She was quiet on the ride home.

I kept glancing at her out of the corner of my eye, and Kendall kept staring ahead with her mouth tightly closed and her eyes distant and vacant. I didn’t try to understand what was going on inside her head. I didn’t even want to pretend to understand how hard it must have been to walk away from her mother and sister.

But Kendall was eighteen now, and so was Amanda. They could make choices of their own.

While we were driving, I reached over for her hand and pulled it onto my lap. Her dainty little fingers rested on my knee, and she seemed to relax a little. I knew it wouldn’t be an easy night for her, but I wanted to do everything in my power to make things easier for her.

I was driving us to my apartment in the city, one Barbara didn’t know about.

About six months ago, I’d realized my marriage was well and truly doomed. I knew a divorce was imminent, it was just a question of when Barbara would let me off the hook. But once I came to terms with it, I’d bought the penthouse apartment in the city, meaning to move into it once I finally sorted out the mess that was my private life.

“We’re here,” I told Kendall once I parked up, and she gave me a simple nod but kept sitting unmoving in my car. “Baby girl, come on, let’s go upstairs. We can talk there. I’ll make it all better, I promise.”

I reached for her and tucked her hair behind her ear. She flinched when I touched her and I hated myself for it. She was so fucking vulnerable after the fight with her mother, and I felt like a prick for pushing her. But what else was there to do? We needed to move past this shit.

“I can’t believe she just let me leave like that,” Kendall said quietly, and I stroked her cheek. “She’s my mom. I thought she’d want me to stay.”

I decided to keep my opinion of Barbara to myself. It wouldn’t help Kendall to tell her I thought her mother was a grade A bitch.

“She was upset,” I said placatingly. “That’s all baby girl, it will all be better tomorrow. I promise. Why don’t we go upstairs and get some rest?”

She gave me a small nod and I got out of the car, helping her out on the passenger side. I took her hand and led her into the elevator, her hand small and shaking in mine.

If Kendall was surprised by the apartment, she didn’t show it, apart from one quick questioning look in my direction. I realized when we walked in that she didn’t have a thing with her, and I made a mental note to order some stuff for her online once she went to bed.

“Where am I going to sleep?” she asked softly, her hand gliding along the white leather of the sofa.

She looked up at me, and for a second, I was mesmerized by her beauty. She was really a looker, and not just that, Kendall was a girl I’d loved for her personality before I even saw her as someone I wanted to sleep with. She had an innocent, sweet kind of beauty that I couldn’t help but want to ruin. I wanted to break her. I wanted to own her. And I was going to do both just as soon as I got the chance.

“Next to me,” I told her, taking a step towards the bar in the living room and pouring myself a glass of Scotch. “Where you belong, baby girl.”

She looked at me for a long moment, and finally, a slow smile spread over her face.

“My mom’s going to kill you,” she said gently, and I laughed out loud.

“I can take your mom,” I told her with a grin. “Now your sister, I’m not so sure about.”

It was her turn to laugh, and the sound of her melodic giggle put me in a better mood instantly. Kendall really was fucking special. I’d never felt this way about a girl – about a woman – before. It was like she finally made me realize what I’d been missing all along, in every relationship I’d had before her. They were all a fucking waste. All pointless now that I had Kenny in my arms.

“Do you want to go to sleep?” I asked her. “We should get some rest. And I’ll figure out what we’ll do for school tomorrow, okay?”

She came up to me, taking my hand in hers and giving me a sweet little look that fucking had me melting.

“Will you sleep with me?” she asked. “I’m scared, I don’t want to sleep alone.”

I pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head softly. God, she made me want to fuck her. My whole body responded when she was around, eager and desperate to have her wrap her lithe limbs around me. But I knew the moment wasn’t right, I knew I had to give it some time and wait before I got her into bed with me.

“Of course I will,” I promised her.

It seemed to calm her down a little, and I walked her into my bedroom. I wondered what she thought of my apartment, surprised to find I actually gave a shit. Maybe it was because I fully intended on keeping her there, making her live with me and submit to my every whim and desire.

Once we were in the bedroom, I came up behind her, my arms wrapping around her waist.

“Put your hands on the window, baby girl,” I muttered into her hair, and she moaned and did as she was told.

Fuck, even when she was shaken up like this, she was still such a fucking perfect girl for me. I couldn’t get enough of her. She was intoxicating.

“I’m going to take your clothes off now,” I told her, and slowly peeled off her shorts, slipping them over her tight little ass and tracing a finger between her cheeks.

She kept moaning, sinful little sounds that made it nearly impossible to resist her young body.

“Arch your back for me, Kendall,” I muttered, and she did, her body submitting to mine in the sweetest way possible.

My mouth filled with spit I wanted to put inside her, but I resisted. I couldn’t push her too far. It was her first night alone with me, and I didn’t want to scare her. I wanted to keep her for a very long time, and I had no intention of fucking it up on the first try.

