“Good. I’ll call Dr. Winters and see who she recommends for… this.” Again with the vague waving toward her stomach.
“I have an OBGYN, dad. She’s lovely.”
“Maybe, but is she the best?”
Aria didn’t need the best money could buy. Her car was a very sensible Toyota because she’d talked her father down from the Range Rover he’d tried to buy her when she’d gone off to college. And while her apartment was in the poshest building in Charleston, it also wasn’t the million-dollar home Braden had wanted to purchase for her when she’d started her internship.
But this… this was different. Not only did her baby deserve the best care, it would put Braden’s mind at ease knowing she was being taken care of.
“All right. Talk to Dr. Winters and we can discuss me changing doctors.”
“Deal.”
Chapter Sixteen
Killian
He hadn’t set foot in his club since the night he’d defiled his best friend’s daughter. But when that same friend called saying he needed a favor and to meet him at the club, he couldn’t say no.
So now here he was, once more drinking in the sights and sounds and smell of his favorite place on earth. Leather and wood striking skin, the yelps and whimpers and screams of submissives being subjected to whatever delicious tortures their Doms had thought up for them that night.
Fuck, he’d missed this.
Upstairs, several patrons lingered, either watching the fun down in the pit or engaging in their own play at various booths and tables situated around the restaurant area. At one of the tables closest to the bar, Beckett Stone lounged with Ice and Silver, a brooding expression on his face as he watched his submissive, Ruby, flit from one end of the bar to the other.
Clearly, his plan to convince her to slow down now that they were set to be married was going swimmingly.
Normally, he’d stop by their table, needle Beckett about his inability to lock his sub down. Beckett was so easy to rile, and Killian enjoyed the barbs they traded. Having Ice—the bad boy rockstar who’d once given Killian a black eye—there would only add to his enjoyment.
But Braden clearly needed something from him, and even without his own curiosity poking at him, the rules of friendship dictated that he show up on time without detouring to indulge in one of his favorite pastimes. Perhaps Beckett and company would still be around after his meeting with Braden and he’d have a chance to poke at them then.
The office door was closed when he arrived, so he knocked twice and waited for Braden’s voice. “Come in.”
Pushing open the door, he stepped inside, raising his brows slightly at the sight of Lottie standing in the corner, her pink bottom sporting six perfect cane lines. There was a time when she would have whined about anyone seeing her in such a state, but she’d been Braden Elliott’s babygirl long enough to have grown used to being on display, it seemed.
“Killian. Have a seat. I’ll just be a moment.”
As Killian settled in one of the comfortable visitor’s chairs on the opposite side of the large desk, Braden rose and tapped Lottie on the shoulder. His babygirl turned, her makeup streaked from her tears and her eyes still wet with them as she looked up at her Daddy.
“You will be on time returning from your breaks, Charlotte. It isn’t fair to the others to have to change their entire schedules because you got a whim and wanted to chat with your friends. And I won’t have my other employees thinking you get special treatment just because you’re mine. Understood?”
“Yes, Daddy.” Lottie’s bottom lip quivered. “I’m really sorry.”
“I know, little one. But you also owe Ivy an apology, since her break was the one that had to be pushed back because you were late getting back.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl. Leave that skirt tucked up so everyone can see you were properly punished.”
Lottie’s nose crinkled. “Do I have to?”
“Yes, Charlotte. And if I catch you with it out of place, I will bend you over the bar and put another six lines on your ass while the whole club watches. Am I understood?”
Sighing heavily, Lottie nodded. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Good. You’re dismissed.”
Cheeks pink with lingering embarrassment, Lottie hurried from the office without so much as a glance in Killian’s direction.
