“What?” she gasped. “That’s awful. Any woman like that isn’t worthy of him.”
Caleb smiled. “And that’s why you’re perfect for us. You see each of us for who we are. You know that while Wolfe might have problems with intimacy that he’d have your back no matter what. That he cares in different ways. That even though Aleki smiles and jokes, he’s the most sensitive of us all. And that I. . .”
“That you what?”
“I don’t know. What do you see when you look at me?”
She stared at him and thought about what to say. How often did he sacrifice his needs for everyone else?
“I see a man who’d protect the world if he could. But since he can’t, he looks over those closest to him without complaint or fanfare. He doesn’t want thanks, he just wants us safe and happy. I see a man who loves fiercely and fully. Who’s fair and kind and strong. I see a man who is always there no matter what. The shoulder for me to cry on. The strength to lift me up. And the courage to keep me going.”
He stared at her, looking shocked. “You can’t really see all that.”
“I do. You’re the glue, Caleb.”
He shook his head. “I’ve been a temporary fix. Holding them together until we found our heart again. The person that makes us complete. You know what I thought when we found you in that alleyway?”
“Damn she looks like shit?” she guessed.
“No. That came next.”
She wrinkled her nose at him.
“I thought, ‘there she is. There’s my girl. And I’m never letting her go. Never again.’”
“Really?” she whispered. “But what if Aleki and Wolfe hadn’t wanted me to come back here with you guys?”
“That would have been a problem. But I wasn’t leaving you.” He ran his finger down her nose. “You know that you don’t have to be anything other than yourself with us, right?”
“What if I don’t know who I am anymore? What if I don’t know what I want?” she whispered.
He frowned slightly. “You have time to find out. Are you worried that we’ll try to turn you into someone else? I don’t want you thinking that you have to pretend to be something you’re not. If something feels right to you, then you do it. If it makes you uncomfortable, then you speak up and say it. We pause, we talk, we try again or we try something new. There isn’t a right or wrong here, jelly bean. There isn’t one right way of doing things. You can always use your safeword. No matter what. Do you remember what it is?”
“Boo.”
“Good.
“But what if my father finds me? What about the mystery man? The person who shot at me?”
“If your father finds you, then there’s not much he can do. Nobody can get into Escana without a visa. Let us protect you and stop worrying so much.”
“I’ll try.” She looked down at her drawing. “It’s why I came in here.”
“Yeah?” He looked pleased.
“I was curious. But I was also lying in bed, thinking and worrying and I just wanted to stop.”
“You should have called out for me,” he told her. “I can help you.” He tucked some hair behind her ear, his fingertips brushing against her cheek.
“I was wondering if I should contact my Uncle Ben, let him know I’m all right.”
“You’re close to him?” Caleb replied.
“He’s my father’s brother. He’s away a lot for business, but we’ve always been close. I often wished he was my father. Maybe I should have gone to him about my father but I wasn’t sure he’d believe me. I also didn’t want him getting hurt.”
“I can have Aleki send him a secure message, but I’d prefer not to,” Caleb told her. “A message like that can be a clue in itself to someone searching for you.”
“Okay, we won’t do it.”
“You know that you’re in trouble for getting up on your own, right? And for walking on your sore ankle.”
“It’s not that bad,” she said hastily. “And I couldn’t sleep.”
“Then you should have called out for one of us, shouldn’t you, naughty girl? When Wolfe finds—”
“Genevieve!” The roar went through the house.
Caleb gave her a knowing look as she grimaced. “Uh-oh.”
“Uh-oh is right. You think you’re in trouble with me, wait until he finds out you were walking on that ankle.”
“Hide me,” she said abruptly.
“You really think he wouldn’t find you?” Caleb raised an eyebrow.
“Please, Daddy,” she begged, putting her hands together.
“Oh no, little one.” He waggled a finger at her. “Calling me Daddy and giving me those puppy eyes won’t work.”
