Ruled by her Daddies

by Roberts, Laylah

  She didn’t know how much more she could take. All of these people had failed him. Had none of them put aside their own problems to help him?

  “I can’t blame them for giving up on me. I wasn’t easy. I was quiet. Reclusive. I didn’t act how they expected me to act. I got into several fights at school.”

  “You did?” she looked at him in shock. He didn’t seem the type to fight.

  “Bullies thought I was an easy target. I was small and odd. I hadn’t really filled out. But I was scrappy. My uncle taught me to take a punch. However, if there was more than one of them, I was doomed. I was up against a group of boys, all bigger than me, the day I met Aleki.”

  “Wait, you met Aleki in high school?”

  “Yep. Sophomore year.”

  “Oh, I can’t believe I didn’t know that. I thought you’d all met in college.”

  “That’s where we met Caleb. But yeah, Aleki came barreling up and joined in the fray. Things were evened out then.”

  “Yeah? How many were on you?”

  “Five.”

  So two on five? Sounded really even. Not.

  “For some reason, try as I might to stay away from him, he kept turning up. He was always talking. Wouldn’t shut up. One day I asked him why he kept hanging out with me. He told me it was because I was a good listener.” Wolfe rolled his eyes. “In his family, everyone talked and no one listened. He liked that I was quiet.”

  She had to grin. Likely Aleki also realized that Wolfe could use a friend.

  “Haven’t been able to get rid of him since.”

  “Wolfe, I’m so sorry that your family treated you like that.” Tears raced down her cheeks.

  “Are these for me?” he asked in fascination, wiping away the tears. As though he’d never imagined someone might cry over him.

  “They’re for the little boy who was abused and thought he was unwanted. I’d love to be able to go back and teach your family a lesson.” Her hands boxed into fists.

  “So ferocious. And protective.”

  She did feel protective of him. Now more than ever.

  “No locked doors,” he said quietly.

  “No locked doors,” she promised. “Is this why you have problems with touching people?”

  “I don’t have problems with touching people. Casual touch is fine. It’s the emotion behind the touch that’s the issue. I struggle with intimacy. Affection. Comfort. Caring. Trust is a big part of that. The more I trust someone, the easier touch becomes. But I find it very hard to trust.”

  She got it.

  “Once I found Aleki and Caleb, I made my own family. But those years,” he sighed, “they broke something inside me. Now, I find it hard to relate to other people. To express myself. To let myself feel.” He grimaced. “It’s easier with Caleb and Aleki. They don’t expect me to give them comfort or intimacy. I thought that sharing a woman with them would make it easier. They could give her what she needed emotionally and I would just be . . . a third dick.”

  “Wolfe. You can’t settle for that. They’d never treat you like that. I don’t see you like that.”

  He stared at her. “When I’m with you, I don’t want to be that. I want to be more. But I’m not sure I can or I know how.”

  “But you’ll try,” she whispered, realizing this is why he’d wanted her in his bed tonight.

  “Watching you with Caleb in the playroom, I realized that I wanted that feeling of closeness with you. But it’s difficult for me.”

  It was a punch to the gut. She realized then just how badly she’d hurt him. She’d done the worst thing possible.

  She’d left.

  “I’m so sorry, Wolfe.” More tears dripped down her cheeks. “I should have stayed. I thought I was doing what was best. Instead, I messed everything up. I can’t be trusted with decisions. Will you ever be able to trust me again?”

  “You left to protect us.”

  “Yes. But I hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you.”

  “Caleb always tells me it’s okay to make mistakes, it’s how we learn.”

  “He told me that too.”

  “Perhaps he’s on to something. Don’t tell him I said that, though. He can be insufferable when he believes he’s right.”

  Pot meet kettle. She had to bite her lip to hold in the smile.

  “That’s better.” He ran a thumb over her cheek. “I don’t like when you cry, it means I’m not doing my job properly.”

