Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 111278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“Good. Another bite please.”
He got her to eat half a sandwich and let out a sigh of relief. After he cleared everything away, he came back to sit facing her. “Tell me about it.”
She took a breath in. “I don’t think I want to.”
“It’s better to let it out, Shortcake. Otherwise, it will just fester inside you.”
She stared at the wall. Then she sighed softly. “It started off with me storming into the meeting Chad was in and telling him I quit. Then I fainted. And when I came back to . . . Chad was telling me how fat I was, and my parents were saying that no one wanted me. Then there were these like dark, faceless voids telling me that I was going to die.” A sob broke free.
“Oh, baby. I’m so sorry.” He drew her close, holding her.
“I feel so weak. Why can’t I stop crying and shaking? I just . . . I can’t get those voices out of my head.”
“You went through a trauma, Gwen. You can’t just expect that to disappear overnight.”
She drew back. “But I don’t even remember it! How can I be traumatized when I have no memory of what happened?”
“Because your body remembers and somewhere in your mind, it’s there too. Maybe your brain is protecting you while you’re healing, I don’t know. But I do know that what happened to you was terrible and it’s okay to be upset. To be scared. All right?”
She sniffled and wiped her hands over her cheeks. “Yes, okay.”
He kissed her cheeks. “Thank you for telling me what the dream was about.”
“Well, you didn’t give me much choice, Daddy. You’re very bossy sometimes.”
“Only sometimes? I’ll have to do better. I thought I might aim for the title of King Bossy Daddy. What do you think?”
“No, Daddy. No. I don’t think that’s a good idea at all!”
“Hmm. I’m not sure. I think I’d make an excellent Bossy Daddy.”
She groaned. “I’m sure you think that. I think you should be less bossy.”
“Well, I could always go for King of the Spankers. That is a title worth having.”
“Daddy!”
37
Gwen was bored.
Really bored. It would help if Dominic would let her out of bed.
But she wasn’t allowed to leave her bed. She wasn’t allowed on her phone. Or to watch television. Or to read a book.
So. Darn. Bored.
“What shall we do, Butterball?” She glanced down at her fluffy cat. No answer. Typical.
Butterball could be so rude sometimes.
She glanced up at the coloring books that Dominic had put up on the shelves. Why couldn’t she do some coloring?
Doc was meant to be coming over later to check on her. Which she thought was hugely unnecessary. She was fine. Sure, she’d only been back at Dominic’s for three days and it still hurt to move around.
But she was going to go insane without something to do.
This wasn’t her. She was always busy. She always had a plan. These last three days, she’d mostly been sleeping and eating whatever yummy food that Dominic made her.
Right now, she was meant to be resting while Dominic was doing some work.
The DNA test results from the cigarette butt that had been collected by the van had come in with a hit for a member of the Tovan gang. It was a Slovenian gang who mostly operated out of major cities like Los Angeles and San Diego.
If only they knew whether the person who had dropped that cigarette butt had been involved in her kidnapping.
It ate at her not knowing. And she needed something to distract herself.
“It would be really naughty to get out of bed, Butterball.”
The cat just looked at her in disappointment.
“You’re right. Daddy will be mad. But he doesn’t have to find out.”
As she stood a wave of dizziness rushed through her and she had to pause for a moment. Her ribs protested her movement, but she was standing now and she wasn’t going to give up that easily.
Walking over to the shelves, she attempted to reach up. Those damn coloring books were way too high. She glanced around for something to stand on.
There was an armchair in the corner. Moving to it, she attempted to drag it over. Pain shot up her side, making her gasp and tears enter her eyes.
“What the heck are you doing?” Dominic snapped from the doorway.
She let out a cry. “Me cago en la leche!”
The room blurred dizzily until she was caught up in Dominic’s arms, held tight against his chest.
“Lie her down and put her feet in the air,” someone barked.
Who was that?
Dominic placed her down on the bed and raised her feet up, bending her knees.
“I’m all right,” she protested. “I just got a bit dizzy.”
“Because you got out of bed by yourself when you’re not supposed to,” Dominic said sternly, giving her a firm look. “What were you doing?”