“But Daddyyy,” she said. “Please. Aren’t you supposed to protect me?”
“From people who mean you harm. Wolfe won’t harm you.”
She widened her eyes. “He thinks he gets to spank me.”
“Jelly bean, hate to tell you, he does get to spank you. So do I.”
“What? That’s so mean. Not sure I agreed to that.”
“You knew what you were getting yourself into. Although we still need to sit down and go through limits and rules.”
“We could have done that already, but you all keep changing the topic when I want to talk about any of this.”
“We’re trying to keep you from stressing.”
“Not talking about stuff makes me stress more. I start thinking too much, worrying that you’ve changed your mind about being with me and now you’re stuck with me—”
He placed his hand over her mouth, giving her a look filled with chagrin. “Jesus, baby. They really did a number on your self-esteem, huh? Don’t go spouting shit like that. It just makes me murderous. And if it makes me murderous, then you can guarantee it makes Wolfe want to go all psycho killer. Stuck with you? That’s the last thing I feel. I sometimes think I’m dreaming, since this is all I’ve ever wanted. You. Here with us.”
“Really?”
“Really.” He cupped her face with his hands. “Seems that maybe we made a mistake not talking about this. But it is not because we’ve changed our damn minds.”
“Genevieve! Caleb! Aleki! Code blue!” Wolfe yelled.
“Shit!” Caleb jumped to his feet.
“What’s code blue?” she asked worriedly.
“Emergency.”
“Blue is emergency not red?”
“Nah, red means we’ve already hit disaster levels.” He opened the door. “Wolfe, she’s in here.”
“What?” Wolfe yelled back. She’d never heard him sound like that. Frantic? Almost. . .scared?
Because she was missing? Did she really mean that much to him? Shit. Caleb was right. She might not have realized it at the time, but William and her father had damaged her self-esteem. Over time, they’d picked away at her until she didn’t think she was good enough. For anyone.
Caleb stepped aside and Wolfe walked in. His face was cold as always, but in his eyes, she saw something frantic. Wild.
Conversely, something in her settled. If he was this worried that she’d gone missing, it meant he really did care about her. In his own Wolfe way.
“What are you doing in here? Why aren’t you in your bed? You should be napping!” he snapped. He turned to Caleb and slid his glasses up his nose, a sign of agitation rarely seen from him. “I was searching all over for her. I thought something bad had happened.”
She bit her lip. Usually, he kept most of his emotions under tight control. The only other time she’d seen him like this was. . .
When she’d left them.
Shoot. Why hadn’t she thought of how he might react if he went looking and found her missing?
“Easy, Wolfe. She didn’t go anywhere,” Caleb said calmly.
“She can’t just wander off. What if something happened to her? What if she got hurt?” Wolfe demanded.
“She didn’t go anywhere. She’s safe. She didn’t leave, Wolfe.”
“She can’t leave.”
/>
“She won’t,” Caleb reassured him.
She felt terrible. Wolfe could be demanding, especially with his schedules and need for control, but seeing him like this, she got it. He needed that level of control. She didn’t know much about his past, but there had to be a reason he kept himself so locked down.
He wasn’t locked down right now, though. This was raw emotion. Almost frightening in its intensity.
“Why did you bring her in here?” he snapped at Caleb.
“I didn’t bring her,” Caleb told him. “I found her in here.”
She groaned and shot him a look.
“We don’t lie to each other, jelly bean. It’s the only way this can work. If we’re all honest with each other.”
Yeah, yeah, she got it.
“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” Aleki asked, practically skidding as he flew into the room. He held a wooden spoon in one hand and had a smear of flour on his face.
She blinked at him. “What have you been doing?”
“Making pies. What’s going on? What’s the emergency?” Aleki asked.
“Genevieve went missing,” Wolfe stated.
“What? But she’s right here. What’re you doing in here, baby girl?”
