Page 69 of Cage

Cassian nods. “I just had to ask.”

I glare at my brother, barely refraining from punching him right in the nose. “You didn’t have to do fucking anything. You know Ember well enough to know she’s not part of whatever the fuck this is.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. That was my bad.” At least he looks like he’s actually sorry. “What do you want to do now?”

Kill Zeke. And Ruth. I’ve only killed a handful of women in my life. I have very few morals, but murdering women is typically one of them. Unless they deserve it. Rowie’s mom deserved it. Every painful second of it. And even though I don’t have the whole picture yet, I already know Ruth is going to deserve what’s coming to her.

Ruth knows I’m a Daddy. It’s possible she knows Ember is Little, which means she counted on me being distracted. This is exactly why I never planned on getting involved with a woman. Being distracted causes carelessness. Which can be catastrophic in our world. Too bad I’m already too far fucking gone for Ember. There’s no coming back from that.

“We do what we do best,” I mutter. “We play the game and show them that the house always wins.”

Cassian grins and tips his head. “After you, brother. Whatever you need.”

What I need is my Little girl in my arms. Right fucking now.

Before I even approach my bedroom door, I know she’s not in there. It’s like I have a sixth sense for my girl. Obviously, she doesn’t share that because she has no idea how much trouble she’s in right now. Otherwise, she’d be where I told her to stay. She must have snuck out of bed while Cassian and I were in the secure room. I didn’t have my camera screens on in there. Rookie fucking mistake.

As soon as I finish sweeping my room, bathroom, and closet, I grab one of my bug detectors and start walking through the entire upstairs. I mostly focus on the room she’s been staying in since her belongings are there. Then I double back to my room and check Spike. By the time I’m done, I’ve come up empty. Shit. Maybe I’m wrong about this. That prickle at the back of my neck tells me I’m not, though.

I put the device away and head downstairs to find my naughty Little girl. Part of me hopes she’s doing this on purpose to see how I’ll react. To see if I’ll actually punish her. My girl is about to learn that her Daddy doesn’t make empty promises. She’s not used to people in her life keeping their word. That’s about to change.

“Little girl, Little girl, where are you?” I call out.

Just as I turn the corner to go into the kitchen, she yelps and jumps away from where she’s wiping down the counter.

“Daddy, you scared me!” She puts her hand over her heart.

I stalk toward her, eyebrows raised. “I scared you, huh? Don’t you think Daddy was scared when I checked on you and you weren’t where I told you to stay?”

She opens her mouth to speak and then closes it, shifting from foot to foot. “I, um, I woke up, and I remembered we didn’tclean the counter after, um, well, you know. And then I got hungry.”

My gaze moves to the tub of ice cream sitting to the side with a spoon in it. “You got hungry and decided eating ice cream out of the container was a good idea? When we’re going to have dinner in about an hour?”

“Um.” She takes a step back, but I don’t let her create any space between us, so I move right along with her.

“And cleaning up after us isn’t your job, Little girl. That’s my job. I take care of you. Not the other way around.”

Her eyes shift around nervously as I tower over her. When she lifts her hand to bring her thumb to her chin, I capture her wrist and hold it against my chest. “Look at me, firefly.”

As soon as she does, my cock stirs. She’s testing me. I see it in her gaze. Whether she’ll ever admit it or not, she did this because she wants to know if I’ll actually let her get away with things.

“What did I say just before I left the bedroom?”

She rolls her lips in, then squares her shoulders. “I’m not sure, Daddy. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep while you were still in there.”

I bite back the urge to laugh. Smart little mouth.

“Ember Elizabeth,” I mutter sternly. “This is not the right time to be sarcastic with Daddy. Your bottom is already in trouble, I don’t think you want to add other punishments to that either.”

Her cheeks turn pink, and she lifts her other hand like she’s going to rub her chin. I follow its path, my eyes locking in on her throat as something silver sparkles in the light.

Reaching out, I grab the charm of her necklace between my thumb and index finger. “Who gave you this?”

As I turn it over, that prickling feeling hits so hard it nearly startles me.

Ember peers down at it. “My dad. He gave it to me the day he sent me with you.”

Fuck. It’s been on her all this time.

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