12. Carly

Sneaking into Damian’s bed had been risky, but the risk paid off. He had snuggled her all night, and even though she could feel his massive erection pressed up against her for most of the night and in the morning when they woke up, he had been the perfect gentleman.

He told her that he had some work to do after they’d had breakfast, and she didn’t have anything scheduled for the day, so she decided to call her brother and check in with him since he’d texted her a few times asking how everything was going.

“Hey, baby sister. How’s my favorite girl?”

She giggled, “I’m your only girl.”

“True. Thanks for rubbing it in.”

Carly smiled. She hoped her brother would find someone special in his life once he retired from the military. He had told her that he wouldn’t date anyone while being enlisted because it wouldn’t be fair to a woman to have a man who wouldn’t be around to take care of her.

“How’s it going at Damian’s? Are you being good?”

“I’m always good. You have such little faith in me. It’s going pretty well, though. He is actually a nice guy.”

Grey was quiet for several seconds.

“You like him.”

It was a statement instead of a question. Dang him for knowing her so well.

“Sure, he’s a nice guy,” she said nonchalantly.

“Caroline, don’t try to bullshit me. I know you better than anyone.”

Damn.

“You are so fucking nosy,” she whined.

“Caroline Elizabeth! What have I said about you swearing? Where is Damian?”

She tensed. Her brother wasn’t going to tattle on her, was he?

“He’s working.”

“I’m sending him a text right now.”

Shit. Was there some kind of rule that Daddies stuck together and ganged up on all the Littles?

“Grey, I’m sorry. Please don’t text him. I am trying to work on it. It’s sort of a rule that I’m not supposed to swear.”

He sighed, “A rule, huh? So does that mean you are giving him a chance? Or is that being too nosy?”

“You are always too nosy. I guess that’s what big brothers do. Yes, I am giving him a chance. He explained to me that a true Daddy or Dom would never act as James did and that James was just an abusive coward.”

“He’s right, you know. James is a piece of shit, and he never deserved you.”

“Greyson! Why do you get to swear, and I can’t?”

He chuckled, “I’m a marine, honey. It’s basically a written rule that we get to swear.”

Carly scoffed, “And now you’re making things up.”

Grey laughed, and his laugh warmed her heart to the very center. She could hardly wait for him to come home.

“Has James been arrested yet?”

“I’m not sure. I think that’s what Damian is working on now.”

They talked for a bit longer before hanging up. Carly went into the room where all her new toys were and sat on the floor to play with some of her dolls. She had only been playing for a few minutes when she realized that she was actually missing Damian. Carrying her doll with her, she went downstairs to find him.

As soon as she stepped into his office, Damian looked up at smiled.

“Hey, baby doll. How’s my girl?”

Hisgirl. She liked when he said that. She wanted to be his girl and not just temporarily and that thought scared the crap out of her.

“I’m good. I just talked to Grey, and then I was in my playroom.”

Damian sat back in his chair.

“Come here.”

The look in his eyes made the butterflies in her tummy awaken and go wild. Biting her lip, Carly walked over to him and stood between his legs. Running his hands up and down her back, Damian stared at her with a wicked expression.

“I got a text from Grey.”

Shit. Damn. She was going to have to kill her brother.

“Uh-huh.”

“Is there something you would like to tell Daddy?”

Carly squirmed until Damian’s hands came to her hips and held her still. Was he testing her to see if she would admit to breaking a rule? He told her that he would give her warnings about swearing, so she should just own up to it and tell him.

“I accidentally swore when I was on the phone with him,” she said quietly.

She avoided looking into his eyes, but she could feel his gaze on her face.

“Are you supposed to swear?”

“No, Daddy. I’s not s’posed to.”

Holy cow. What was that? She was talking like a little girl. She sure felt Little at the moment.

“That’s right. My Carly girl isn’t supposed to say naughty words.”

Her hand automatically went up to her mouth to bite her nails, but Damian clasped her wrist gently before she could. He pulled her closer to him until her chest was flush with his.

“I think my little girl should be punished for saying naughty words.”

Her eyes widened, and she tried to back away from him, but he held her tightly.

“But Daddy, you said you would give me warnings first because I’m so used to swearing.”

Damian raised his eyebrow, “Do you think you are just going to get away with it because I said I would give you warnings? I might not spank you for it… this time… but I am still going to punish you to help you remember for next time. I want you to go stand in that corner over there for five minutes and think about how you’re going to try harder not to say bad words.”

