Chapter 30
Crawling onto the bed, Addie pulled all the covers over her and held Snaggles tight.
“Addie? Can I come in?” Cash asked through the door. “Addie?”
Addie closed her eyes as tears threatened. What was wrong with her?
“Addie, it’s us,” Monroe said. “We’re coming in.”
Great. She knew she wouldn’t be able to keep her sisters out. She felt the bed compress as they both sat.
“Can you come out?” Dotty asked.
Addie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was being silly.
“Come on, babes. This is us. You can tell us anything,” Monroe said. “Whatever is going on, surely can’t be worse than marrying a stranger, having him walk out on you and when you try to find him, you end up landing your sisters in danger.”
Hmm. Once you put it like that . . .
“Not that it’s a competition,” Monroe added.
Addie moved out from under the blanket and Dotty handed a tablet to her. It looked like the same one she’d used at Callahan Security.
“Ralen gave this to me. Apparently, it got delivered this morning.”
Addie glanced over at the door, wondering if Cash was still on the other side.
“He’s gone to have a shower,” Dotty told her, accurately reading her mind. “Ralen had to help convince him. He looked like he was ready to camp out until you opened the door.”
“He looked really unhappy,” Monroe added. “I think because he upset you.”
Really? He was concerned about her being upset?
That was kind of sweet.
Something that she was certain most people wouldn’t think about Cash Savage.
“What’s going on?” Monroe asked. “I mean, I know this is all shit. You must be really stressed out by now being away from all your things and your bed.” She leaned forward to look at Dotty. “Do you think the two of you could return? Without being in danger, I mean?”
“I don’t know. I keep racking my brain for different scenarios. But we don’t know enough about what’s going on to predict how these people will react. Do I think they’d come after us in Las Vegas? No. I don’t. Especially now that you’ve taken down the photos.”
Monroe had removed all of the photos and sent copies to Brody so he could go over them.
“I just don’t get it.” Monroe picked at the bedcover. “None of this makes sense.”
“What upset you, Addie? Is Cash bothering you? If he is, just say it and I’ll get him removed.
Ink can find someone else to cover for him.
I’m sure he’ll be interested to know if his employees aren’t behaving professionally.
What does he mean by trouble? What kind of threat is that?
Was it a violent one? Are you concerned that he will hit you? ”
Whoa, Dotty had gone to the worst-case scenario very quickly, even for her.
“No, nothing like that,” she wrote into the tablet, letting Batman do the talking. “I’m not scared that he will hit me. Cash wouldn’t do something like that.”
“We don’t know him,” Dotty warned her. “We don’t know these guys at all.”
“Well, I do know that Cash doesn’t even work for Ink. He’s not getting paid for this. Neither does Ralen. They just feel some obligation to help me.”
Both Dotty and Monroe tensed.
“What?” Dotty asked. “They don’t work for him?”
She shook her head.
“That’s weird,” Dotty said.
Monroe leaned forward to look at their older sister. “How is it weird that they’d do this for Addie?”
Dotty frowned. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant, why would they do this for someone they barely know if they’re not getting paid?”
“Because they’re good people, Dotty,” Addie said through the tablet.
“And I’m not concerned about Cash hurting me, certainly not physically.
I just got a bit embarrassed because . .
. because everyone was looking at me. I’m not his Little.
He’s not my Daddy. And he never will be.
It’s not like he’d ever want to be that. ”
“Why wouldn’t he want to be?” Dotty asked. “I couldn’t imagine having a better Little than you. You’re everything that I would think a Little should be. Not like me. Not that I’m a Little, of course. If anything, I’m a Domme, right?”
There was a strange note to her sister’s voice. It almost sounded like hurt.
“You can be whatever you want to be, Dotty,” Monroe told her.
Dotty just shook her head. “No, I can’t. Anyway, back to the issue at hand. You ran in here because you were embarrassed that Cash was trying to boss you around and act like your Daddy.”
“I guess.” Also that she wanted him to be her Daddy and didn’t want anyone to see that when she knew he never would be. “I’ve gone and made a mess of everything, haven’t I?”
And now that she knew that she really couldn’t show her face again.
“Hey, no, you haven’t,” Monroe said. “You’re entitled to your feelings, right?”
Well, she never felt like she was entitled to them growing up. It was always about how her mother felt, what her mother wanted, what her mother needed.
There had never been any room for Addie. But it wasn’t like these two didn’t know that. They’d had their own issues growing up.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think Cash was in any way mocking you or trying to make your needs seem generic,” Monroe told her. “I don’t think he was being facetious or that he goes around doing this a lot.”
