Page 63 of Impressing Brett

“It’s okay, Little lamb. I understand. You’re under a lot of pressure. It’s a lot to handle. But I think you’ll feel better if you spend some time not handling anything at all. Let Daddy hold the burden for a while. Yeah?”

“Okay,” she whispers.

I stand, still holding her, and carry her to the bed, where I sit her on the edge before pulling her shirt over her head. Next, I remove her bra and lean her back to unbutton and unzip her jeans before pulling them down her legs.

I’m pleased to see that, even though she spent the morning in her adult space, she has on plain cotton panties with little hearts on them.

I reach for my duffle bag, open it, and pull out a lavender cotton dress. It will be comfortable and easy. Perfect for a day in front of the television. If her legs get cold, I’ll cover them with a blanket.

After I pull the dress over her head, I lift her to her feet and guide her to the bathroom. “How about pigtails?”

She nods, smiling.

I carefully brush through her thick hair, part it, and arrange it in two nearly perfect pigtails, if I do say so myself.

She looks pleased.

“Now, it’s time to eat. If I let you watch cartoons while we eat, will you let Daddy feed you?”

She nods agreeably.

Back on the loveseat, I turn on the television and start flipping through channels until she yells, “This one.”

I stop, chuckling at her selection. It’s at least forty years old. But it will make both of us laugh. The silly antics of older cartoons are funnier than some of the more recent ones.

When I take the lids off the soups, I decide they are both still plenty warm. I lift the tomato soup first, bring it closer to her chin, and spoon a bite into her mouth.

She moans around the flavor. “That’s so good.”

I set it down and switch it for the chicken noodle. “What about this one?” I give her a bite of option number two.

She thinks hard while she chews and swallows. “Mmm. That’s a difficult decision. I better try them both again.”

I laugh. Thank God she’s eating. I don’t care if she eats both bowls of soup as long as she gets something in her. She’ll feel much better.

My chest is starting to loosen up. I’ve been a ball of nerves myself for almost twenty-four hours. Feeding Lacy feeds my soul at the same time.

Lacy ends up eating most of the two soups and some of the chicken salad sandwich. I eat the rest, clean up the mess, and settle in the corner of the loveseat, pulling her onto my lap.

She snuggles up with her head on my shoulder, Banana, Bear, and Jasmine in her arms. She giggles at the television for a while until she goes silent when she falls asleep.

I mute the TV and watch her for a while. Nothing is more satisfying and peaceful than holding my Little in my arms while she’s at rest. She’s got to be exhausted. I know she needs sleep. She hasn’t gotten enough lately.

I hope to God Blade can dig something up on the Rutherfords soon that will put an end to this madness. We’re still going to have to deal with the fact that she’s the beneficiary of her father’s will, but that’s not what’s important here.

What matters in the short run is the fact that it would seem the Rutherfords need that money. Maximillian undoubtedly thought he was the beneficiary of the will and was shocked to find out that was not the case. I feel more confident by the hour that he had his partner killed. Now, he’s scrambling to figure out how to get the money.

The scariest part is that he needs one of two things to happen. The first is for Lacy to marry his son so he can get control of her money. That’s going to happen over my dead body.

The second possibility is that Rutherford intends to take Lacy out of the picture. That is also going to happen over my dead body. The man may be a ruthless, underhanded lawyer, but he has nothing on me and my team. He’s a fool if he hasn’t figured out who I am and who he’s dealing with.

He’s getting careless. If he had that fire started and hired a PI to take pictures of Lacy, he’s desperate. We just need to hold on for a few days. Hopefully, Blade will dig something up on him that will nip this fucking situation in the bud.

Lacy squirms on my lap. “Daddy…” She’s asleep. She must be having a good dream based on the tone of her voice.

My cock goes hard in an instant.

God, I love her. The thought keeps coming back. Consuming me. I haven’t said it out loud yet because I don’t want her to panic, but I love her.

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