“She was coloring,” Caleb said with a satisfied look on his face.
“I’m really sorry I worried you, Wolfe,” she told him.
“You came in here by yourself?” Wolfe snapped, stalking towards her.
She gulped. Uh-oh. Now she felt like prey. Little red riding hood facing her own big, bad wolf.
That made her giggle a little. It might have sounded slightly hysterical.
“You think this is funny? How did you get in here, Genevieve?” Wolfe asked in a low, dark voice that made a shiver run across her skin.
“Umm, flew?” she suggested with big eyes.
“Flew? What does she mean, she flew?” Wolfe looked to Caleb.
“She’s teasing you.”
“Teasing me? Nobody teases me.”
“I’m insulted. I tease you,” Aleki said.
“You annoy me,” Wolfe snapped back. “How did you get in here, Genevieve?”
“I crawled?”
“Vivi,” Caleb said warningly, his face firming. Damn it, when Caleb looked like that you knew he meant business. And disobeying him wasn’t an option.
At least not for her.
“I walked.”
“On your injured foot. That you’re not supposed to put any weight on,” Wolfe said darkly.
“It’s a lot better,” she replied. “It’s barely swollen anymore. You guys can’t keep carrying me everywhere.”
“Why not?” Aleki asked. “I’d carry you forever if I could.”
“Oh. Aleki.”
He turned away, as though he hadn’t quite meant to say what he had. Or maybe he hadn’t meant it to sound so, well, profound. Meaningful? He was usually so light-hearted, treating everything as a joke.
“You might have to if she does permanent damage to her foot,” Wolfe grumbled, kneeling to examine her.
She sighed. “Wolfe, I haven’t done any damage to it. It’s nearly healed. It’s fine.”
“You’re not a doctor.”
“I’m sure Obian would say the same.”
“We’ll get him in here to check,” Caleb told Wolfe.
Wolfe sat back, not looking any happier. “You were put down for a nap.”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“You got up without permission,” Wolfe said.
She narrowed her gaze. “I don’t need permission to get up.”
“Yes, you do. You’re under doctor’s orders to rest. To not walk on your foot. And you did the opposite. You just earned yourself a punishment.”
Her mouth dropped open. “I did not.”
“You did. You’re getting your butt spanked.”
“I am not!” She looked over at Aleki. “Tell him.”
“Oh no, baby girl. When one of us dishes out a punishment, we don’t argue with him.”
“What? That’s stupid.”
“Well, unless he’s wrong, of course.”
She glared at Aleki as he grinned. “You’re saying you think he should spank me.”
“Yep.” Aleki waved the wooden spoon. “And look at this. I brought just the implement for him to use.”
“I don’t need a wooden spoon to spank her,” Wolfe stated.
Her eyes went wide. What the hell? “You can’t spank me with a wooden spoon.”
“Oh, I could,” Wolfe told her. “I just won’t.”
Well, thank goodness for that.
“Yet.”
Yikes.
“And you should do it naked,” Aleki suggested.
She scowled at him. He gave her a look of fake-innocence. “What? I think that should be a SOP. All spankings are to be given while Vivi is naked.”
“SOP?” she asked.
“Standard Operating Procedure,” Caleb said dryly. “How about we talk through some things first? Like rules and consequences. I don’t like that she’s been worrying about things silently.”
“What things?” Wolfe asked.
Even Aleki looked serious. “She’s not supposed to be stressing.”
“I know. She thinks that because we have been steering conversations away from our relationship these last few days that we’ve changed our minds.”
“Umm, you do know that I’m right here,” she said, waving her hand.
“That’s ridiculous,” Wolfe stated, ignoring her.
“We caused more stress by not addressing things,” Caleb said.
Aleki frowned, but didn’t say anything more.
“Guys!” she snapped.
“And she continues to have self-esteem issues. Those assholes wore her down,” Caleb added. “We need to build her back up.”
