ever doubted that she felt anything less than all-consuming love for this man?
Grinning up at him, she raced up the steps of the podium and threw her arms around him. “What are you doing here? Never mind.” Pulling away, she shook her head, her nerves suddenly vibrating with anticipation. “We need to talk.”
“We do. But first, you’re going to listen.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he laid a finger on her lips, his eyes glinting with authority. “You are not allowed to speak unless it’s to use your safeword. Nod if you understand me.”
What the hell was going on? Was she in trouble?
She didn’t know, but despite the sudden racing of her heart, she trusted him to explain, so she nodded.
And she was rewarded with a warm, approving smile that nearly turned her to a puddle at his feet. “Good girl. I’ve done a lot of thinking about our… situation. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I seriously fucked up.”
“No, that’s not?—”
“Is that your safeword, Francesca?”
Huffing out a breath, she shook her head.
“Good girl. As I was saying. What I should have told you when we first talked about keeping our relationship platonic was that I wanted to know that you were choosing me. And that I wanted you to know you were choosing me. It never had anything to do with making you prove yourself to me, Frankie. If anything, I should have been proving myself to you. Proving that I could be the kind of man you can depend on. That I’ll be there for you, every step of the way. This was never about whether or not you deserve me, baby. Because you deserve the fucking world.”
If she hadn’t already been in love with him, she was pretty sure that little speech would have sealed the deal. And even if she didn’t really believe that last bit, didn’t believe she’d done a damn thing to deserve him or the love he so obviously had for her, she was going to spend the rest of her life doing everything she could to be worthy of it.
Starting right now, with obeying his command to keep her mouth shut unless she needed to use her safeword. Heart pounding in her chest, she looked up at him and nodded slightly, acknowledging his words.
Stepping back, he let his hand drop to his side, and she could swear she saw him transform into Daddy right in front of her eyes. Everything about him was a bit harder, a bit sterner, and it sent a delicious little shiver of fear racing up her spine.
“Take off all your clothes, fold them neatly, and place them at the edge of the stage.”
Well that was easy enough. Except that when she turned, she found all of her friends and their Daddies gathered around the stage, watching. Where had they all come from? Wasn’t Beckett supposed to be at some work event? When had Ice gotten there?
She met Lottie’s gaze and her friend grinned, holding up two thumbs as if in approval.
And then it hit her. They’d set her up.
The question was… Why?
That temptation rose in her again, to turn around and demand answers, but she forced it back down. Holden loved her and wanted the best for her, and so did her friends. So for once in her life she’d just have to trust in that love and do as she was told.
Her nerves settled, at least a bit, as she stripped down to nothing, folding her clothes as she’d been instructed and placing them at the edge of the podium before returning to her Daddy’s side. Pride shone in his eyes as he cupped her face in his hands, lowering his head to capture her lips in a long, slow kiss. There was no urgency, no desperation, not like there had been the other day when he’d kissed her. And unlike the other day, when she’d pulled away because it had all just felt a little wrong, now she sank into the kiss, into him because it felt so completely right.
This was where she was meant to be, every day for the rest of her life. In his arms, being kissed like the rest of the world didn’t exist.
When he lifted his head again, a slow smile curved his lips. “I’m not going to hurt you, not the way you’re probably expecting me to. But I am going to take you to the edge of what you think you can handle and probably further. I’m going to force things on you that you may hate me for in the moment, but I promise it all has a purpose. Do you trust me, little siren?”
She did, more than she’d ever trust another soul, so she nodded.
“One last question. Do I have your consent to make you come?”
Oh, god, yes. Please, Daddy.
Another silent nod.
“My sweet girl,” he murmured, brushing another kiss over her lips. “I know you think you don’t deserve me, but you’ve got it all twisted. I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you. I’ve fucked this up at every turn, but starting now I’m going to do whatever it takes to be the man you deserve.”
You’re already so much more than I deserve .
But since he’d already made it clear she wasn’t allowed to talk, and because she knew those words would only piss him off, she kept them to herself as he helped her up onto the cross. Lifting her arm, he captured one wrist in the metal shackle attached to the top of one bar before moving to the other. Leaving her exposed and helpless, staring out at the small crowd in front of the podium.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, tracing a finger down the length of her arm, and her body trembled in response. “Stunning, really. Sometimes, when you’re sleeping, I just look at you. So beautiful and perfect in my bed. But you know what the most beautiful thing about you is, Francesca?”
Uncertain if she was allowed to answer verbally, she shook her head. The slight smile he’d been wearing widened as he reached into his pocket. Fear and excitement slammed into her, a delicious mixture that sent her heart racing and made her head a bit light as she wondered what he might have in store for her.
But it wasn’t some pocket-sized torture device. It was… a marker?
Pulling the top off, he pressed the cool, wet tip to her breast and she watched in fascination as he drew it along her skin. “Your heart, baby. You have such a big, beautiful heart. You love so hard and so fiercely, and everyone around you is a better person for just being in your orbit.”
Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to the center of the heart he’d just drawn on her skin. And her actual heart, the one in her chest, nearly skidded to a stop.
Was this the scene? Him telling her everything he loved about her and drawing random things on her skin?
Before she could decide if she wanted to risk a punishment by breaking the ‘No Talking’ rule to ask, he turned and held the marker out to the audience. “Lottie, you’re up next.”