People tended to underestimate Monroe’s intelligence based on the way she looked. They seemed to think that because she was completely drop-dead gorgeous, she couldn’t have a brain.
But she was really good at reading people.
And she was super smart. Addie hated that Monroe had let people put her down so much all her life, that she now believed what they said was true.
Her self-confidence was in the tank.
Like yours is any better?
Right. What the heck was self-confidence? She had no idea.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever had it.
“I think Monroe is right. You know I like to see the worst in people and always think the glass is half empty. But he doesn’t look at you like he sees you as an obligation. He looks at you like he cares,” Dotty said the word as though it was dirty.
“There’s nothing wrong with someone being caring,” Monroe told her sister before she turned to Addie.
“And you have to give people a chance to care about you. To see the real Addie. You’re not a burden.
And people are not always terrible. Sometimes, they can be caring and kind.
You just have to give them a chance. Without running off. ”
It was gentle, but it was still a scolding. And she got it. She had just run off without a word.
“Although it wasn’t cool for him to say that in front of other people so you can rattle his balls for that,” Monroe told her.
“Rattle his balls?” Dotty asked in a strangled voice. “I don’t think she wants to rattle his balls.”
“I don’t know. She might.” Monroe sent her a sly look. “Would you like to rattle his balls?”
“I have a feeling that rattle his balls has taken on a whole new meaning,” Addie said. “And no, I don’t do that sort of thing.”
“Why not? He’s cute. Even if nothing comes from it other than sex, I reckon he’d still treat you right.”
Addie could feel herself growing red at Monroe’s words.
“Monroe,” Dotty snapped. “You’re embarrassing Addie, and she might not want just a one-night stand.”
Monroe sat back with a slump. “We might be here for more than one night. You could have a five-night stand.”
Dotty groaned. “God, we’re not going to be here for five nights, are we? I think I’ll go insane.”
“I’m so sorry. I’m so stupid. Why would I marry a man I just met? Stupid, stupid, stupid.” As Monroe spoke, she smacked the palm of her hand against her forehead.
Addie gave Dotty an alarmed look, and they both reached for her. And then Dotty reached across Addie and ended up falling over both of their laps.
Both Monroe and Addie froze as they stared down at their sister.
“Wow, this is an interesting position, isn’t it?”
They gaped up at Butch and Ralen, who were standing in the doorway.
“You gonna smack your sister’s ass, Addie?” Ralen asked.
What? Eek!
God, no. Even if Dotty wasn’t her sister, Addie didn’t want to spank anyone. That thought made her feel anxious.
And slightly ill.
“She is not,” Dotty said with a huff as she sat back up and straightened her clothes. “And please do not make an inane comment about paying to see that.”
Ralen just grinned as Butch scowled at Dotty.
Seriously, did he have a problem with Dotty or what?
“I was just trying to get Monroe to stop calling herself stupid,” Dotty said.
“Why would she be doing that?” Ralen said, stepping further into the room.
“What’s going on? Why are you all in Addie’s room?” Cash asked.
Great. Now everyone was here. Fantastic.
Was there no privacy? Well, it seemed there wasn’t any for her no matter which room of the house she was in.
Cash stepped into the room, his short hair still damp and, oh my God, was it him that smelled so delicious?
She felt herself leaning forward, trying to catch more of his scent.
“Monroe!” Ralen snapped, making Addie jump. “Why were you calling yourself stupid?”
“Don’t snap like that in front of Addie!” Cash told him.
Ralen raised his eyebrows. “Why not?”
“Because you’re scaring her.”
“You told her she’d be in trouble for talking. You don’t think that scared her?” Ralen said.
Shoot. Her cheeks were so red again that she thought she could fry eggs on them.
Did everyone have to talk about her getting into trouble?
Urgh.
“Everyone out,” Cash said firmly.
“No.” Butch glared at him.
“Yes. This is Addie’s room, she wants you out.”
Butch leaned into Cash’s face. “Maybe she wants you out after the way you spoke to her.”
Guilt flashed through Cash’s face as he turned to look at her. Addie didn’t like that. She didn’t want him to feel that way. Especially since it seemed like he hadn’t meant to embarrass her.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Cash wouldn’t do something like that.
It just wasn’t who he was.
She typed into the tablet. “Everyone out, please. Except Cash.”
“Come on, let’s go.” Ralen ushered them all from the room as Butch glared at Dotty.
Men. They were so moody and emotional.
She didn’t understand them. Probably because she never spent any time with men. At least real ones.
She was guessing that fictional ones didn’t count.
Addie stared up at Cash as he paced back and forth in front of the bed. Was he going to say anything?
Was he waiting for her to say something?
Biting her lip, she typed into the tablet.
“Wanna talk about that kiss?”