I shivered hard, thinking about what would likely come next.
He’d send the Fixer after me without thinking twice.
In the family, we all feared the one called the Fixer. She was the one who solved problems. If someone got out of line, she dealt with them, usually with a bullet between the eyes from a block away, but I’d heard stories of other ways that she’d dispose of someone. Poison in your morning coffee. A highly staged death meant to look like a suicide. A tragic house fire. A sudden unexplained heart attack. She did whatever she had to do to make sure her mark ended up dead.
One thing was certain though. If the Father sent the Fixer for you, your time was limited, and you best get your affairs in order.
I swallowed again, coming to the awful conclusion of something else.
The Fixer wouldn’t just come after me. She would come after Dean too. The Father would send her to deal with us both.
I couldn’t bear that. Even though I should be angry and ashamed of what just happened between Dean and me, I couldn’t be. He didn’t deserve to die just because I’d fucked up somewhere.
I couldn’t tell Dean about any of that though. He couldn’t protect me from the family. He especially couldn’t protect me from the Fixer and most certain death. It would be better for him if he just remained in the dark, unknowing and alive and safe.
I knew what I had to do now. I was going to lie.
“I needed the money,” I began.
“You didn’t need the money, little girl. I have more than enough to take care of you,” he answered.
“Not anymore. I stole it all,” I answered.
“No, you didn’t,” he replied.
I stilled against him. That just couldn’t be true.
“What are you talking about?”
“You only cleared out the accounts Daddy allowed you to know about, little girl. I have a great many more that I kept from you,” he answered.
“What?” I asked. It wasn’t possible. I’d used all the resources at my disposal, including hackers, a handful of coders, and even a few financial analysts who assured me they’d found it all. I’d walked away with several billion dollars for the family. It was hands down my most lucrative con to date.
“Yes, little girl. You hardly dented my accounts,” he replied.
My blood ran cold. He’d kept so much from me. I really didn’t know him at all.
I cleared my throat. Even knowing this information though, it was still far too dangerous for the both of us.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time,” I murmured. That much was true.
He didn’t respond. He just let me talk.
“I don’t have any family and I’ve been on the run for a long time. I move around the country and I find men that are single, rich, and prime con targets. You were one of those men,” I continued.
“Who do you work for, little girl? You can tell Daddy,” he coaxed.
“I work alone,” I answered. I didn’t have any other choice but to lie. I was protecting him.
He was quiet for a long time, so I finally decided to tell him more. I told him a bit about my process, how I exceled at becoming the person men wanted me to be so that I could make them fall in love with me enough to marry me and give me access to everything they’d ever worked for. I told him everything, except I left out the most crucial part about the fact that I didn’t do it alone.
It didn’t matter how much money or power or resources that Dean had. He would never be more powerful than the Father.
Ever.
Eventually, I ran out of things to say and he was still quiet beside me.
“You worked very hard to cover your tracks, but I still found you, little girl,” he finally said, and I tensed slightly before I relaxed against him.
“I know. I don’t know how you did it,” I whispered.
“That’s going to be my secret, little girl,” he said quietly.
I fidgeted nervously in his arms.
“Your other marks might be able to find you the way I did. You’re going to need protection,” he sighed.
“I can leave the country,” I started.
“No,” he answered.
“What do you mean?” I questioned.
“You’re going to stay with me. You’re Daddy’s little girl now and I’m going to keep you safe,” he said firmly.
I knew better than to argue, not with the marks of his belt still searing hot across my bottom.
For now, I would let things lie. It was only a matter of time before I found a way out.
“Yes, Daddy,” I whispered, but this time I didn’t mean it.
“I want to ask something else, little girl,” he said.
“What’s that?”
“Will you tell me your first name?”
My muscles tensed with nervous apprehension and I pulled away slightly. His arms curled tight and then I realized that I wanted to tell him. Would it be so wrong to give him this little piece of me? I didn’t have to tell him my last name, just the first. He wouldn’t be able to find out anything about me just by knowing that. Right?
“I…” I began.
“Daddy would really like to know your name, little girl,” he pushed, a bit more firmly and that tiny part of me demanded that I answer.
“It’s… My name is Willow, Daddy,” I whispered.
* * *
The two of us sat together for a while longer. I didn’t rush to move, and he didn’t either. I didn’t know what more to say, so I didn’t say anything at all for a long time. Finally, he gently helped me to stand on my own two feet and grasped my jeans. He roughly pulled them up into place, not heeding my wincing as the fabric pressed against the welts his belt had left behind. He buttoned them closed and my bottom burned. I swallowed heavily, trying not to think about the fact that I’d earned
