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Chapter Fourteen

Gracie

M y day went by unbelievably slow despite being kept busy.

After showering and dressing, I collected Bonnie from Hazel, then asked if it was okay to make her some breakfast, to which Hazel agreed.

She even showed me where everything was and told me we can eat anything we want from the kitchen and pantry, and if they didn’t have what we like, she would order it. I couldn’t believe her words.

After feeding Bonnie, I bathed her and dressed her in the cute pink romper my father allowed me to purchase before coming to stay here. It looks far better on her than the dingy-looking two-piece she would usually wear at his house.

After washing our clothes from the previous day and hanging them on the chairs outside, I took Bonnie into the gardens.

Vinny wasn’t exaggerating when he said it was like a park out here.

There’s even a children’s play area—I can only assume is for his grandchildren—coupled with the most luxurious swimming pool I’ve only ever seen on a television show, and I was in awe.

We roamed the lavish grounds, me with bare feet and Bonnie switched between crawling and being carried.

The grass is thick and green, well-watered.

The flowers and shrubs are manicured, and the trees are pruned; everything is so perfect.

There isn’t a weed in sight, there are no old oak trees, patchy grasslands, nor fields that roam for miles.

Instead, there’s a wall around the perimeter with cameras, and even security guards with machine guns.

As much as I love the feeling of freedom, it still very much feels like I’m confined. And I hate it.

This is not what I want for my little girl.

Still, I push the thought aside and tell myself this is so much better than being at my father’s.

At least here we have the means to wander at will, giving Bonnie the opportunity to thrive and develop.

Here gives a sense of freedom despite there being none.

Beneath all the excitement at everything Bonnie and I discovered, I anxiously awaited Vinny’s return. My eyes would dart toward the door at each sound, and when we were outside, I kept the entrances to the property in sight so I would see him at first opportunity.

Was he missing me as much as I missed him?

This is ridiculous, right? I shake my head for the hundredth time today, mentally chastising myself for being so dependent on a man I’ve no business depending on.

My stomach rolls at the thought of not seeing him.

It’s been less than twelve hours, and I already feel needy.

I continue to tell myself I shouldn’t send him another text, not after he didn’t reply to the last one.

The urge to see him borders on obsessive.

“Are you okay?” Hazel asks from over the counter.

I flick my eyes toward my phone again. “Y-yes.”

She wipes her hands down her apron. “You haven’t touched your sandwich.” My gaze lowers toward the sandwich, and I wince.

“I’m sorry. I don’t normally have lunch.”

Her eyebrows shoot up into her hairline. “You don’t eat lunch?”

“No.” I chew on my bottom lip, wondering how much I can say without bringing more attention to myself. “I just don’t feel hungry at lunchtime,” I lie. Although, after spending months not eating at lunchtime, I am used to it by now.

Hazel’s emerald eyes assess me, her scrutiny making me uncomfortable.

When she turns toward the oven, I blow out a breath of relief and turn my attention toward Bonnie.

She’s been on a blanket on the floor for the past half hour, testing the selection of fresh foods I’ve been unable to provide her with before now.

“Do you like those, sweetie?” I stroke over her curls, and she scrunches her face into a cheeky smile that exposes her singular bottom tooth. Her happiness makes my heart soar. “Is it yummy?”

“Yu,” she says while mushing the cucumber stick between her fingers.

“Good girl. Say, yum yum.”

“Yu.”

“Yes. Yum yum. ”

She mushes the cucumber into the blanket, and I wince at the mess she’s creating. Hazel was kind enough to lay one down for her and told me it didn’t matter since it can be washed.

“She needs a highchair,” Hazel declares, then picks up her phone.

I simply nod. What else can I do? Of course she needs a highchair, she needs a stroller too, but until I can access my inheritance, I can’t offer either thing.

My phone buzzes, and I spring up from the floor to grab it. Hazel chuckles and shakes her head, much like she has done all day, as if bemused by me.

Vinny is calling, and my heart races. Like an idiot, my fingers fumble with the keys, far too excited for a phone call than I should be.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Little Pet.” His voice comes out smooth, but it has a dangerous edge to it I’m becoming accustomed to, addicted too almost.

“Have you eaten your lunch?”

My eyes land on my untouched plate, then slowly travel up toward Hazel and back down to the counter and her phone she’s been typing on most of the day.

Has she been spying on me?

“Gracie!” Vinny barks, and I jolt.

“Have you eaten lunch?” he repeats, softer this time.

“N-no.” I push my hair behind my ear. “I’m just not very hungry,” I whisper.

“Little Pet, pick up your sandwich, and I want you to eat it while I speak to you. Okay?”

“Okay. ”

“Good girl,” he praises, and my body flushes with the pride in his words.

Then I smile and lift the sandwich to my mouth. If starving myself gets his attention, I know what to do in the future. I banish the thought. Besides, I have Bonnie to think about, I want to be healthy for her and set the best example I can.

“Another piece. Be Daddy’s good girl and swallow it down.”

A mewling sound leaves my lips.

“And another, be a good girl and lick those lips after each taste.”

His husky voice sends a tremor down my spine, and I wiggle on the barstool as my panties become wetter.

Oh, dear god, I’m going to hell.

Vinny Marino can dominate every part of me any time of day.

Even lunchtime, it appears.