“You could. But then I’d have to come and get you, and when I did, I’d have to spank you for being naughty and hiding from your Daddy. So then you’d get two spankings instead of just one. Do you think that would be a good idea?”
Dammit. So much for that plan. “I guess not.”
“Uh-huh.” Picking up an old wooden hairbrush, she runs it through my hair, dispersing the curls my aunt worked so hard to get perfect this morning. “As I told you before, nobody in this house is going to get between you and your Daddy, especially when you’ve been naughty. I suggest you put any ideas of using us as human shields out of your mind right now.”
“But he’snotmy Daddy. He’s just some man who found me on the side of the road.”
Switching out the hairbrush for a comb, she parts my hair down the middle, securing one half of my hair while she gets to work braiding one side from the very front of my hairline. “He wants to be your Daddy. And really, you could do much worse than my brother. I know Axel seems like a grumpy asshole, and he is some of the time, but he’s been waiting for a Little girl to call his own for a very long time. If you let him, he’ll spoil you rotten and treat you like a literal princess.”
There is some part of me that doesn’t entirely object to that idea. Back home, marriage means becoming a wife, a mother, submitting myself to my husband’s needs and demands. But Auntie Gray almost makes it sound like here the situation would be reversed. Like I’d be the one taken care of instead of the other way around.
But no. I know how men think, and at the end of the day they’re all the same. Gray just thinks more highly of her brothers because they’re her family. And, from what I’ve gathered during my short time here, they’re all she has.
“I don’t want to be a princess.”
With one braid completed, she shifts to the other side of my head. “What do you want?”
I open my mouth to answer, but no words come. And I realize with a sudden, horrifying clarity that I have no clue what I want. Everything in my life up until the moment I jumped out that window has been decided for me with little to no input from me.
“I want… I want to be able to choose what I want.”
To my surprise, understanding warms her gaze as her fingers make deft work of the second braid. “Yeah, I get that.”
“You do?”
“I do. Growing up with six bossy-as-fuck older brothers made me realize early on that if I wasn’t going to just let them steamroll me, I had to stand my ground and stand it firmly right from the start.”
“I can’t see anyone trying to boss you around.”
Chuckling, she ties off the braid, picking both of them up to wrap around my head in a sort of crown as she once more meets my gaze in the mirror. “Oh, they try. Sometimes I let them succeed, because I know they love me and just want me to be safe and happy. Which is all your Daddy wants for you.”
Our reflection blurs as fresh tears well in my eyes. “How can I be happy when he’s trying to trap me here?”
Auntie Gray hesitates, and that hesitation is all the answer I need:You won’t.
“Your Daddy is a good man,” she says at length, giving my shoulders a squeeze. “And he’ll move heaven and earth to make you the happiest Little girl in the world if you let him. But for now…”
Reaching over, she picks up a worn wooden box from the vanity, running her fingers lovingly over the lid. “This has been worn by all the women in my family for… well, for longer than I can remember, honestly. Mama would have wanted you to wear it today.”
My heart skips a bit when she flips open the lid to reveal the most stunning tiara I have ever seen in my life. The soft gold is twisted into beautiful flowers with diamonds sparkling at their centers.
“It’s beautiful,” I whisper, almost like a prayer as Auntie Gray fixes the gorgeous creation in my hair. I look even more like a bride than I did back at the church, and it’s then my brain finally catches up with what’s happening.
This isn’t simply some sweet moment between me and the only woman in the house. Just like my mother, she’s been sent to prepare the lamb for slaughter.
Fuck.
CHAPTER 8
AXEL
“You nervous?”
Surrounded by my brothers, I tug at my tie and try to ignore the way my heart is indeed beating a bit too fast as I meet Dane’s gaze in the mirror. “What’s there to be nervous about?”
He and Colt share a look and Colt rolls his eyes. “Just our entire lives changing. No big deal.”
“Nothing has to change. We’ll still be running the company, chopping wood, and you and Bram will still beat the shit out of each other on a regular basis. There will just be another person in the house.”