  “Crying is sometimes a good thing. Helps me get rid of a lot of pent-up emotion.”

  “Hmm, is that so?” A calculating look came over his face. “Would you say you need to cry regularly to help release your emotions?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say regularly. . .” Where was he going with this? Because she was starting to get worried.

  “A spanking could help you cry and release all those emotions. I could put one into your schedule. Maybe a weekly one. Or a daily one.”

  He wasn’t being serious. Was he? Oh God, with Wolfe it was so hard to tell.

  “No, no, I don’t think we need to schedule that,” she said hastily.

  “Hmm, you could be right. With how naughty you are, you’ll be getting them regularly anyway.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “I am not naughty!”

  “No? So you didn’t just disobey me by moving around when I told you not to?”

  Her mouth slammed shut. Then opened again. “You’re not going to spank me, are you?”

  “Not right now. I think you’ve cried enough.”

  Good.

  “But it’s coming.”

  Eek!

  He stood.

  “Wolfe? Thank you for coming for me, even though you hated me.”

  He sighed. “Princess, I will always come for you. Won’t lie, I didn’t want to. I thought you’d hurt us again. I didn’t want that for Caleb or Aleki.”

  “Or you?”

  He nodded. “Or me. But I now know there’s no way I could have sat around while you were in danger. Guess that’s why I never turned off that GPS locater. I figured one day you’d need us to ride to your rescue.”

  She gave him a mock-glare at that. “I’m not a damsel in distress.”

  “And we’re not white knights.”

  But they were. They might not be typical heroes, but they were her heroes.

  “I know I’m not easy, Genevieve. I’m not normal—”

  She opened her mouth but he held up a hand to her. She remained silent.

  “But I’ll do whatever it takes to protect this family. To keep us all together. You just have to promise that you won’t leave. Not ever again. Don’t leave and I can deal with anything else that is thrown at us.”

  “I promise. I won’t ever leave.” And she wouldn’t. No matter what.

  He gave her a solemn nod. “I believe you. I might still have problems sometimes, so if you need some space, you have to tell me, okay? I know I’ve still got the GPS going but if I don’t have eyes on you, I get . . . antsy.”

  She got it. To someone else that might feel stifling. But after his childhood, if he needed to keep track of where she was in order to be settled then she’d happily give him that.

  “I get it. I won’t go anywhere without telling you.”

  “And you’ll tell me if anything I do is too much. When it comes to you, I need you to show me the line. Doesn’t mean I won’t push that boundary, but I’ll always respect your safeword.”

  “I know you will.” Because she knew he’d never hurt her.

  He stared down at her, his gaze darkening. But for an entirely different reason.

  “You’re naked.”

  Oh. So she was. She’d completely forgotten.

  How embarrassing.

  She looked him over. He was wearing a pair of black, pin-striped button-up pajamas. The buttons were done right up to the top. The pajamas looked like they’d been ironed. Not a wrinkle in sight. On someone else, it might have looked weird or out-of-place. On Wolfe, it looked sexy as hell.
Especially with those black-rimmed glasses.

  “Fuck, I didn’t think it would go up after all of that.”

  It? Up? Then it connected. Oh. She glanced at his crotch, which was pushing against his pajama bottoms. Right.

  Holy. Hell.

  Reaching down, he picked up a T-shirt off the floor. It was sitting next to a blanket and small bag that he must have brought in with him. He slid the T-shirt over her head and then carefully drew her injured arm through the armhole. It smelled like bergamot and mint. Like Wolfe.

  “This is yours?”

  He grunted. “When we sleep together, you wear one of my shirts, not theirs.”

  It was the first hint of proper jealousy she’d seen and it made her feel slightly uncomfortable. “You don’t like me sleeping with them?”

  His eyes narrowed. “When it’s their turn, that’s fine. As long as everyone gets their time alone with you, then I have no problem with it.”

  Oh. Okay, that made her feel better.

  “Just don’t want you in their shirts while I’m in bed with you.”

