Page 4 of Her Dream Mafia Daddy

“But what if I’m not Little? I mean, I’m not a Little like the girl in this book. I have no problem at all with how she is Little, but it doesn’t resonate with me. I don’t want to wear diapers or drink from a bottle. I wouldn’t mind some cute dresses and outfits, but I don’t think I want to be that Little. I don’t know if I’m making any sense.” Her brows furrowed as she looked to Kiera for validation.

“That makes perfect sense! And of course you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. And you only have to be the kind of Little you want to be. There are no rules for that, as long as everyone is a consenting adult.” Kiera made it sound so simple.

“I guess that makes sense.” Daphne nodded and looked at the cover again. An attractive older man holding a gun was on the cover. She wanted that. “I just wish I could make the worlds come to life, ya know? Like live in this world instead of my current one. Even though the main character still has hard stuff happen to her, she is so taken care of, and I want that.” She was wistful as she stared at the cover.

“You can have that and more if you really want to.” Kiera picked at her nails. “You just have to wish upon a star and think happy thoughts. The universe has a way of listening to us in ways we don’t always understand.”

“I seriously doubt that a mafia man is going to come in here and sweep me off my feet,” Daphne scoffed.

“Well, maybe not, but Winter Peak is kind of a magical place,” Kiera whispered. “I found it when I was driving away from a bad situation and all my dreams have come true. It has happened more than once, from what I have been told. This place just knows what we need and places the right person in your path. It’s kinda hard to understand, but I know your perfect match is just waiting for you.” She was so sincere that Daphne believed her.

“Well, I don’t know if I quite believe that, but you seem pretty sure, so I will hold out hope that maybe my happily ever after is out there.” She sighed, running her hand over the bruises that covered her face.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Kiera whispered.

“My ex is a narcissistic asshole.” Daphne snorted. “I don’t mean to make light of it, but there is really no other good explanation. If I tell you what happened, do you promise to keep it a secret?”

“I dunno. I want to say yes, but if my Daddy asks…” Her voice dropped off.

“You’ll have to say something.” She sighed. “I know. It’s ok. I won’t put you in that predicament.”

“Well, if you ever change your mind, let me know. I’m a pretty good listener and even if I can’t keep your secret, I will listen and not judge and I can promise you that every single person here will fight to keep you safe.” Kiera was facing her, her doe eyes boring into her soul.

“I believe you. I just…he isn’t a good man. He beat me a lot. The last beating he gave me made me lose my pregnancy.” She rubbed her hand over her belly, tears silently streaming down her face. “I wasn’t far along, maybe six weeks. But it hurts. More than I thought it would.”

Kiera came over and put her arms around her as she sobbed. Both girls cried and didn’t say anything to one another.

“Hey, Little girls, what’s going on?” Liam’s voice startled Daphne and she quickly swiped at her eyes.

“Hey, Liam. Nothing. Just remembering some hard things and I got sad. It made Kiera sad too and she was comforting me.” She didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t feel comfortable telling him anything.

“Does this have to do with the bruises on your face?” His gentle, calm voice shook her. What kind of man was this? He didn’t yell or raise his voice. His calm demeanor soothed her in inexplicable ways.

“I am not ready to share anything with you if that’s ok, Mister Liam.” She didn’t want to anger him, so she figured using some sort of honorific was the best move.

He smiled, his eyes creasing around the edges. “You can absolutely keep some things private, I promise. Unless you are in current danger, I don’t need to know everything that happened. Just know that we all want to keep you safe, OK?”

“Yes, Sir, Mister Liam.” She nodded and then blurted out, “Kiera doesn’t know either, so you can’t spank it out of her!” She sat back in her chair, eyes wide, waiting for him to punish her.

He threw his head back and laughed. A great big, booming, genuine laugh. “I promise I won’t try to get any secrets out of Kiera, sweet girl. She knows what she has to tell me and what she doesn’t. When it comes to secrets, they are allowed as long as no one is in danger.”

Giggling at his laugh, she nodded.

Kiera spoke up. “I promise you’re safe here, Daphne. I know your ex wasn’t a kind person, but I promise, as long as you’re honest, you’re safe. Let the men and women here protect you. You can stay with us for as long as you need it. We have a few guest rooms and you can stay in one while you figure out what to do next.”

“Thank you. I honestly might take you up on that. I don’t know why, but I trust you both. I probably shouldn’t, but I do.” She shrugged as if this explained everything.

“You can absolutely trust us. Daddy is the best Daddy in the world. Well, he’s my Daddy but he can be your Uncle. Of course, with that comes a sore bottom and that would just be booey.”

“Booey, huh?” Her Daddy laughed at her.

“Uh-huh, booey.” Her decisive nod made them all laugh.

“I know about the world and I’ve always wanted a Daddy, which seems at odds given what I went through, but I know enough through my brother and his husband and their Little girl that what my ex did was not kink or BDSM or anything; it was abuse. It took me a while to see that, but I did, eventually.”

Chapter 3

Eamon