For reasons I can’t even name, I’m tempted to lie. To assure him that I would have at least given him a chance.
But to what end? To convince him, somehow, that he didn’t need to literally kidnap me to make me his? At this point, what purpose does that serve?
None. Especially when we both know the truth.
“No. I wouldn’t have stayed. You scared the shi—crap out of me even then, there’s no way I would have agreed to be your Little girl.”
“And that’s why I hired you. If I couldn’t have you, at least I could keep you close. Keep an eye on you, as much as I was able. Take care of you, even if it was in a very limited capacity.”
“So you kept me close so you could take care of me, but then treated me horribly to keep your distance?”
“Exactly.”
It makes a strange kind of sense. And part of me wants to believe him, to believe that this is just a very grown up, veryfucked-upversion of a boy pulling a girl’s pigtails on the playground because he likes her.
But even if I do believe him, it doesn’t actually change anything. At the end of the day, he is still a cruel man who stripped me of any choice I might have had in my own love story. Who stripped me of experiences I had planned on saving for someone special.
Even if I believe him, and this has all been some elaborate plan to make me his Little girl… how can I forgive him for everything he’s done?
That question has my stomach churning, so that when he brings the bottle back to my lips I refuse. Luckily, Donovan interprets my refusal as a sign that I’m overtired rather thanoutright defiance, so instead of the spanking I was sure I was going to get, I’m carried to my crib and tucked in for a nap.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I pretend to sleep as he hovers nearby, still humming that damn song.
And as I lay there, listening to him hum about how I am his sunshine, I find myself wondering how long it will take for his darkness to completely snuff out my light.
Donovan
I could sit and watch my sweet Camilla sleep for hours.
But almost as soon as her breathing evens out, my phone buzzes in my pocket. With one last longing look at my sleeping Little girl, I step out of the nursery and into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind me so as not to wake her.
Seeing Maxwell’s name on my phone screen, I fight back a wave of irritation. Part of my job is being available twenty-four-seven to the inhabitants of the island, and if Maxwell is calling when he knows I’m not at work, then something is very wrong.
“Maxwell. Is everything all right?”
“No.” There’s a hint of hysteria in the other man’s usually unflappable tone. “Victoria is sick and running a fever. I know you’re still on leave, but I just want to make sure she’s all okay.”
Dammit. I had hoped to keep my relationship with Camilla under wraps until she was more settled, but I can’t leave her here alone. Even though I’m paid rather handsomely for my services on the island, I’ve never felt the need to keep a full staff. Chef Madeline and Winnie, the housekeeper who visits a few times a week to keep things tidy around here are more than enough.
I might have to revisit that train of thought, however, for situations like this. In the meantime, however…
“You’ll need to bring her to me. I just put Camilla down for a nap.”
Silence greets my pronouncement. “Millie is there? With you?”
“Yes. It’s a long story; one I’ll be happy to tell you and the others sometime soon. For now, you can bring Victoria here so I can examine her. I’m sure it’s just a cold or something, but I understand you wanting to be cautious.”
“Ah… Well, okay. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes or so.”
“Seen you then.”
Pressing the button to end the call, I shove the phone back in my pocket and quietly slip back into Camilla’s nursery. She’s still sleeping soundly, but I turn on the monitor beside her crib anyway before sneaking back out of her room and down the hall to my own bedroom to grab its twin. Clutching it in my hand, I carry the device down to my office to wait for Maxwell and Victoria.
The alarm on the front gate alerts me to their presence, and I take myself outside to wait for them on the front porch. A sleek black car rolls to a stop at the bottom of my stairs and before the driver can even exit the vehicle, the back door is thrown open. Maxwell steps out, his expression frantic and his Little girl cradled in his arms as he makes a beeline for me.
“Thank you so much, Donovan. She fell asleep on the ride over. Is there any chance you can examine her without waking her? Poor thing barely slept at all last night.”
Sympathy stirs in my chest as I take in Victoria’s flushed cheeks and the damp hair sticking to her face. “I’ll do my best. Come in.”
