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Chapter Twenty-Six

Evander

With Natalie in my arms, I head back to the living room. Lucas is already there, watching over three wide-eyed Littles.

“Nelly!” Leaping up from her bed, Victoria races toward us. I put Natalie down just in time for her friends to throw themselves at her, nearly knocking her over.

“We were so worried.” To my surprise, Juliet has tears in her eyes as she hugs my Little girl close. “We heard you getting spanked and crying but then your Papa showed up and wouldn’t let us go check on you. Is everything okay? Are you—holy shit, is that blood ?”

Three sets of furious eyes swing my direction, and I hold up my arm both to show them the source of the blood on my babygirl’s nightgown and to fend them off if necessary. “Don’t worry, girls. It’s not hers.”

“No wonder you were crying so loud,” Isabella whispers, her tone full of awe and more than a hint of admiration. “You scratched him?”

“Yeah.” Glancing over her shoulder, Natalie flashes me a sheepish smile before turning back to her friends. “It was kind of an accident. Well, not really, I was trying to get him to let me go because… never mind. It’s a really long story that you’ll hear about soon. But I’m fine.”

The chiming of the doorbell interrupts their reunion, followed by furious pounding and the sound of Maxwell’s voice.

“Evander! Open the fucking door!”

Tori whips around, her mouth falling open. “Daddy?”

“I took the liberty of calling the others,” Lucas explains when I glance over at him. “When I heard all the commotion down here, I had a feeling you’d want them here.”

Thank god for Lucas. I do indeed need to speak with them, and the sooner the better. “You assumed correctly. Girls, stay here with Lucas while I go get your Daddies.”

Arms folded, Juliet glares up at me. “I’m coming with you unless you tell us what’s going on right now.”

“You can either choose to stay, or Lucas can keep you here over his knee. Which is it going to be?”

Shoving her hands behind her, she shakes her head. “I’ll stay, Uncle Evan.”

“Good girl. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Trusting that Lucas will be able to keep them corralled for at least that long, I head out of the living room and to the entryway.

“ Evander! Open the fucking?—”

Maxwell cuts off with a snarl as I yank the door open. “It’s about goddamn time. Where’s my babygirl?”

Jasper and Gideon are right behind him, all of them in various states of dress, and it occurs to me that this is the first time I’ve ever seen any of them in anything but a suit.

Why that should amuse me so much, with everything else going on, I’m not sure but I’m smart enough not to let that amusement show.

“They’re in the living room, but you’re going to have to wait. We need to talk.”

Natalie

“What’s going on? Why did they call our Daddies?” Wringing her hands, Tori looks from me to Papa to the living room door. “Are we in trouble?”

Guilt stabs at my chest. “You’re not. But I am.”

“Oh, Nelly,” she groans. “What did you do now?”

I want to tell them. I really do. But the words stick in my throat, and I can’t seem to force them out. Tears prick my eyes, and all I can do is shake my head.

Luckily, I’m saved from having to answer by my Papa. Lucas scoops me up, cradling me in his arms like an actual baby as he settles on the couch. “It’s all right, little one. Your Daddy will make it all better.”

“Make what all better?” Juju demands, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.

“We should wait for Evander,” Papa tells her firmly, though not unkindly. “This isn’t a discussion for us to have without your Daddies.”

“Forget it. I’m going out there.”

“Juliet, if you step one foot outside this room, I will not hesitate to spank you.”

“And Papa spanks hard,” I tell her solemnly. “Not as hard as Daddy, but really hard.”

Hovering by the door, Juju crosses her arms and stomps her foot, looking very much like a Little girl on the verge of a full- blown tantrum. “I don’t care! I want to know what the fuck is going on!”

“Shhh!” Tori hisses, looking around as if our Daddies might appear out of nowhere any second. Which, in her defense, is entirely possible. “You’re going to get in trouble!”

“Oh, whatever.” Spinning around, Juju stomps toward the door and yanks it open.

Revealing all four of our Daddies on the other side. Uncle Jasper, who happens to be standing just behind my Daddy, sighs and shakes his head.

“Making trouble again, princess?”

“Umm…” Suddenly not sounding as sure of herself as she did just a moment ago, Juju takes a step back and all four Daddies file in, making the room feel very small as their very presence seems to take up every inch of available space. “No, Daddy. I was just, um, going to the bathroom.”

“Oh, well, that’s fine.” Uncle Jasper flashes her an encouraging smile. “Go ahead and potty, and Daddy will change you.”

Judging by the way the color drains from Juju’s face, she didn’t entirely think through her lie. And judging by the way Uncle Jasper folds his arms and stares her down, he knows she was lying.

“Never mind,” Juju mumbles. “I don’t gotta go anymore.”

