“Thank you, Evander.”
From the corner of my eye, I can see them sharing a knowing look, but I’m too caught up in the extravagance of the gift to care. Daddy sets me on my feet and takes the necklace from Uncle Evan.
“Lift your hair for me, Isabella.”
Raising my curls off my neck, I wait, my heart pounding against my chest as he drapes the delicate chain around my neck and clasps it in place.
Uncle Evan kneels in front of me, his expression serious, and even though I know it’s the scar making him look so ferocious, I can’t help the spike of fear in my stomach as he stares at me. “Your Daddy will make sure you wear this necklace every day, little one. You must never take it off yourself. If you do, your Daddy and I will both give you the spanking of your life. Am I understood?”
I don’t understand, not really. What could be so important about a necklace that it would warrant such a response from both my Daddyandthis fierce man in front of me if I removed it?
But I don’t want to argue and risk getting spanked anyway, so I nod. “Yes, Uncle Evan.”
He smiles again, making him look only slightly less terrifying. “Good girl. I know you won't disappoint us.”
While I have a healthy fear of the punishments my Daddy hands down, the worddisappointstabs at my chest in an unexpected way. And I realize, with no small amount of surprise, that I actually don’t want to disappoint them. Any of them. I want them to be proud of me, to smile at me, to tell me what a good girl I am.
Lifting the locket, I carefully place it in my palm and study it. Such a small thing, but the weight of it, of my family’s expectations, feels heavy around my neck.
“Oh! You got a necklace, too!” Another of Victoria’s happy squeals pierces the air as she rushes over to me, lifting her own locket from the front of her dress and distracting me from my own troubling thoughts. “Juju, look! We all match, now!”
Eyes rimmed with red, Juliet approaches us in a much more subdued manner than before and produces her own necklace. Each one has our first initial engraved on it in the exact same style. I wait, expecting that same pang of jealousy I felt earlier at the sight of their beautiful tiaras, but all I feel is a sense of belonging. Acceptance.
Family.
Before I can really study that feeling, Uncle Jasper kneels in front of me, a large white box in his hands. “Would you like your present from us now, little Izzy?”
Although nothing could possibly top the beautiful pendant hanging around my neck, I nod and reach for the box. And when I open it, all thoughts of jealousy flee from my mind at the sight of what’s nestled inside.
A tiara of my very own, the silver dotted with what appears to be actual emeralds.
“Oh. Oh, it’s beautiful,” I whisper, carefully lifting the crown from the box. “Daddy, isn’t it the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”
Taking the tiara from my hands, Daddy settles it on top of my head and smiles down at me. “No, my precious little doll.Youare the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, by far.”
And even though he’s a monster who kidnapped me from my bed and has forced me to endure terrible, terrible things at his hands, all it takes is one look at the pride shining in his eyes to know that he means it.
I am his beautiful little doll, and at least for tonight, I can let myself believe he might even love me.
ChapterNineteen
Gideon
My heart swells with pride as I watch my little doll enchant our family. She’s the perfect hostess, even when we head to the dining room and she’s forced to sit in a highchair for the first time. Demure and sweet, she doesn’t argue or fuss at all as I feed her the dinner that’s been prepared for us one small bite at a time. And even though I know it has nothing to do with me, I can’t help but feel proud of the way she answers all of the questions asked of her with a natural grace and biting wit that sends her uncles and her Auntie Cat into fits of laughter regularly.
Sitting back in my chair, I sip at my wine, my eyes scanning the scene before me. And despite how desperate I’ve been to finally sink my cock into Isabella's perfect little pussy, I’m glad now that I waited for the right time.
To my left, Evander watches Isabella with more curiosity than I’ve seen him show either of the others, and I wonder if he’s finally ready to seek out a Little one of his own. Of all of us, he was the most reluctant to join us here on the island. In the end he really only agreed to it because he owed me a favor and I decided to call in that favor in exchange for his presence on the island as our head of security. I know, courtesy of the one time Evander has ever let go of his infamous self-control long enough to get drunk around me, that the scar on his face worries him more than he lets on. Despite my assurances, he remains unconvinced that any Little girl would be able to see past it to the Daddy he is underneath.
But as dinner progresses, I can see Isabella winning him over. Other than her initial reaction to his appearance, she shows no signs of being afraid of him, and it warms my heart to see her charming him so. Every now and then, her fingers drift to the locket around her neck, gently stroking the silver letter engraved there, and Evander’s gaze slides to mine.
The lockets themselves were my idea. Just a little something to help all of our Little ones feel as though they are truly part of a family. But after not just one but two instances of Little girls getting “lost” on the island, Evander had each locket fitted with a tracking device. Juliet and Victoria never questioned why their lockets needed “repairs”, and so far Isabella hasn’t seemed very curious over Evander’s “modifications”.
Which is for the best. If they learned about the trackers, I have no doubt they’d be tempted to take them off and try to give us the slip. Juliet, especially, can be rather bratty and mischievous, and I have no doubt she would think it a great prank to hide her locket somewhere while she hid herself away somewhere else on the island. And while we all look forward to punishing our Little ones as often and as shamefully as necessary, nobody wants to experience that same terror we felt before when we thought we’d lost Victoria and then Juliet.
When the second to last course is removed, I look around the table again, this time meeting the eager gazes of each of my brothers and our sister in this depraved little family we’ve built. At Maxwell’s nod of encouragement, I drain my wine and rise from my seat to pluck Isabella from her chair. She’s wide-eyed with surprise, but she doesn’t question me as I return to my seat and settle her on my lap, facing the table.
Jasper and Maxwell do the same, while Evander and Cat watch on with anticipation.
