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As he continues, I sink deeper into myself. “It’s always about the contract!” I scream at him. “This”—I move my hand in a sweeping motion between us—“isn’t about a contract, Christopher.”
Tears run down my face, and if the wall wasn’t holding me up, I’d have been on the ground minutes ago. “It’s… It’s about my well-being. You are the cause of my bad health. I’m wrecked. You got what you wanted, and now you are throwing shit in my face. You don’t want me except to control me. If you… If you wanted me at all in even the slightest of ways, you’d see that you are killing me.”
A hiccup leaves my mouth, and my legs give out. I slide down the wall and end up on my butt. My head falls forward, my hair covering me. The sobs won’t stop coming, and I don’t argue when he picks me up and carries me to the couch.
“You’re mine, little one,” he whispers and lets me cry. I’m too tired to fight him. It hurts too much to keep my eyes open, so I close them and lay my head down on his chest. No point, I repeat to myself. There’s no point in arguing. He’ll win no matter what.
Yawning, I stretch and feel aches where I shouldn’t. Blinking my eyes open, I look at my surroundings, and I immediately know I’m in the cage. My warm blankets are around me, and there’s my pink and black Stanley cup sitting in its spot. Handa is next to me but I see a little lion on the floor looking into the cage.
My arm is bandaged but my other arm is cuffed to the cage. The familiarity of this situation makes me cry. I would have given anything to be in this cage a few days ago. Now, I’m here under duress. Sure it was my choice to go with Chris, but did he really give me one?
Trying to reach for the lion, I whimper as my arm burns with pain.
“I wouldn’t move if I was you.” His voice sends shivers through me and turn my head toward him. “Good morning, buttercup.”
“Good morning.” I mumble, trying not to let my heartbeat run away on me.
“We are going to have a serious conversation today and I won’t accept any argument about how it’s about the contract. Are we clear?”
“Yes.”
He’s in his chair, left leg crossed over his right and his hands are steepled in front of him. “Yes, what?”
“Yes, Mr. Groveton.”
I know what he wants but I refuse to call him Daddy right now. He is going to have to earn it.
Chris laughs and un-crosses his legs. “I believe the word you are looking for is Daddy.”
“Oh, I didn’t know I was talking to a Daddy.” Oh God. I’ve never blatantly been rude to him before. I gulp and instantly feel regret. Looking down at my arm though reminds me he doesn’t deserve to be called anything but his name.
Chapter Thirty-One
Mylittleone’sclawsare out. I love it. Chuckling, I get up and walk over to the cage. Unlocking her wrist, I move to the door of the cage and open it. “Get out.” I’m not going to entertain her today. We are going to hash everything out, including me apologizing. Somehow, someway, my little one is going to forgive me.
Jasmine crawls out and immediately grabs the lion. She loves her stuffies and doesn’t deserve the meanness that I’ve put her through. I didn’t sleep a fucking wink last night.
Holding open a button-down shirt for her to cover herself up with, I wait patiently as she sets the two toys down and walks over to me. Her eyes are cast downward, but she slides her arms through the sleeves and turns around and looks at me. “Thank you.”
Her appreciation isn’t needed, but I still eat it up like its candy. She looks at me, ready for me to open my mouth and be rude. I’ve decided I can’t continue to be cruel to her. It’s not what I want, and my heart begged me last night to open myself to her love. It’s going to be a damn battle to get her to trust me again. I’m fully aware of this.
“Go to the restroom and you can come out when you are ready. I’ve got your favorites ready. Blueberry pancakes, maple syrup, scrambled eggs, and bacon.”
Her eyes finally meet mine, and I can tell she’s trying to figure out what my game is. This time I’m playing for her. I will win her over, somehow.
It doesn’t take Jasmine long to come into the dining room. She sits down and looks at me. Placing her food in front of her, I smile down and push a hand through her hair.
“We are going to talk while you eat.”
She takes the fork and cuts her pancake. “What do you want to talk about? I think we’ve already established what is going on here.”
Sitting down next to her, I produce a box. It’s the collar she was talking about in her letter. “I believe you said you’d wear this.”
She takes a deep breath in and her lower lip trembles. “So, I was right. You aren’t going to set me free.”
“Why in the world would I do that, Jasmine?” Her hands shake as she pushes away from the table.
“You said a serious conversation. The only serious one I want is where you shred the contract into pieces.”
