“I guess I should if I’m going to be living here,” she says with a dramatic sigh that has me biting the inside of my cheek against the laughter bubbling in my chest.
“I promise you’ll like them. But I should warn you that if you misbehave around them, they will have no problem spanking your naughty bottom red. And if they have to punish you when I am not around, you’ll be getting another spanking from Mommy as well.”
“You’d really let other people touch me?” Her eyes go wide, a shimmer of tears appearing over the bright green as her bottom lip trembles. “But I thought I wasyourLittle girl.”
Again, I’m left wondering if this is all an act. But the sadness in her voice tugs at my heartstrings and I can’t stomach the thought of not comforting my baby if her upset is genuine, so I gather her in my arms and cradle her on my lap. “You are and will always be my Little girl, Alexis Paige. But here on the island, we are all family, and families look out for each other. And part of your uncles looking out for you means punishing you when you’re naughty. Does that make sense?”
“No.” She lets out a soft little huff of air. “I don’t want anyone else to touch me.”
Sweet little thing. “Then all you have to do is be a good girl and nobody else will have a reason to spank you when Mommy isn’t around. Now, would you like to hear about your new family?”
“I guess.”
I have to swallow a laugh at how adorably sulky she sounds. “We’ll just start at the beginning. First, there’s your Uncle Max. The island was his idea, and he brought us together as a family. His Little girl, Victoria, was the first to come to the island.”
There’s more to it, of course. Like the fact that Maxwell very neatly boxed his babygirl into a corner and then blackmailed her into coming to the island. Not that he’s a fan of the term “blackmail” but well, a spade is a spade. All of the Littles on the island have been brought here by rather…unconventionalmeans, but they've learned to love their lives here over time.
Not wanting to get into all of that with my own Little girl, I move onto the next members of our family. “Then there’s Juliet and Jasper. Now, you’re going to want to be careful around Juliet. She is a brat in every sense of the word and she rather enjoys getting herself in trouble. So unless you’re looking for a reason to get spanked, you won’t let her talk you into any naughtiness.”
“Wait.” Sitting up straighter on my lap, Alexis narrows her eyes. “You don’t mean Jasper and JulietBlackwood.”
“I do, yes. You know them?”
“Of course I know them!” The look she gives me clearly says she’s wondering if I’m just playing dumb or if I’m actually that out of touch. “Well, knowofthem I guess would be more accurate. Juliet was all over the tabloids earlier this year because of her run-in with the law and then she just sort of vanished. Has she really been on this island with her stepbrother the whole time?”
It’s adorable, really, how excited she sounds about getting the inside scoop. “Mostly, yes. They travel a bit more than the rest of us, because as strict as your Uncle Jasper may be, he has a soft spot for his Juliet and she gets a bit restless if she’s stuck in one place for too long.”
“Oh, I’d love to travel.” This time her sigh is dreamy, full of longing that makes my chest ache. “I’ve always wanted to see the world. But, you know, being broke as fuc–fudge kind of puts a damper on all that.”
“Thank you for not using that naughty word.” At my praise, her cheeks turn pink and a smile tugs at her lips even as her words niggle at my brain. “But what do you mean by broke? You’ve been running your little…businessfor a few months now, at least.”
“And using most of that money to pay off mountains of student loans.” Bitterness coats her voice. “I racked up a ton of debt just trying to get through school, and then I couldn’t actually find a job in my field once I graduated. Even working multiple jobs I couldn’t afford the payments and the interest just kept adding up.”
“So you turned to a life of crime,” I say without a hint of condemnation. If anything, I’m rather impressed with how resourceful my Little one is.
Perhapstooresourceful. I’ll have to keep an even closer eye on her than I’d planned, but luckily I have my assistant Gavin to help with keeping watch over my babygirl when I’m busy with work. He’s been with me for nearly a decade, not only because he understands my particular needs, but because he’s as loyal as they come. Even more loyal than my money demands, and because of that, he’s one of the few people I would trust with my Little one.
Alexis rolls her eyes, and I have to fight the urge to laugh. “It’s notcrime. Well, maybe it is, I don’t actually know. But theway I see it, those rich ass—jerksare the reason I’ve got more debt than I can possibly pay off in a lifetime, so it’s really just… making them pay for their fair share.”
“I suppose I can’t argue with that.”
Surprise has her eyebrows winging up toward her hairline. “You can’t?”
“No. You’re right, rich assholes like myself are the cause of many of the world’s ills. So why shouldn’t we be forced to give back to the people who are hurting?”
“That’s… surprisingly open-minded of you.”
“If I’m anything, little one, it’s self-aware. I hold no delusions about who I am or the harm I’ve done.” I like to think the millions I’ve given away over the years, much to my father’s annoyance, makes up for that harm at least a little bit, but I have a feeling my babygirl wouldn’t agree. Perhaps when she’s more settled into her role as my Little one, I’ll see if she has any charities she’d like to see us donating to.
Making a mental note to take care of her student loans and any other debt she may have accrued over the years, I shift the conversation back to her new life. “If traveling is something you’re interested in, that is something we can discuss. But there will still be plenty of rules for you to follow, even when we aren’t on the island.”
“I’m starting to think rules are your kink,” she mumbles, her bottom lip pushing out in a pout.
“They are. Rules and punishments and taking care of naughty Little girls like you,” I tease, drilling my fingertips into her stomach until she squeals with laughter. The sound fills up the car, and my heart, and I vow to do everything I can to hear it as often as possible.
“Who else lives here?” Alexis asks when I stop tickling and she’s able to catch her breath. “I saw lots of shops and stuff, so there must be other people on the island.”
“There are. We haven’t even gotten through all of our family yet,” I explain with a chuckle of my own. “There’s your Uncle Gideon and his Little Isabella. She was a ballerina before she came to the island, and now she teaches the other Littles how to dance. You’ll be taking classes with her when you go to school.”
