Chapter 19
MELANIE
Tori might just be my new favorite person in the whole world. Not only is she lots of fun to be around, she’s hilarious, too. Watching her tease a bunch of giant lumberjacks, skirting the line between playful and disrespectful so effortlessly is actually kind of inspiring.
And there’s something about how… free she seems that pulls at me. Like she doesn’t have a care in the whole world. It’s almost childlike, and for the first time since I woke up in my new home, I find myself wanting to be a Little girl, just to feel an ounce of what Tori seems to feel.
We managed to talk the Daddies into a sleepover, with both of us curled up on a pile of pillows and blankets we’ve made into a sort of nest on the floor.
The lights are off, and Axel has already been in once to warn us in a very stern voice that it was past time for Little girls to get some sleep.
That was over an hour ago and we still haven’t managed to close our eyes.
“Tori?” I ask into the darkness after one of our longer silences.
“Yeah?” Her voice is sleepy, so I should probably let her go to bed, but I still have so many questions, and she’s the only one who can answer them for me.
“How did you and Uncle Max meet?” I’ve been instructed to call her Daddy ‘Uncle Max’, which is kind of sweet. It makes us all seem like one big happy family, and while I’m not unfamiliar with big families, the “happy” is a new element altogether.
Even in the darkness, I can see her cheeks turn pink. “Um, okay, I’ll tell you but you have to promise you won’t judge me.”
Well, now my interest is really piqued. “Pinkie-swear.”
We hook our fingers together and she clears her throat, her cheeks glowing even more brightly than before. “I used to work for him. Not directly, but for his company. And, um, I sort of stole some money from the company.”
“Really?” Tori might have a bit of a naughty streak, but I can’t see her committing an actual crime. “Is that why he calls you his little thief?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I was wondering about that. So, what, did you like, steal the petty cash for the office Christmas party or something?”
“Umm… a bit more than that. I embezzled a million dollars.”
Shock renders me speechless for a solid thirty seconds. “You what?”
“Yeah. And it turned out to be a trap Daddy set up for me, and when it worked, he told me I could either go to jail or come to the island with him to pay for my crimes, as he put it. I chose the latter, obviously.”
“He blackmailed you?”
“Technically, I guess. But it really was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m a very spoiled Little girl.”
There was no denying that. “Are you happy, though? Do you miss your home? Your family?”
“I don’t really have any family left,” she says quietly. “My mom passed away a few years ago and she was really all I had. Now I have my family on the island and yes, I am incredibly, deliriously happy.”
“Even though you were forced into it?”
“Yes. It sucked at first, but honestly, I can’t imagine living any other way.
I mean really, what’s not to like?” Her happy giggle fills the air.
“I get to live on a gorgeous tropical island, with the sexiest man in the world who pretty much never tells me no when I want something, and I never have to work or worry about bills or anything. It’s pretty freaking great. ”
“But you aren’t free,” I press. “You can’t just pick up and travel somewhere on your own or make your own decisions about things. Every bit of your life is controlled by him.”
“Yes, because flying off to Paris was totally in the cards when I was drowning in medical debt,” she says dryly.
“I travel more now than I could have ever imagined before him. And yeah, sometimes it chafes when I want to do something and Daddy won’t let me, but usually it’s only because he has my best interest at heart.
If it’s something that’s really important to me, he finds a way to make it happen.
Like bringing you the packages from Solene personally instead of sending one of his staff to do it. ”
“That was your idea?”
“Uh-huh. I wanted to meet you.”
“Why?”
“Because I love Uncle Axel and he loves you.” Her tone implies it’s as simple as that.
And maybe it is.
“He doesn’t love me. He barely knows me.”
Tori lets out a snort. “Trust me, that’s never stopped any of the Daddies I know. Once they find their Little girls, they fall fast and they fall hard.”
Silence once more falls around us, and for a moment I wonder if she has actually fallen asleep on me before she reaches for me in the dark, gripping my hand and giving it a hard squeeze.
“I know it’s hard, especially when you feel like you haven’t been given a choice.
But I think if you let go of this idea that you need to be ‘free’, you’ll find that Axel’s Little girl is who you were always meant to be. ”
Melanie
Tori’s words stay with me, following me into my dreams where I see myself as a slightly taller version of her. Laughing and playing with Axel and his siblings, letting them push me on a swingset, running from them as they try to catch me in a game of tag.
I wake with those dream-memories still lingering in my mind, and an ache deep in my chest. Could that be my reality, if I gave into them? If I let myself just be Axel’s Little girl and stopped worrying about getting back to the life I used to have?
What am I really missing out on, anyway?
An arranged marriage to a man I barely know, who will expect me to cook and clean and take care of the children I’m not even sure I want, day in and day out?
I’d resigned myself to that life, because it was all I’d ever known, all I’d ever been taught to want.