I pulled her top away from her next, and her little body shivered under my touch. I reveled in it.

“Arms up,” I said next, and she raised them, wrapping them around my neck from behind.

I exhaled slowly, trying to keep myself in check, but just as I slid her bra off, she turned around in my arms, her sweet eyes searching my own for answers I couldn’t give her.

“Why won’t you fuck me?” she asked, her voice so young and so shaky. “Don’t you want me anymore, Levi?”

“Call me Daddy,” I growled. “Kendall, call me Daddy right the fuck now.”

She smiled, knowing the power she had over me. God, I was fucking addicted to her already, and it had barely been a few days.

“Daddy,” she whispered, and I crashed my mouth against hers, claiming her in a kiss that took so much self-restraint I had to dig my fingers into her pale, creamy skin.

She was a little siren, her call so fucking lustful I could barely keep my hands off. But I knew if I gave in to my desires, I wouldn’t be able to hold back. I’d fuck her the way I wanted to, not the way she begged for it.

I’d rip her tight, young little holes apart and she wouldn’t even have a fucking say in it. I couldn’t do that to her. I loved her too much.

I stopped amidst our kiss, her lips still eagerly responding to my unmoving ones. God, I did, I fucking loved her. There was no running away from it now.

“Come on, baby girl,” I told her gently. “Let’s get you into bed.”

I pulled her off me despite her protesting cries, and led her in nothing but her lacy pink panties into the bedroom. I laid her down in bed, tucking her in and making sure she was warm. Her eyes were heavy, closing and opening more and more slowly.

“You need some rest, don’t you, Kendall?” I asked her, and she nodded sleepily. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Daddy will be right here, I just have to make sure you have everything you need for school tomorrow.”

“Okay, Daddy,” she muttered sleepily, pulling me down for one last kiss before she drifted off to sleep.

I planned on going into my study to finish up some work, but seeing her laying there looking so fucking vulnerable, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I ordered some shit for her for the next day and made sure my assistant would pick it up in the early morning. Then, I took my own clothes off and climbed into bed with her.

As soon as my body hit the sheets, she crawled closer, wrapping herself around me.

Little Kendall looked like she fitted into my big, grown-up bedroom perfectly, and I couldn’t get enough of her presence in the apartment. I wrapped my arms around her and held her as she slept, too enamored by her presence to catch a wink of sleep myself.

* * *

I’d left her at school that morning, after having a good breakfast I’d ordered in. Some of her clothes arrived in the morning, and she loved the things I’d picked out for her, sweet pastels and pretty cuts that complemented her perfectly. I loved seeing her excitement when she got dressed, and even though she begged to stay behind, I wouldn’t let her. I told her to borrow some school supplies from Amanda until we went to pick some stuff up that afternoon.

As I drove her to school, her hand rested on my knee and I felt like I was finally on the right track. I waved her off, and she blew me a kiss, the wind blowing her skirt up and flashing me a view of her cute little panties. I grinned to myself as I watched her leave, but I wasn’t the only one.

I saw the kid right away, the guy who was responsible for her coming home so fucking late the previous day. But this time, I wasn’t going to let him off the fucking hook. He wasn’t going to get away with staring at my girl’s perfect bubble butt just like that.

I got out of the car easily, and the guy shrank back right away when he saw me. He had a backpack slung on his shoulder, and he fidgeted nervously while I approached him.

“You,” I said, pointing for him to come closer.

He approached me hesitantly, his hands up in defense.

“I don’t mean any harm,” I told him easily, laughing out loud. “And by that, I mean, don’t worry, kid, I’m not going to punch you in the face again.”

I was pleased to see the bruise on his face like a fucking jackass. But he needed to know Kendall was mine, and only mine.

“I didn’t touch her,” he said, and I knew he was lying.

Kendall had confessed he’d tried to kiss her the previous day while I was fucking her, and I had half a mind to knock the kid’s teeth out for lying to me. Little jackass.

“Don’t lie to me, kid,” I told him with a smile, and his face paled. “I know what happened, and that’s fine. I don’t blame you for trying. She’s some piece of ass, isn’t she?”

He stared at me in shock as I gave him an easy smile.

“Just so you know though,” I went on. “If I see you trying anything with her again, I’m going to break every bone in your body.”

“What the–” he started, but I interrupted right away.

“I don’t give a shit if you’re eighteen or sixty,” I told him. “The girl’s off limits. And you will keep your fucking hands off. Sure, chat away, but remember, one finger on her and you’re a walking corpse. Got that?”

“I…” he stared at me incredulously, then swallowed thickly. “Yes, Mr. Reed.”

“Good.”

I came up to him and ruffled his hair good-naturedly. I loved how afraid he was of me. I didn’t usually get off on scaring kids, but this one had touched my property and I had to make sure he wouldn’t repeat his mistake.

“I’ll see you around, kid,” I winked at him, pulling my sunglasses down as I got in the car.

I enjoyed the look of fear on his face as I sped out of the parking lot.