Once I’ve homed in on just the thing that will hopefully bring a smile to Snow’s face, I reach into the inside pocket of my denim jacket and pull out my pack of cigarettes.
I retrieve one, set it between my teeth and dig the lighter out of the pack before putting it away, then light it, the fire reflecting in the window.
I look up at my reflection one more time before I shake my head and decide it’s time to turn in for the evening.
* * *
“I’m home!” I call out after I’ve locked the door behind me.
She doesn’t respond, though. She hasn’t in months and it’s all I can do to not lose my mind over it.
Snow has given me the cold shoulder since the last time I let my temper explode all over her and I guess I deserve it.
I said some horrendously unsavory things to her and no matter how much I’ve begged for forgiveness she’s decided to punish me with silence.
The only reason I’ve decided that it’s okay is because I’ve also decided to punish her in my own way.
I shrug my jacket off as I head into the living room and hang it in the small closet, before I glance around the room and smile when I see her.
In the corner.
On all fours.
Naked with the exception of a pair of white, cotton panties that I allow her to wear.
Face to the wall and waiting for permission to be able to curl up and go to sleep.
Like the good little girl that I’ve been training her to become, I think with a wistful sigh.
The one that will talk to me again one day. The one that won’t be ashamed of us. The one that will love me as much as I love her.
It all starts with making her smile again.
And tomorrow will be that day.
“Good night, Snow,” I whisper as I walk out of the living room and head toward my bedroom.
Chapter Three
After I left the trinket shop and secured Snow’s gift under the station in my room, I wandered back into the reception area.
Leaning against the desk, I grin at Carter when he waltzes in and we knuckle bump before he disappears into his station.
I always liked him.
He’s the one that turned me onto Snow having a thing for me and he’s been helping me with her when I need him to.
Carter gives some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten from anyone other than myself and he makes sure that shit gets done in the best way possible for both me and her.
As I go back to flipping through the latest copy ofInked Magazine,the phone rings. I glance up at the wall clock, pick up the phone, then replace it back down on the receiver without so much as a word.
We aren’t open yet and I don’t get why people always insist on trying to call for last minute appointments before business hours.
I stifle a yawn with my fist when the doorbells that Carter wrapped around the front handle chime and look up, ready to tell someone that we aren’t open for another hour or so but break into a smile instead.
Sariah, the shop’s receptionist, walks in and hip bumps me out of the way once she gets behind the desk so she can sit down.
“Morning, Kenji,” she greets me distractedly as she attempts to open the desk drawer that my legs are blocking.