Her father answered the door on the second knock. He looked about the same as his picture, which I'd had my security snap while they were doing a background check on him. I liked knowing who I'm dealing with, and since he was not only the law in this town but the father of the young woman, I meant to claim I needed to know as much as I possibly could. It's a good thing I had, but a picture was one thing, seeing the man in the flesh quite another. I called on all the etiquette-training mom had tried to drill into me as a youth not to do what I so badly wanted. I had to think of my little Blossom."Yes, can I help you?" Clifton Sanders was a forty-five-year-old fit, attractive male who took good care of himself. All of that was obvious at my first cursory glance. He didn't look like the friendliest of people, though, if the look on his face was any indication. Before the day was over, I was sure to put a frown on his already scowling face; I was afraid."Mr. Sanders, the name's Gideo
For the next three months, I will court Ashley. I promise you that I will be a complete gentleman during that time. Nothing about her life needs change, except now I will be a big part of it. She will go to school as usual.""On school nights, I will have her home by ten, on the weekends, maybe midnight. She will no longer be taking the bus to and from school. I will pick her up in the mornings and have her driven home in the afternoons if I'm too busy at work. Sometimes I will have her sit with me in my office after school; she can do her homework there." I let that settle in for a bit, and when all he did was stared, I carried on."That's about it for now.""And if I don't agree?""Oh, Cliff, you do not want to play hardball with me. There're so many things to choose from, where should I start? Should I start with the alienation of your daughter by letting her in on some of your more hostile feelings towards her? You really should be careful what you say when out drinking with th
At lunchtime, I made my excuses and headed for her tree. Today I will be bringing her lunch. I didn't even want to think about why she hadn't been eating anything the last time I saw her. If I found out his neglect went farther than just being careless with her feelings, like he was abusing her in any way, I will put a fucking hurting on him, the likes of which this town has never seen. I clenched my fists at the thought of her being hurt. Put it away, Gideon, don't go borrowing trouble.I watched her for a few seconds before exiting the car, so beautiful, so innocent. It was amazing that she could be this, after dealing with what she must've been dealing with behind closed doors her whole life.She looked around as if sensing my eyes on her, and it made me smile. Yes, I wanted her as attuned to me as I was becoming to her.I climbed out of the car after telling my driver to stay seated. In my hands were her lunch and a bunch of flowers. They were a chaotic blend of beauty in shap
I spent the time between leaving her and the end of the school day pondering my next move. If I'd thought for one second that she was ignorant to her father's true feelings towards her, I would be able to leave her there, but the knowledge in her eyes was my deciding factor.It felt as if I was walking a minefield. I knew without a doubt that my Blossom would be the kind of girl who wanted the love of her father. She wouldn't want to just walk away from him and everything she'd known, so how do I come between the two of them without losing her in the process? How do I get her to see the danger without becoming the enemy in her eyes?I'd started out wanting her body, yes; it was her beauty after all that had first captivated me. But there was something else there. That softness of hers was drawing me in. That sweet air of vulnerability had me wanting to wrap her up and keep her safe for always. This was more than lust; this was so much more than anything I'd ever done before. I'd ne
I kept a smile on my face so she wouldn't guess at my intentions or of the rage that was beginning to boil inside me. I rolled down the window between us and the driver."Change of plans. Instead of taking us straight to the office, we need to swing by the shopping district.""Yes, sir." I rolled the window back up before turning to her."How would you like to go shopping with me?" She looked down at her uniform."Don't worry about that. Your dad already knows that you're with me. You don't need to be home until after dinner.""I still don't understand how you got my dad to agree to this...""That's not for you to worry about. Just know that when you're with me, we can do anything you like, like go shopping for lip balm and anything else your little heart desires."Really...that's...oh no wait, I can't..." She was back to gnawing at her lip, and I subconsciously pulled it out from between her teeth with my thumb."Why not?""Because then you might think that's the only reason
Dinner was a simple affair in a little bistro that I liked. I ordered her the leek and potato soup as a starter, followed by poached salmon in hollandaise sauce with asparagus and new potatoes.She was such a delight to spoil. I found myself looking forward to things that I had never paid much attention to in the past. Like the upcoming holidays, not to mention her birthday, which would be in a few short months.I smiled at the thought."What? What are you smiling about?"That's my little girl, so attentive to my every action.My smile grew wider. "I'm imagining spoiling my best girl for the holidays.""Who me?"She blushed with a look of uncertainty on her face. My poor baby, so unaccustomed to attention, I felt my hands clench into fists. I refuse to let thoughts of her father and what I would like to do to him intrude on our time any more this evening.My only thought from now on would be of her, of making her life something beautiful.It was pure torture taking her home af
This is your fault Gideon, you knew what type of man this was, and still, you let her go there. How could you? I will have to beat myself up later; right now, my only thought was getting to her. I didn't call my driver. I took the Aston out myself; I needed speed.I reached the house in less than fifteen minutes; as I walked up to the door, I could hear her father railing against my men. I kicked in the door and walked in on my worst fucking nightmare.One of my guards had the asshole sequestered in a corner of the room while the other sat on the stairs with a crying Ashley. Without uttering a word, I walked over to the stairs and picked her up. Her little body was trembling uncontrollably, and I wanted to commit murder. I had to shake the blood from my eye before I could see to her. I took deep, calming breaths so I wouldn't scare her any more than she already was before kneeling at her feet and drawing her into my arms.I checked her over for any sign of physical harm, but there
"Look at me, baby." I pushed her hair back from her face so I could look into her eyes. Her beautiful eyes that were now red from too much crying."You want to tell me what happened, sweetheart?"She shook her head and buried her face in the pillow. There was no need to push. I'm sure my guys had a recording of what had gone on in there. I just wanted her to talk."Okay, we'll talk about it tomorrow when you're ready." I took some time to formulate my next words in my head. This was it the point of no return, and I knew that no matter what, she was staying with me. I just hope she wanted that too, it would be fucked to start our new life together on a bad note, but there's no way I would ever let her go near him again."Do you know what's going to happen next, Ashley?"She turned over and looked at me, her eyes puffy and red, she looked like a lost little girl, and I could kick my ass for putting her in this position, for not following my gut the one time it counted the most. I wa