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He shushes me as his hands rub my back soothingly. “Let’s get you ready so you can get that ice cream and pancakes.”
CHAPTER59
Austin
The next day,I finally go into the office. I’m reluctant to leave Audrey and almost demand that she come with me. But I’ve grown. At least I’m telling myself I have.
I run my finger around my tumbler full of water, watching the clear liquid like it can tell the future. It turns out it isn’t any better than the bourbon that I’ve been cutting back on.
Almost losing Audrey right after admitting I need her had been like an arrow through the heart, and it took every part of myself to hold back the need to lock her up in a padded room to ensure her safety. Even emotionally stunted, I am pretty sure that wouldn’t equate to love. So I tease and fall back into the Dom role play; at least it is one I know. And I’m positive she likes it, too, even if she isn’t exactly a sub, we both like the pretend.
I rotate my chair and stare out the window, watching the clouds for who knows how long. Someone cracks open my office door, but even though I’m at the office, I’m not really here. I’m ten miles away in a little penthouse on the Lower East Side.
“I’m busy,” I call out.
The door shuts, and I breathe a sigh of relief until I hear someone walking across the floor to my desk.
“I said I’m busy,” I bark.
“Yeah, I’d say, it is hard work deciding what kind of cloud animal is outside the window,” Audrey says, her voice full of humor.
She strolls around the desk and leans against it, her eyes on me as she smiles. “I escaped my jailer.”
I snort. Saint has been completely over-protective. He’s slipped right into my normal roll. “He just blames himself for not taking care of Jason as soon as he found out.”
“Well, he can stop.”
I study her. “I think you enjoy it.”
She presses her lips together, withholding another smile. “Maybe a little, but I will not tell him that.”
“What brings you here, baby girl?”
She shrugs, her fingers lightly curl around the dark wood of the desk. “It was the one place I knew I could go to give the other two a break on babysitting duty.”
I raise my brow. “I am pretty sure that being around you is the highlight of their day. I know it’s mine.”
She blushes and averts her eyes. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.”
“This?”
“Alphas.”
I choke out a laugh. “Alphas?”
“Yeah, making me feel like I’m the center of your world. Like the sun orbits around me, and the moon and stars wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for me.”
“It does, and they wouldn’t,” I say, turning and capturing her between my legs.
She shifts her weight and faces me, her hands falling to my shoulders like they belong there. “Austin–”
I press a finger to her lips, stopping her from saying more. “Audrey De Luca, you are our everything. There is no air without you, no sun, no warmth, no light or dark. It is nothingness expanding forever. So get used to it, because that feeling, it’s real. It isn’t your mind playing tricks on you. It isn’t any of us playing a part. You complete each of us and make us whole.”
“You really know how to make an omega melt, don’t you, Daddy?”
Before I can respond, another knock sounds at my door, and she drops to her knees and scurries under my desk, dragging my chair after her.
“What are you doing?”