“Urgh! You guys are impossible.” She started to slide off the bean bag and instantly they turned to her.
“Where do you think you are going?” Wolfe barked.
“I’m going out of the room to give you all privacy so you can all talk about me.”
“What? We don’t need privacy to talk about you,” Wolfe said confused.
She rolled onto her hands and knees, grasping hold of the bookcase to pull herself up.
“Obviously you do since you just spent the last five minutes discussing me as though I’m not here.”
Wolfe frowned. Aleki rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin.
“Sorry, jelly bean,” Caleb told her, crouching and helping her sit back into the bean bag. “We’re used to operating like this.”
“I’m not a mission to discuss.”
Caleb nodded. “You’re right. You’re not. You’re infinitely more important.”
She huffed out a breath, but her insides danced with pleasure.
“Do you always discuss stuff like this with each other? Like everything?”
“Sometimes we share too much,” Aleki told her with a grin. “Like when Wolfe got food poisoning—”
“Aleki,” Caleb warned, interrupting. “We want Vivi to like us, not scare her off.”
“I already like you all,” she said shyly. “You know how I feel.”
“It’s nice to hear it, though,” Caleb told her gently. “We’re not mind readers. You need to tell us if we’re messing up. Or if you need something. If you’re scared or lonely or stressed. Don’t let any of us railroad you.”
“Especially Wolfe,” Aleki mock-whispered. “He needs the most help.”
She expected Wolfe to snap back at Aleki, but he just nodded. “I do need you to tell me things.
“We’re all learning as we go,” Caleb said.
“We need to schedule a meeting to discuss rules,” Wolfe said.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I really didn’t mean to worry you. I was just lying there thinking about stuff. It was making me feel ill.”
“I’m sorry, jelly bean. Next time, talk to us. We really didn’t mean to cr
eate more stress trying to eliminate stress,” Caleb told her.
She stared at them all in shock. It surprised her that they were so upset by this. Her father never cared about hurting her.
“I’m all right. Really,” she told them. Now she felt like she’d made a fuss about nothing. All they’d been trying to do was keep her from stressing. She felt silly.
Caleb shook his head. “No. We need to do better.”
“But—”
Caleb ran a finger over her cheek. “You’re precious to us. We want this to work. We’re gonna make mistakes, so will you. But mistakes are a chance to learn.”
She wasn’t allowed to make mistakes these past few years. This was going to take some getting used to.
“I’ll schedule that meeting,” Wolfe said.
“Why don’t we do it in an hour,” Caleb suggested.
“After her nap,” Wolfe narrowed his eyes at her.
“Or maybe she’d like some playtime instead?” Caleb suggested.
All three men stared down at her.
She gulped, feeling the intensity of their gazes. “I’d like to finish my picture.”
Each of their expressions eased.
“I’ll bring in a snack,” Aleki said. “Shit! My pies.” He raced off.
Wolfe left without a word.
She turned to Caleb. “I messed up.”
“It’s okay to mess up. As long as you learn from it. Apologize if you need to. Do what you have to in order to make it right. But don’t let it eat at you. Wolfe is . . . he has some issues with people leaving him. That’s why he only lets a few people in. If at the end of these twenty-one days you decided to leave . . .well. . .let’s not discuss that right now, huh?”
There was something in his gaze. Something more he was holding back.
But then he tapped down at the picture. “Come on, get coloring.”
“Caleb?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want to leave,” she whispered. Not ever.
He smiled at her gently. “Good. Because we’d find it damn near impossible to let you.”
* * *
Wolfe watched on as Caleb soon had Genevieve relaxing. The giggles that came from her were light-hearted. He knew he’d likely overreacted when he’d walked into the bedroom to find her missing.
But now that he’d decided he was in. . .well, he was all in. It was an all or nothing thing. He wasn’t like that with everything. But with her. Yep. All or nothing.
Ruled by her Daddies Page 21
