Waking up next to her shouldn’t have felt as natural as it did.

She tossed and turned in her sleep, but at least she didn’t wake up screaming again. I was familiar with her sleeping pattern by then, and I felt like a sick fuck knowing I’d seen her wake up several times from a bad nightmare. I still hadn’t asked her what they were all about, and I wasn’t planning on doing it anytime soon. I wanted her to come to me and tell me herself.

I had trouble leaving her in the morning, her small, lithe body causing my heart to swell as I got dressed for work. There was no way around it, I had another important meeting regarding the merger with Van Der Meer, and I couldn’t be late, even though I wanted to say fuck it all and just stay in bed with my pretty toy.

I was not looking forward to the meeting, knowing my father would be there again, as well as a bunch of needy, fucking spineless investors. So, when my phone rang on the way to work, I was even more annoyed to see my mother’s number flash across the screen.

It wasn’t that I didn’t love her. I did, in my own way, even though she was really just a glorified trophy wife and acted like one, too. But she wanted to make things better between Dad and me, and I couldn’t blame her for trying, even though it seemed like an impossible task.

“Yeah?” I barked into the phone. “I’m on my way to work, Mom, I can’t really chat right now.”

“Carter,” she said in her high-pitched, always slightly panicked voice that made me nervous as fuck. “Your father told me to call you and let you know he isn’t coming in this morning.”

I rubbed my temples and sighed out loud. Of course this would fucking happen.

As much as I hated my father butting in on meetings, I knew it was an annoying necessity. He was still the head of the company, and it looked good for him to show at least a little bit of interest.

“And why is that?” I asked her, trying not to get into an argument. “He’s not feeling well again?”

Another night of boozing and fucking, probably.

“He’s not, no,” Mom said, her voice heavy. She loved him, I’d known that all along. It was the reason she stuck with him through anything and everything. That and the money he wired into her shopping account weekly.

“Mom, I can’t deal with this now,” I said roughly. “I have to go, I’m on my way to work.”

“He’s very ill, Carter,” she said pointedly. “The least you could do is support your father a little, you know.”

“I’ll do my best,” I replied, my tone was as chilly as I felt when I thought of my father. “Give him my best, Mom. Talk to you later.”

I ended the call just as we pulled up in front of the building. I took the elevator to the top floor and walked into the meeting, this time a few minutes early. I liked being well prepared for these things, and I went through the numbers quickly before everyone else came in.

Once again, I was shocked by the way Van Der Meer’s employees spent the company money.

We’d made the necessary changes, informing them only one person would be going on those work trips, but their costs were still through the roof. I couldn’t possibly understand how one person could spend so much on food and accommodation. I needed to get to the bottom of it.

I was still staring at the papers, the numbers dancing in front of my eyes, when the rest of the team joined me in the conference room. The meeting was well underway before I brought up the subject of Van Der Meer. It seemed like Lloyd, one of the investors, was shooting every possible question in my direction, and I was struggling to stay focused.

It wasn’t just the thoughts of my sick, absent father that distracted me. It wasn’t my poor mom either. I was thinking about Evangeline, the whole time.

The way her body looked almost luminous in the morning light. The way her body clung to mine like I was the only one who could save her from drowning. She was such a special little girl, and it was going to mean trouble for us when I had to get rid of her. I knew that much already.

I argued with Lloyd about the costs, still not understanding where those crazy expenses were coming from. We wrapped up the meeting with all of us in a fucking foul mood, but at least it was a Friday, and it meant a whole weekend away from those fuckers. I was relieved about that, and I wanted to spend the next two days with Angel’s legs wrapped around my shoulders and her pussy soaking my beard.

By the time I got home, I was tired and irritable. Carolina only gave me a fleeting glance before scurrying along, and she didn’t mention any problems with my little toy. I took the stairs two at a time, and was shocked to find her room spotless.

The bookcases were empty, but all traces of the torn pages were gone, and the room was clean and tidy.

I felt her standing behind me, and turned around to look at her. I couldn’t not notice. She was the intoxicating scent in the air, the start of my heartbeat. She was everything.

She stood before me wearing one of my shirts that barely covered her ass, and nothing else. She was pulling on a strand of dark hair, and she looked beautiful. The sleeves of the shirt were much too long for her petite body.

“Hi,” she said softly. “I cleaned up… the mess I made yesterday.”