But here was Axel and his giant, loud, loving family, ready to give me something more. A life where I would be pampered and spoiled and protected at all costs. All it will cost me is my freedom.
I’m almost convinced it might be worth the price. Because what freedom would I have if I returned to my old life anyway?
After breakfast, we walk Tori and Uncle Max to the helicopter waiting in a large clearing about a half mile from the house.
Tori hugs me hard, and I’m surprised to find tears burning in my eyes when she promises to introduce me to all the animals on the farm when I come visit.
Uncle Max and Axel hug goodbye too, not one of those quick, back-slapping hugs men usually give each other, but a genuine embrace that speaks to the deep affection between them.
And then they’re off, headed back to the airport where I’m told a private jet awaits to whisk them back to the island.
I miss them already.
“Don’t cry, little one. We’ll go visit them soon, I promise.”
Sniffling back tears, I look up at him, this man I call Daddy with his huge bushy beard and shoulders that look like they could carry the weight of the whole world on them. “Pinkie-swear?”
A grin spreads across his face as he hooks his finger with mine. “Pinkie-swear. I already talked to your Uncle Max about making a trip down there in a couple months, once you’ve had some more time to settle in.”
“Really?”
“Yup. I think you’ll enjoy the island. There’s even a waterpark we can go play at while we’re there.”
Excitement beats at my chest, so I let it come, let it overwhelm me as I bounce on my toes in the snow. “Call the helicopter back! I wanna go now! Can we Daddy, please, please, please?”
“Soon, little one. I promise.”
Clearly he’s made up his mind, so I heave a dramatic sigh and nod. “Okay, Daddy.”
“That’s my good girl.” Plucking me out of the snow, he helps me wiggle onto his back, with my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. “We should get back home before your Auntie Gray sends a search party after us.”
I can’t help but giggle at the image of stern Auntie Gray barking orders at everyone, telling them which sections of the woods to search first. “She would, too, wouldn’t she?”
“Absolutely. She’s rather fond of you, little runaway.”
“I’m pretty fond of her, too.” Surprisingly, it’s true. Despite the circumstances that brought me here, I really do like Auntie Gray and my uncles. I don’t particularly like the spankings they keep threatening me with, but even that is starting to feel like a normal part of life.
“Hmm. Does that mean you don’t want to try driving the snowmobile today?”
His teasing question reminds me of our deal. I can try driving it by myself, but if I can’t make it down the hill in a straight line, I get another whipping with his thick leather belt.
If I do make it, however…
Freedom.
But after my visit with Tori, that freedom isn’t as enticing as it once was.
Part of me still aches for it, demands it, but the rest of me is thinking about what Tori said.
About how she lives a life free of responsibilities, where her every want and desire is met, unless it’s something that might put her in danger.
So maybe instead of the snowmobile, I should ask for something else. Put Tori’s version of her life to the test. “No, Daddy. Could we have a tea party instead?”
“A tea party?” Surprise colors his voice. “Sure, baby, we can have a tea party. Or would you rather have a hot chocolate party?”
“Yes! Will all the uncles and Auntie Gray come?”
“If you ask, I don’t see how they can say no.”
As it turns out, he’s right. Which is how I find myself locked into a highchair at the dining room table in one of my fancy new dresses with a matching tiara on my head, ordering Uncle Eli to pass out the lemon bars he made fresh this morning.
Uncle Eli looks at Axel, his brows raised, but Daddy just shrugs.
“It’s her party, Eli.”
Feeling smug, I stick my tongue out at Uncle Eli. “That’s right. It’s my party, so you have to do what I say!”
A heavy hand comes to rest on the back of my neck, and when I look up at Daddy, his expression is stern. “Rude Little girls do not get tea parties, Melanie Brynne. They get sent upstairs for an early nap with a red-hot bottom. Apologize to your Uncle Eli right now.”
Embarrassment heats my cheeks as I peek up at Uncle Eli’s stony countenance. “Sorry for being rude, Uncle Eli.”
The gruff man in front of me softens, just a fraction. “Apology accepted, little one.”
I notice he’s wearing his apron again, so I offer up a hopeful smile. “Uncle Eli?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“I feel really, really bad about being so rude. Could I please give you a kiss to make up for it?”
Another little test of Tori’s vision for my life here with the Thornes. The whole room seems to hold its breath, and you could hear a pin drop as we all wait for his reaction.
And then he sighs, heavily, as he crouches down beside me. Leaning over, I press a kiss to his grizzled cheek.
“There. All better.”
Affection warms his eyes for just a moment before he pushes to his feet again. “Don’t let it happen again, or I’ll take my spoon to your bottom.”
It takes all the self-control I have to nod solemnly. “Yes, Uncle Eli.”
All around us, the rest of the Thorne siblings stare on in utter shock. And in that moment, I know Tori is right.
I have every one of them wrapped around my little finger, and there isn’t anything they wouldn’t give me.
Maybe I should let them keep me, after all.