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Juliet’s head whips around, her hair smacking me in the face in the process, and her eyes are almost comically round in her heart-shaped face. “Shutup. You do not have Solene on this island. She stopped designing clothes ages ago.”
“Two years,” I correct her with a smug smile. “And she didn’t stop designing. She simply… shifted her focus a bit. Once we discovered Solene’s secret, it was remarkably easy to convinceher to move to our island. She and her Mommy have been a wonderful addition to our population.”
I don’t think I could have shocked Juliet more if I’d told her Solene was secretly an alien in disguise, using her work as a fashion designer to study the human race. “Are you serious? You better not be fu—messing with me.”
“Good girl.” Pulling her close, I press a kiss to her forehead. “Thank you for catching yourself. Daddy is very proud of you, princess.”
“It’s not a big deal,” she mumbles, but there’s a smile on her lips and her cheeks have turned a pretty pink at my praise.
“Either way, I am very proud of you for correcting yourself before I had to. But if we miss our appointment at Solene’s, I’ll have to spank you again. Not much gets her riled up, but I’ve heard she’s a holy terror if you make her wait.”
“So she hasn’t changed,” Juliet says with a loud, happy laugh. “God, I haven’t seen her in forever, it seems like. Can we go now? Please?”
“Absolutely.”
But as she’s sliding off my lap, we’re both stopped by the sound of Cat clearing her throat. Pinning us with an exasperated look, she gestures to Juliet. “Jasper. You cannot let your Little girl leave the house with her hair looking like that.”
Frowning, I look at Juliet’s hair. It’s a bit matted from her sleep since I didn’t bother to wash it, but not too bad. “You have a brush in your purse, right? We’ll just take care of it on the way.”
If looks could kill, I would be annihilated right there on the spot under Cat’s withering glare. “Men. I swear. Come with me, Juliet. Auntie Cat will get you straightened up while your Daddy calls Solene to let her know we’re going to be late.”
Taking Juliet’s hand, Cat flounces out of my office. I watch them go, torn between annoyance at Cat’s high-handedness andgratitude that I have someone to help me with these little details I’m apparently oblivious to.
Settling on gratitude for the time being, I pick up the phone and call Solene.
Juliet
“I cannot believe he was going to let you walk out of here with your hair looking like you just rolled out of bed.” Huffing indignantly, Auntie Cat all but drags me upstairs to the room I awoke in this morning. It doesn’t escape my notice that she knows exactly where that room is without asking, and my mind goes into overdrive trying to figure out what exactly thatmeans.
There’s obviously a good bit of forethought and planning that’s gone into their little island getaway here, but to what end? And who else is involved? She mentioned someone named Maxwell, but that’s not exactly an uncommon name in our circles. How the hell did they get fucking Solene of all people to come to their island? When she disappeared from the public eye a few years ago, there was rampant speculation about where she’d gone and why she’d stepped out of the limelight at the height of her career.
The press would have a field day knowing she was secreted away on some island in the middle of nowhere, helping a bunch of kinky billionaires play dress up with women they've kidnapped.
While my mind is distracted trying to figure out what the fuck is going on, Auntie Cat steers me to the bathroom where she not-so-gently pushes me down onto a stool in front of a giant vanity. I yelp as my punished bottom presses hard against thestool, but between the oddly thick underwear Jasper put me in and the padding of the stool, the pain quickly fades to something more bearable as I look at the vanity she’s sat me in front of. For a moment, the materialistic side of me takes over and I run my hands lovingly over the stunning white marble. I didn’t really have time to notice the finer touches earlier, what with the soap in my mouth and all the threats of more spankings. “Oh. This is lovely.”
Auntie Cat’s gaze meets mine in the mirror and she smiles. “It is. Your Daddy spared no expense building this home for you.”
Home. There’s that word again. It lodges in my throat, cutting off my air supply. Whatever twisted game Jasper is playing, surely he can’t mean for me to actuallylivehere.
In the reflection, Auntie Cat’s smile fades. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? You look like someone stole your puppy.”
“This isn’t my home,” I whisper, tears filling my eyes as I twist around to look up at her, letting my plea fill my eyes and voice. “Please, Catharina. I can’t stay here. Jasper doesn’t evenlikeme.”
“Nonsense, little girl. Your Daddy wouldn’t have brought you here if he didn’t want you here. So I suggest you put those thoughts out of your head right this instant.”
There’s an undercurrent to her words that has my bottom clenching instinctively. Being spanked by Catharina Montgomery was certainly not on my Bingo card for this year or any other, but it doesn’t seem like it’s off the table, all things considered. Still, I can’t help but pressing, just a bit. I have to do something to get the hell off this island and if anyone might heed my appeal for sympathy, I imagine another woman would.
“Doesn’t it matter that I never asked to be here? He basically kidnapped me!”
One dark, perfectly sculpted eyebrow arches upward. “Did he? Because as we were told, you called him demanding to come stay with him while your legal troubles worked themselves out. From what I heard, he did try to warn you that you wouldn’t enjoy it here.”
“I mean…yes. But he didn’t tell me about any of this!” I gesture to my Little girl dress, the room, her. Everything.
“Ah, well, it’s a Daddy’s prerogative to decide what his Little girl needs to know and when.” Auntie Cat’s smile returns as she picks up the large square hairbrush on the counter. “Now, turn around so I can do something about this hair.”
“But—”
Her dark eyes flash with warning, immediately stopping my protest in its tracks. “Little girl, unless you want me to bend you over this vanity and use this brush to paddle your bottom, I suggest you stop arguing and do as you are told.”