“Good girl,” I told her, and she smiled. “I’m glad you did, Angel. I’m fucking tired now, and I’ll have to look at some numbers before we can play. Come to my study with me?”

It wasn’t really a question, which I’m sure both of us understood, but she still nodded. I took her hand and led her into the study.

I took off my jacket and got out the numbers again, patting my lap for her to join me on my office chair. She tore her gaze away from the photos on my wall, and sat on my lap demurely, with her legs on one side.

“Straddle me, toy,” I told her, my fingers digging into her thigh. I wanted to feel her perfect, naked pink pussy against my crotch.

She did as she was told, and the shirt rode up as she settled on my lap with her hands around my shoulders.

“Daddy has to work something out,” I told her, trying to hold the fuck back. “You can sit here and wait, okay, little girl?”

She nodded and moaned softly as I adjusted below her. I looked at the papers in my hands and she cuddled close, her hot little mouth breathing heavily against my neck.

It was impossible to concentrate, having her on my lap like that.

Especially once she started fucking grinding on me.

Her pretty pussy was so fucking wet she soaked the front of my pants in seconds. I pretended to read the papers but my mind was on her, the way she moved her hips, gently rocking on my lap and trying to get herself off with the friction. Such a naughty little girl.

“Daddy,” she whispered after a while.

“Shh,” I scolded her, pulling on her hair to remind her of her place. “I have work to do, little one. Once I’m done, we can play.”

“Can I help?” She nibbled on my ear and my hands slid up her back. I wanted her riding my cock, and I wanted her to soak my balls, but I had to deal with business first.

“Not really, little girl,” I told her. “It’s just some numbers.”

“I’ve helped before,” she teased me, and I reached up, pinching her nipple until she gasped.

“You helped without an invitation,” I told her. “And how did you know you helped, anyway?”

“Carolina told me.” She grinned at me wickedly, the little tease. “I talked to her for a while yesterday.”

“Making friends, I see,” I smiled. “Okay, pretty baby, look at these papers and tell me what you see.”

She turned around on my lap eagerly and took the papers from my hands, her eyes scouring the pages. She spent several minutes tracing the numbers with her finger, and then she giggled.

“What is it?” I asked, nuzzling her neck.

“Look, right here.” She pointed to the paper. “It says the name of the suite he booked. Who is this guy that’s doing the traveling?”

“Just some director of a sector,” I shrugged. “Middle-aged, married, few kids. Don’t know much about him, only met him briefly.”

“His poor wife.” She shook her pretty head and I gave her a confused look. She looked at me and giggled again, taking my hand and pointing it to the name of the hotel. “See? Right here. He booked the honeymoon suite.”

“That does… seem odd,” I said, feeling perplexed. “Why would he do that?”

“My guess?” she gave me a cheeky look. “He’s cheating on his wife, and taking a woman on these trips with him. That’s why the costs are so high. He’s wining and dining her on company money twice a week!”

“That’s insane.” I took the papers from her and started at them while she kissed my neck, her lips driving me crazy. But I needed to focus.

And the more time I spent staring at the numbers, the more sense it made.

The guy was using company funds to fuck some side piece while his wife waited at home.

“This is incredible, Evangeline,” I muttered. “I can’t believe I missed that.”

“I think he’s even buying her gifts with company money,” she said. “See, here? He’s disguising them as gifts for clients, but I’ve never seen anyone spend thousands at Louis Vuitton for a client.”

“Incredible,” I repeated, setting the papers aside and grinning at her. “You’re fucking incredible, pretty little toy.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” She looked shy for a second, but I pulled her against me.

“Looks like you worked your way out of that punishment,” I said against her ear, and she squirmed. I held her still.

“I don’t think so,” she giggled. “I think I deserve a reward.”

“A reward?” I smoothed down her hair. This was unusual for us. This… easy, carefree interaction without any games. I guess we were half-pretending the problems in our relationship didn’t exist. “What could a pretty little toy like you want?”

She twirled a strand of hair around her fingers and looked up at me with fear in her eyes.

“I’d like to go outside,” she said softly, and my heart panged for her.

She hadn’t even been in the garden yet. She was stuck in the house, never able to live. I underestimated the fact that she was still human, and essentially, I was holding her captive.

“Okay,” I said gently. “Where would you like to go, little one?”

“My favorite place in the world.” She grinned. “Will you let me show you, Daddy?”

I stared at her beautiful eyes, pondering my answer.

“Yeah,” I finally said. “I think I will.”