“What is this?”
“It’s a dress and heels,” he chuckles. “Now go doll yourself up and put them on. The car will be there in an hour.”
“I know you’re used to people doing exactly what you say, Baron,” I interrupt. “But I don’t work for you, and I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’m not putting anything on and you can’t make me.”
“Wow, what a strong woman,” he replies mockingly. “You really think you’re tough, don’t you?”
“I’m not doing it.”
“You are doing it,” he growls. “Or I’ll kick you and your mother out of the house before the day’s over. How would you like living on the streets?”
There isn’t even a hint of remorse in his voice. It’s like someone carved him out of ice. He’s unshakeable. A force of nature, like the unrelenting rain outside. He’s not even in the same room as me, and I feel small. Maybe I was wrong to have even a sliver of faith in his humanity.
“Where is this car taking me?”
I can practically hear him grinning on the other end of the call. “Don’t you worry about that, princess. Frowning too much will give you wrinkles. Like your mom.”
Before I can reply, he hangs up.
After I get over the shock of what just happened – finding a hidden cell phone in my drawer and an outfit in my closet, I grab a towel and head to the shower. I hate to admit it, but the mystery of Baron has gripped me, and I can’t shake it.
What possible reason could he have for treating me this way and doing what he did to me? Sure, he says he was protecting me from Harry, but his version of “protection” is basically pulling me out of the frying pan and throwing me into the fire. I would have thought bringing me inside for a stern talking to and then maybe a make-up popsicle or some ice cream would have been the way to go, not forcing me to strip and jerking off on me.
What could motivate him to do such a thing?
Does he really just want me that badly? I know I’ve been wearing completely inappropriate things around the house, but as a grown man, shouldn’t he be able to ignore that? Look the other way? In two years he’ll be forty, for crying out loud! I guess maybe if he and my mom aren’t having sex anymore—
“Hmmm.” I groan at the thought of them together, and the shock of realizing I don’t like thinking about that causes me to stop everything I’m doing. I’m not jealous…am I? That would be nuts. Am I going through some kind of Stockholm syndrome or something? They’re married. It would be strange if they hadn’t had sex at all.
I sure hope she doesn’t anymore. Not after banging her new boy toy. That would just be disgusting and super disrespectful.
Not that Baron warrants any respect around here anymore. Not after what he did.
Still…as I go over my body with the loofa, I can’t fully push away the pang of jealousy in my chest. It’s like a thorn, an itch I can’t scratch, and I don’t know what to do.
Maybe what Baron did to me is just a kink. Domination. BDSM or something like that. Not that I know anything about those things, but I do know they exist. Having control over me is what he wants, not me specifically. I could just be any girl he found attractive, and he’d feel the same way.
Whatever the reason is, he’s sure not making it clear or giving me any hints. He won’t even tell me where this car is supposed to me taking me. For all I know it could be to a meat grinder where he’s going to dispose of me forever, so I never tell anyone what happened between us.
I go over and over this as I shower, dry off and do my makeup. I’m so distracted that I have to do it twice and am barely finishing up when the hour is up. I slide into the dress, which somehow fits me perfectly, and then step into the heels and manage to make my way downstairs without breaking a leg. My mom’s not home, but it’s not hard to guess where she is.
There’s a man standing outside in a black suit who meets me with an umbrella. “Right this way, miss.”
It’s so odd I can’t even reply. I just do my best not to fall as I cross the driveway and get into the back of the insanely expensive black sedan. He closes the door for me, gets in the driver’s side, and we head off to wherever it is Baron has instructed him to take me.
What’s his game with all this? This feels like a second date or something, but Baron doesn’t need to try to impress me or woo me or romance me; he’s already had me and has made it quite clear he could have me again whenever he pleases. So then why give me a dress and heels and invite – well, demand – that I come out with him? Just to show me that he controls every aspect of my life?
He can’t be that cruel.
He’s not a tyrant…right? As I listen to the sound of the rain on the roof of the car, I try my best to unravel the layered mystery that is my stepdad. What does he truly want?
Then his words come back to me.
“I was never looking to be your father. But I will be your daddy.”
8
Pixie