“Uh-huh. Well, we can discuss your ‘potty break’ at home. Right now, we have something more pressing to talk about.”

As one, every head in the room swings toward me and I can’t help but audibly swallow.

I’m in so much fucking trouble.

Evander

Seated at the head of the same dining room table where I first claimed my naughty little kitten, I let my gaze roam over my family.

Cat has joined us, looking regal as ever in a set of satin pajamas as she sips a glass of dark wine.

For once, she doesn’t look the least bit amused by Natalie’s antics.

She looks furious.

And she isn’t the only one. Expressions of anger and betrayal are stamped on every face around the table, including Lucas.

Perched on my lap, trembling with fear as she tells the story of how she snuck out of bed to use my computer after hearing about how Victoria and Isabella ended up on the island, is my Natalie.

“So, um, I guess that’s it,” she says, her voice shaking a bit as she wraps up her story. “I’m really sorry, everyone.”

“You said you wouldn’t tell.” Sweet Victoria, who always has a smile for everyone she meets, glares at Natalie from her perch on her own Daddy’s lap, her eyes ablaze with fury. “Juliet said it was all off the record and you agreed and you lied .”

My chest aches with the desire to defend my babygirl. But I know if I step in now, I’ll only get in the way. The girls need this, they need to have this out without my interference if there’s any hope of them forgiving her anytime soon.

“I did.” Pride wells in my chest at Natalie’s simple admission. “I knew when I said it that I was going to try and find a way around it. I had every intention of getting you to tell your story on the record so I could write about it.”

“But why ? Why are you so determined to ruin our lives?”

Natalie hesitates, and I give into the urge to pull her closer, wrapping my arm tightly around her waist until the trembling stops.

“I had a lot of what I thought were really good reasons,” she says slowly.

“I wanted the story, yes. But also, I’m a journalist. And the whole reason I became a journalist was to tell the truth.

To share things with the world that they wouldn’t know otherwise.

To help people by shining a light on those things done in the dark that nobody knows about.

Because there are people in the world who prey on the most vulnerable among us and the thought of them being allowed to do that without consequence makes me sick to my stomach. ”

“You thought you were helping us.” Isabella nods, understanding lighting her eyes. “I can’t really say I blame you, if I’m being honest. And if you’d been here when I first got to the island, I probably would have begged you to do exactly what you’d planned to do tonight.”

“So why the change of heart?” In stark contrast to Isabella’s calm acceptance, Juliet is all righteous fury. “If you think what they did is so wrong, why aren’t you fighting for us? Or are you just full of shit?”

“Juliet.” Jasper’s voice is full of warning. “I know you’re upset, princess, but that isn’t an excuse for naughty language.”

“Why not? It’s a valid question. If she really believes what she’s saying then she should be fighting tooth and nail to get the truth out there. Instead, she just gave in after one measly spanking.”

“Well, first of all, it was a really hard spanking.” When Natalie’s joke is met with silent stares, she clears her throat and continues. “But that's not why I changed my mind.”

“Then why ?” Victoria presses, her eyes silently begging for an explanation, a reason for her to believe everything Natalie is telling her.

Glancing over her shoulder at me, Natalie smiles.

“Because I realized you aren’t broken and brainwashed the way I assumed.

If anyone tried to come for my Daddy, I’d put them in the ground.

And since I’m pretty sure I’m not suffering from some kind of Stockholm Syndrome, maybe you guys aren’t either.

I’m sorry I didn’t understand that sooner and that I hurt you all so much in the process of figuring everything out. ”

“That was a very good apology, kitten.” Pulling her close, I press a kiss to her temple and she immediately relaxes into my embrace.

Lifting my gaze, I meet the eyes of my family, our family one by one. I’ve already spoken to them about my plans for my little kitten, and in turn they each give a small nod, so I breathe in deeply through my nose and brace myself for what needs to be done.

“I think we can all agree that Natalie messed up. That she betrayed your trust in a very deep, painful way. And because what she did affects everyone at this table, you are all going to participate in her punishment.”

On my lap, Natalie stiffens, but doesn’t protest. As I scan the faces around the table, I find mixed emotions.

Mostly the Littles look worried for their friend, with the exception of Juliet who looks almost gleeful, while my brothers and Cat are all wearing nearly identical looks of sadistic satisfaction.

Lucas, who slipped from the room after Natalie’s apology, returns with the items we previously discussed, laying them out on the smooth wood in front of us.

Natalie’s hairbrush, one of my belts, a clear acrylic paddle that I’ve heard stings worse than anything else I own, a wooden spoon, and a long thin black cane.

On my lap, Natalie whimpers and presses herself closer to me. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do to gently nudge her off my lap so she can face the music. “Up you go, kitten. Time for you to learn what happens to naughty Little girls who don’t keep their promises.”