  She could understand that. “I could wear my own clothes, you know.”

  He grunted. “No. Wearing my clothes marks you as mine. Probably a caveman thing, but it makes me feel satisfied.”

  She stared at him in shock. Was he admitting to a feeling? He seemed kind of surprised by that himself. And a bit confused.

  She knew that he was about to withdraw from her, maybe walk out the door, so she quickly searched for something to distract him. The intimacy of sleeping together was likely a big deal for Wolfe.

  “What’s the blanket for?”

  A hint of red entered his cheeks. Her mouth dropped open. She quickly slammed it shut. Last thing she wanted was to embarrass him further.

  It was just . . . Wolfe? Embarrassed? She hadn’t realized it was possible.

  “It’s a weighted blanket,” he explained. “Caleb got it for me when I was having trouble sleeping after leaving the SEALs. I thought with your nightmares, I know that you like being held at night and I . . . you know what, maybe it’s a stupid idea . . .”

  “No.” She stood and walked over to him. “It’s a great idea. It might be just what I need.”

  He frowned. “What did I tell you about walking around?” He picked her up and set her down on the armchair in the corner before crouching to inspect her foot. He muttered over some slight swelling.

  And he was back. She dropped her head to hide a smile. At least he’d opened up a little. It was more than she’d ever had from him. Or really expected him to give her.

  “I’m fine, Wolfe.”

  “You’d say you were fine even if you were half dead.”

  Her gaze shot up, shocked he’d gathered that. It was true. She was used to deflecting. To pretending everything was all right. Sometimes she wasn’t even sure what was a lie and what was the truth.

  “I wish you’d just tell the truth.”

  She winced. “I’m sorry. I’ll try. It’s just habit, saying that I’m all right.”

  “It’s okay not to be.”

  “What?”

  “It’s okay not to be all right. You can tell us how you really feel. We won’t punish you for not being all right.”

  “That was very . . . I mean, when did you become so . . . so . . .”

  “That’s what your father did, right? Caleb told us he wanted you to be perfect all the time.”

  She cleared her throat. “Yeah. I wasn’t ever to voice what I really thought or how I really felt. I was a puppet for what he and William wanted me to say or do. Sometimes I’m not sure who the real me is anymore.”

  He nodded. “I understand.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes, I’ve often had to try and act a certain way not to make people uncomfortable. I know I’m different. That I don’t react the right way or feel the right things. I’ve had to teach myself to pretend.”

  She reached out and lightly touched his shoulder. He stiffened slightly but didn’t pull away. “You don’t have to pretend with me. And who cares what other people think is right? If it’s the way you feel then it’s right for you.”

  He stared at her, studying her. Then he gave a sharp nod. “And if you feel a certain way then you should tell us. Not hide it. Or try to do what you think we want.”

  She had to smile. “So does that mean I no longer have to eat what’s on that list or take those horrible vitamins?”

  He frowned. “No, that’s health and safety. You have to do those things. But you don’t have to pretend to like them.”

  She had to laugh. His eyes warmed. “I like hearing you laugh.”

  “Good. I’m glad you’re not angry with me anymore.” She didn’t like him being upset with her.

  He studied her then let out a breath. “I told myself that I hated you. I think I actually did.”

  She drew in a sharp breath. Damn. That hurt.

  “The way I felt about you, it was intense. It was all-consuming. It was too much for me to process. So I told myself to hate you. That was simpler.”

  “Wolfe. . .oh God.” She felt ill.

  “At a young age, I learned to harden myself to feelings. To shut them down. If I didn’t feel anything, I couldn’t be hurt. If I couldn’t be hurt then nothing mattered. Not until you. You mattered. That’s why I couldn’t shut down when it came to you. So I hated you instead.”

  “I don’t want you to hate me.”

  “I don’t. Not anymore. I tried to be indifferent to you, to feel nothing. That didn’t work. I finally figured that out in the hospital. That I still felt something for you. Something strong.”