Carly eyed the corner that he had pointed to and stuck out her bottom lip. She didn’t like the thought of standing in the corner. It looked boring. Damian turned her and nudged her forward.

“Go on, baby doll. The longer you stall, the more minutes I’m going to add. Your dolly can stand in the corner with you.”

Giving one last pitiful look in Damian’s direction, she shuffled to the corner at a snail’s pace. She was embarrassed to know that he was watching her, knowing that she was submitting to him and being treated like a little girl. At the same time, she was also turned on, which was silly. Right? She shouldn’t be turned on to be sent to the corner for being naughty or to like that her Daddy was enforcing the rules he’d set for her.

Five minutes seemed like a lifetime, and when he called her out of the corner, she ran over to him and jumped into his lap, plastering herself against him.

“I’m sorry, Daddy.”

Damian brushed the hair from her face and ran the back of his index finger over her cheek as he studied her. It was amazing how small she felt with him, yet she felt safe and cared for.

“Thank you, baby doll. I forgive you, and I know you’ll try harder not to say those words in the future.”

She nodded in agreement.

“Daddy, will you play with me?”

His eyes flickered with arousal, and then he schooled his expression.

“Play with you?”

“Yeah, will you play Barbies with me?”

Damian chuckled and nodded.

“Of course, baby. Let’s go.”

Carly clapped her hands and skipped out of his office with him trailing behind her.

Damian had put her down for a nap in his bed, and when she woke up, she smiled as she snuggled against the pillow that smelled like him. Grabbing her phone from the nightstand, she checked in on her social media accounts and commented on several of the comments that her followers had left on her posts. One of the comments told her to look at Sandra Fisher’s Instagram account because Sandra was bashing Carly.

She rolled her eyes as she went to the model’s account and tapped the story icon, opening a video of Sandra. Carly watched the video in disgust as the woman danced against the crotch of a man, and when the camera moved up to the man’s face, she gasped. Sandra Fisher was dancing up against James.

What the fuck.

“I got what you couldn’t keep, bitch,” the woman said at the end of the video.

The next video on the story started, and it was a video of Sandra getting her makeup done by someone.

“It’s such a difference getting your makeup done by a professional instead of by a phony who can’t do makeup worth shit. Yeah, y’all know who I’m talking about,” Sandra said.

The makeup artist doing her makeup laughed in the background, and Carly recognized the person as someone she’d met once backstage at an awards show. The woman had been kind when they’d met, but obviously, she wasn’t what she seemed.

Carly threw her phone down onto the bed. She was so tired of Sandra Fisher. The woman was a bully, and now she was fucking Carly’s ex-husband and flaunting it on social media. Had they been fucking before the divorce? She wouldn’t put it past James or Sandra.

It didn’t take long before tears flowed from her eyes, and she buried her face into Damian’s pillow. Suddenly she felt a warm hand rubbing her back.

“What’s wrong, baby doll? What happened?”

He didn’t push her to talk, instead, he continued rubbing her back as she sobbed into the pillow. When her tears finally dried and her breathing returned to normal, Carly turned and looked up at Damian.

“What’s wrong, baby girl?”

Carly picked up her phone and played the videos for him, and when they ended, Damian let out a string of curse words and names for James and Sandra.

“He’s fucking her. He was probably fucking her when we were married,” she whispered sadly.

Damian reached out and pulled her into him, stroking her hair as he whispered into her ear.

“He didn’t deserve you, Carly. He is a piece of shit, and she is just as bad. I know it hurts to know he betrayed you while you were married, but you are so much better off without him.”

She nodded, “I know I am. It still hurts. It still makes me question what I did so wrong to deserve that kind of treatment, and that makes me question my judgment.”

He pulled back from her and cupped her chin, brushing his lips gently over hers.

“You did absolutely nothing wrong. People like James Wheeler could have the perfect wife, perfect house, perfect everything, and they still look for something exciting and different. It’s clear that he isn’t a very good person, while you are one of the sweetest, most genuine people I think I’ve ever met. A good man would never mistreat you like that. I would never mistreat you like that. You are too special, and you deserve all the love and happiness in the world.”

Whoa. The man could really speak from the heart when he wanted to, and it made her tummy flutter and her heart pitter-patter through her chest.

“You think I’m special?”

Damian smiled and nodded.

“Yes, baby. I think you’re so special. My special little girl. Will you trust me to show you how special I think you are?”

She flung her arms around his neck and nodded.

“Yes, Daddy.”