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My heart slams against my ribcage, worry wrapping like a band around my chest. “You can tell me anything, princess.”
“I think the real reason I’m so happy here is… I’m in love with you. I’ve had a crush on you for so long, at first I thought it was just that. A puppy-love kind of thing, you know? But I actually think I’m just really, truly, head over heels in love with you. Is that okay?”
Emotion clogs my throat, and for a moment I can’t speak, can’t even breathe. “Baby, it is so much better than okay. It’s so much more than I ever dared to dream. I’m so fucking in love with you, princess.”
“Really? You really mean that?”
Rising from the chair, I carry her back to my bed. No,ourbed, laying her down on the rumpled sheets. “I really mean it.And if I have to keep you tied to this bed every day for the rest of our lives while I prove it to you, then that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
A wide grin stretches across her face. “Maybe not every day… but we could start with today.”
And that’s exactly what we do.
Epilogue
Gideon
Another work trip. Or so my family back on the island thinks. For months, I’ve kept the real reason behind my frequent trips to the city a secret, even from them. Maxwell, as devious as he may be, is unlikely to approve of my plan.
Blackmail is one thing. Outright kidnapping another altogether. Especially when the target of said kidnapping is a dancer for the New York City ballet. Someone whose disappearance won’t go unnoticed.
The doors to the theatre open, and she steps out into the night. Despite what I’m sure was a vigorous practice session, her chestnut hair is still pulled up in that perfect bun, not a single strand out of place. Even in the pale glow of the streetlamps, I can see the soft, delicate curve of her cheek. The slender lines of her neck.
My perfect little doll.
With a wave for her so-called friends, she hurries toward the corner, where she pauses just long enough to glance around, toensure she isn’t being tailed by the police before turning into a darkened alley.
Fury boils in my veins at her recklessness. Little girls shouldn’t be out on the streets at this late hour, making drug deals in sketchy back alleys. Even back on the island, as safe as it is, our little ones would never be allowed out after dark, especially not alone. A lesson my niece Juliet has recently learned all too well.
But that fury won’t serve me now. Not when my plan requires such careful planning and execution. If I let my mind become clouded by emotion, I risk ruining everything. And I will not let anything, even my own righteous anger, deprive me of my Little girl.
So I stay in the shadows, as I’ve done so many nights before.
Watching.
Waiting.
And like so many nights before, I follow her to her tiny apartment. If you could call the cramped one-room space such. Being a ballerina apparently doesn’t pay well.
No matter. Soon, my little doll won’t have to worry about things like rent or groceries or any of the other mundane concerns she currently faces.
Out on the sidewalk, I take up my usual spot, unnoticed by the bustling New Yorkers hurrying past me on their way to their own homes as I watch the light flip on in her apartment. Her silhouette appears in front of the window shade like the heroine in some old movie, and my cock hardens as she slips out of her uniform. She moves around the tiny space, readying herself for bed.
And when her shadow disappears from sight, I force myself to wait another half hour before I finally make my move.
Tonight, sweet, unsuspecting little Isabella will finally bemine.
The End