Page 50 of Break Me, Daddy

Standing on the front porch, she rang the doorbell until it opened, revealing a familiar face. Abigail, the Duvall’s former housekeeper who Braden had hired on after learning that Lottie’s father had let her go, smiled as she stepped back, holding the door open.

“Miss Frankie. What a lovely surprise. Is Lottie expecting you?”

“Not exactly.” Frankie forced an apologetic smile. “I thought I would surprise her. Is she in?”

“She’s in the living room, Miss Frankie.”

“Thanks, Abby. It’s good to see you again.”

Abigail’s smile widened. “It’s good to be seen.”

Heading for the back of the house, Frankie’s stomach churned as her mind frantically replayed the events of the day. The meeting with the dean, her father’s cruel words, getting pulled over by the cops. Basically, it seemed as though the universe was determined to have as much go wrong in one day as possible.

The universe was a fucking asshole.

“You would notbelievethe day I’ve had,” Frankie declared with what she felt to be an appropriate amount of dramatics as she strode into the living room.

A familiar brunette head popped up over the back of one of the couches, and Lottie’s blue eyes went wide with surprise. “Frankie! What are you doing here?”

“Shitty day. Needed my bestie.” Flopping down on a couch that seemed to envelope her in soft brown leather, she stretched out with her head on Lottie’s lap.

Immediately, Lottie’s hand moved to Frankie’s hair, her fingernails running gentle, soothing patterns over her skull. “What happened? Did you get in a fight with Holden or something?”

“No, but he’s going to murder me when he finds out I got a speeding ticket while not wearing my seatbelt.”

Lottie let out a low whistle. “Yeah, he probably is. As he should, too. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking my dad is the world’s biggest asshole and I needed to get away from him.”

“Well, that’s nothing new.”

“No. But him telling me he paid for a baby boy and got me instead, is.”

The fingers in her hair went still, and when she spoke, Lottie’s voice was low and full of venom. “He didnotfucking say that to you.”

“He did.” Swallowing the lump in her throat, Frankie spilled the whole story starting with her dad’s phone call the day before, through Holden’s ultimatums, right up to getting pulled over.

Through it all, Lottie mostly just listened, though she did come up with some very creative combinations of profanities Frankie couldn’t help be impressed by.

“Jesus, Frankie. That’s… a lot. How are you holding up? Have you eaten anything today?”

Have you binged your feelings yet?Although it was a more than fair question, Frankie’s hackles still rose a bit. “I had a yogurt for breakfast.”

“That was hours ago. Let’s go see if we can sweet-talk Abigail into making us some of her world-famous peanut butter and banana sandwiches.”

“You know they’re just regular sandwiches, right?” But even though bread and bananas were both on her ‘forbidden’ list, the pull of their shared childhood was enough for her to let Lottie nudge her off the couch. “Abby didn’t actually win any awards for them.”

“Don’t care. They’re comfort food and we could both use some comfort.”

Only then did Frankie notice the pale red rim around Lottie’s eyes. Stopping in the middle of the hallway, she tugged on Lottie’s hand, concern and guilt beating at her breast. “What happened, Lottie-baby?”

Waving a hand as if to swat away Frankie’s concerns, Lottie rolled her eyes. “The same thing that happens at least twice a week. Daddy was being extra bossy this morning and it made me feel extra sassy, and he didn’t appreciate me telling him where he could shove his list of things for me to get done today.”

“Damn, girl. How were you even sitting earlier?”

“The couch is very, very soft,” Lottie said with a laugh.

Only feeling somewhat mollified by the knowledge that Lottie had only been crying because of a spanking, Frankie narrowed her eyes. “Lottie. Be honest with me. Are you still happy with Braden? Because if you feel like he’s being too controlling or whatever, I’ll have you out of here in five seconds flat.”

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