Page 179 of Daddy, Sir

“I don’t know if I want to watch people get set on fire.”

“Then mark it down as a limit and we won’t do it.”

“It’s really as simple as that? I say no and that’s that?”

“Yes. Keeping in mind that you are allowed to change your mind. There are plenty of people who think something is a hard limit at first and change their minds later. Or who think they’ll be into something only to discover it’s either physically or mentally beyond their limits. That list is as fluid as you need it to be, Francesca.”

Okay. Well, that took some of the pressure off, at least. “All right. Let’s get started. Got a pen?”

Grinning, he pulled a sleek black pen from a pocket of his suit jacket. “That’s my girl.”

Frankie

“How the hell am I supposed to know if I want to bechoked?”

Seated cross-legged on her bed the day after Holden had introduced her to the club, she found herself once again scanning the survey she’d partially filled out with him the night before. They’d only gotten through a couple of the sections before she’d gotten so overwhelmed he’d made her put the survey away so they could eat.

And when she’d snuck a peek at it while he was in the bathroom, he’d bent her over the table and spanked her, right in front of everyone. ‘Public play’ had been one of the first limits they’d discussed, and she’d enthusiastically marked it down as a ‘Yes’, though she’d questioned her sanity when he’d spanked her in the middle of the restaurant like that.

Mostly because, even now, the memory of being bent over with her ass on display, her Daddy’s hard hand punishing her bare skin while a room full of people watched on made her really fuckinghot.

What the hell was wrong with her?

Maybe nothing, if the survey was anything to go by. Because why would they even need surveys and clubs and all that jazz if lots of people weren’t into this stuff? Surely she couldn’t be that weird if other people were doing it.

She was neck-deep in the philosophical musings of the kinky world when her phone rang. Seeing Lottie’s name on the display, she hit the button to answer. There’d been a bit of a snafu with Lottie’s credit cards at brunch that morning and she’dgone home to investigate. Hopefully she was calling with good news. “Hey, Lottie baby. Figure out what’s going on with your accounts?”

Her question was greeted with silence, and then the sound of Lottie’s mournful wail piercing the air.

Frankie leapt from her bed and ran for her closet, grabbing the first pair of shoes she could reach. “Oh, honey. I’m on my way. Do you want me to bring the girls?”

“No! J-just y-you,” Lottie managed to choke out between gulping sobs.

“All right. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

She ended the call and grabbed her purse, then raced down the stairs and out the front door. Luckily her car hadn’t been moved to the garage yet, so she didn’t have to waste any more time than necessary getting to her bestie.

What could Lottie possibly have found to make her cry like that? Lottie could be a little dramatic at times, though she had nothing on Portia who often took her role as the ‘Hollywood transplant’ to heart. But something in Frankie’s gut told her Lottie wasn’t just overreacting this time.

A short drive later, she parked in the Duvalls’ driveway and all but vaulted herself out of the car and toward Lottie’s front door.

She found Lottie sitting on her bed, her face freshly washed and her makeup reapplied in an obvious attempt to hide how hard she’d been crying. But there was no amount of concealer that could hide the redness rimming her eyes.

“You poor thing.” Rushing across the room, she threw her arms around Lottie, pulling her into a tight hug. “Tell Mama Frankie all about it.”

Lottie pulled back, her eyes watering as she let out a shuddering breath. “We’re broke, Frankie.”

Shock had Frankie’s mouth falling open. “Broke? What do you mean,broke?”

“From what I can tell, my dad has a serious gambling problem. I checked all the credit cards, the bank accounts, everything. It’s notallgone but we’re so fucking far in the hole, Frankie. And almost all of our bills are overdue. We’re going to lose everything.”

“Well, first of all, no you’re not. So stop thinking like that. We’ll figure… something out.” What, she didn’t know, but there had to be a solution.

Legares didn’t lose. And right now, that statement extended to Lottie, because Frankie was damn well going to make it her mission to fix this.

Somehow.

“I just don’t know what to do.” Groaning, Lottie closed her eyes, her head dropping into her hands in such a defeated gesture it made Frankie’s chest ache. “I mean, I could get a job, obviously. I don’t mind working. But I’d need to be making six figures at least to even begin paying down those cards, and even with that it would still take forever.”

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