  Like love? Had his hate flipped to love? It sounded crazy. But she got what he was saying. If he didn’t care, he’d have been indifferent.

  “I’ve always cared about you too. I missed you so much.” She wiped a tear off her face.

  “You know I have issues.” He grimaced. “I find it difficult to trust people. I have less than a handful of people who I consider family. Arianna, Caleb’s friend. Caleb. Aleki. And now you.”

  “Wolfe,” she whispered.

  “You’re my family, Vivi. You’re the most important one of all. There has only ever been you for me. Just you.”

  “You’re my family too.”

  The family you were born with could suck. But the family you made for yourself? They could be all you needed and more.

  He grabbed the bag and set it on the bedside table. Then he drew the blanket off the bed and put the weighted blanket down in its place.

  “Did you enjoy your time with Caleb today? In the playroom?” he suddenly asked.

  “Yes. I liked spending time with him. I like spending time with all of you.”

  She didn’t want one of them feeling slighted.

  “I know,” he said arrogantly.

  She had to resist rolling her eyes.

  “I watched you, in the playroom.”

  “I know.”

  “No, I mean I watched you when you weren’t looking at me. You were completely relaxed. More than I’ve ever seen you since we found you in that alleyway. You were enjoying yourself.”

  “I wasn’t worrying or stressing. I had fun. I can’t remember the last time I had fun. That’s sad, huh?”

  “I’m not good at having fun. Maybe we could learn together.”

  She sucked in a breath. She knew how much they could both use some fun. She also knew how hard it was for Wolfe to offer this.

  “I’d love that. Should I . . . what would I call you?”

  “Wolfe.”

  She had to grin. “Not Daddy?”

  “That’s Caleb.”

  She got it. But maybe she could come up with a name for him. Hmm.

  He turned to the bed. Picking up the bag, he set it on the floor next to the bed. Then he spread out the blanket.

  “Can I help?”

  “No.”

  She shook her head but didn’t take offense. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Wol
fe would always be Wolfe. But that he was willing to try new things and attempt to give her what she needed. . .

  That meant the world.

  “Did you like being in the SEALs?” she asked. She’d have thought that would be hard for him. Having to take orders. Being close to others. “Don’t you have to bond with your team?”

  “Wasn’t easy. Aleki and Caleb helped a lot. If we’d been on different teams I wouldn’t have coped. But we made a good team together, thankfully they saw that. The others in our team knew I was different. They would go through Aleki and Caleb.”

  Isolating Wolfe. She knew why Aleki and Caleb had done it. They’d tried to help him. But maybe they’d accidentally done the wrong thing.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said as he drew something out of the bag and plugged it in. She blinked in surprise at the nightlight he’d plugged in. It was in the shape of a pig. Ooh. She did love pigs.

  “What’s that?” she asked, surprised. Wolfe wasn’t the most aware of people.

  “You’re thinking they should have forced me to interact with the rest of the team, that I was isolated.”

  “Well, umm, yes sort of.”

  “The thing that you have to realize is that I didn’t care about them. I did what I had to in order to be part of the team. But there are only so many people I can let in. I don’t have the emotional capacity for more. Our family is it. So I can pretend to care about others, but I really don’t. Aleki and Caleb know this. I’ll try to give you what you need, but will it be enough? Can you be satisfied with what I’m capable of giving you?”

  “Wolfe, I’ll take whatever you can give me. Because I can’t be without you. Without any of you.”

  He was silent for a moment then nodded. “Good. Then it’s well past time you were in bed. Little girls need their sleep. Especially when they’ve had no one to take care of them and their health has suffered.” Striding over, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. Laying her out, he covered her with the bedding. The weighted blanket settled over her.

  “Ooh, it’s almost like being hugged.”

  He nodded and tucked her in tightly then walked around to his side, and she noted that, like Caleb, he’d chosen the side closest to the door. He climbed in then rolled so he faced her.