He frowns at me as we go down in the elevator.“We could’ve waited there.”
“Watching her work?No.”
Sighing, he takes his phone out of his pocket and taps the screen.“I guess you’re right.Okay, I’m going to pick up some food and head to your place.She looks like she hasn’t eaten in days.”
“She hasn’t been taking care of herself.We’re going to have to talk to her about that.”
“In her defense,” Bash says, “she’s been worried about a sex tape and possibly a whole host of other things.”
One of those things being Joel.I’m not going to get over this anytime soon, that I raised the asshole who hurt Ella.
Sebastian puts a hand on my shoulder.“You have to forgive yourself.I can see where your mind is going.Joel is his own person.”
“But Iraisedhim.”
“That’s up for debate,” he says with a grimace.“Rayanne did most of the raising, and most of the damage.”
I take a deep breath.No point in arguing with him about it now.We need to be focused on one person—Ella.“Okay, grab some food.We’ll see you at my place.”
His driver pulls up, and off he goes.I text my driver to be ready, then I lean against the railing leading up to the building’s wide double doors, and wait for my little girl.
Twenty minutes later, she steps out, looking small and chilled in her tiny little dress.She glances around warily before spying me, and then a small smile forms on her face, her lips turning up at the corners, her brown eyes crinkling.
“You look like you didn’t expect to see me,” I say.
“I thought it might have been some kind of cleaning fever dream,” she says with a self-deprecating laugh.
“Not a dream at all.Sebastian’s getting food and he’ll be at my place by the time we arrive.”
“We’re going to your place?”she asks.
“Unless you have any objections, little girl.”
Shaking her head, she says, “No, no objections…Daddy.”
I hold out my hand and she grips it.I want to puff out my chest with pride as I lead her down the steps and to my waiting car.I help her into the back seat and raise the privacy screen.Her eyes widen as the screen goes up.
“You think I’m going to corrupt you on the way to my place?”I ask her.
“I don’t know what to think at all,” she says.
My voice is gruff as I say, “You’ve been through a lot.Bash and I are going to follow your lead and do our best to see to your needs, whatever those needs might be.”
She blushes, and I wonder if she’s thinking about the kind of needs I’m thinking about.
The need for touch.The need for power exchange.The need for sensation—whether pain or pleasure.
Reaching over, I touch her cheek, raising her face so she has to look at me.I stare into her beautiful eyes.“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you with Sebastian and me on the night of the gala.”
“It’s been on my mind, too,” she whispers.
“How much?”I ask.
“A lot.”
“Show me.”
Her brow pinches momentarily in confusion before she nods, almost to herself.Slowly, her hands shaking, she reaches beneath her navy dress and lifts her hips.A moment later, she’s sliding her panties down.
