Page 56 of Her Gentle Daddy

Staring down at his hands, Sean had to swallow the lump that was forming in his throat at that question because he hated the answer. He hated that he hadn’t been able to protect her and keep her safe throughout her life. When he spoke, his voice was raw with the emotions he felt.

“Yeah, Maddie. She was abused a lot. Physically, emotionally, and sexually. She is frightened of a lot of things in the world, men especially, and she has never had anyone in her life that she’s trusted. At least not until she met me and I moved her into my house. She’s my little girl.”

Maddie lifted her gaze to him and studied him for a long moment before she smiled.

“I think she’s really lucky to have you. It makes me so sad that she went through all of that and I’ve had such a blessed life. I feel guilty.”

Both Ian and Sean shook their heads.

“No, honey, you have no reason that you should feel guilty. It isn’t your fault. She had a rough start in life, but I assure you, she will have nothing but the best with me. I will make sure she is happy and wants for nothing and gets all the help she needs to heal from her past.”

Moving her gaze to Ian, he stared back at her as though they were communicating silently with each other, and then Maddie turned back toward Sean.

“I’d like to meet her. I don’t know how I feel about all of this, but if anything, maybe I could at least be a friend to her.”

22

GABBY

It was the longest day of work she’d ever had. Sean had dropped her off and then headed to Ian and Maddie’s house so he could talk to Ian. She had given Sean permission to tell Ian about her and to answer any questions that he had so he would be prepared to tell Maddie.

In a way, Gabby was relieved that Sean was handling this for her, and she was thankful that he knew it would cause her too much stress to do it herself. But in another way, it was killing her to wait for her Daddy to get back and tell her how it went.

Zane walked into the dungeon where she was cleaning and smiled.

“How’s it going, little bit? You’re going to wipe the leather right off of that bench if you keep rubbing it so hard.”

Gabby looked down at the bench and giggled, realizing that she had been wiping down the same bench for much longer than she needed to while she had been lost in thought.

“I’m sorry, Zane. I didn’t mean to.”

The man smiled and walked over to her, taking the cloth and bottle of spray from her hands.

“Nothing to be sorry for, sweetie. I know you’re nervous, which is why you and I are going to go into the nursery to play. Come on.”

She grinned up at the man who was obviously trying to make her feel better, and she appreciated how kind and caring he had been with her.

“Thank you. I’m good, though. I still have work to finish.”

Zane raised his eyebrow and gave her a look that made her think twice about telling him no. He was nice and kind and all of that but boy, he could be a really scary Daddy Dom when he wanted to be.

“Young lady, do I need to tell your Daddy that you disobeyed a direct order from me?”

She grinned up at him. As scary as he could be, she could see from the twitch of his lips that he wasn’t feeling quite as stern as he was trying to come across. She relented and took his hand that he held out, giggling as she let him pull her away from the dungeon.

“That’s a good girl. Come on.”

Olly trotted behind them as they made their way to the Littles’ area, where Zane released her hand and scanned the room.

“What do we feel like playing today? Games? Puzzles? Play-Doh?”

Gabby practically danced when he mentioned Play-Doh. She loved squeezing the soft dough between her hands and using the food molds to create play food.

“Play-Doh!”

He nodded and motioned for her to go sit at the art table. Once they were settled and she already had half a menu of foods created in bright colors, Zane cleared his throat.

“I’m really glad you came to work here, Gabby. You are so special, and I know that Sean feels so lucky to have you as his Little, but just so you know, I also feel lucky to have you as a friend. Just know that you are loved by me and Jace and Damian too, okay?”