Page 17 of Daddy's Little Fighter
“Keep an eye on her. Maybe if there is a next time, talk to her about it. She may not be brave enough to talk to you about it, or maybe she doesn’t want to get your hopes up,” Michael pointed out. “But be patient with her. I know you will, but it’s just a little reminder.”
Noah nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay, enough of that. Let’s get to work so I can get back to my girl.”
“Before that, you need to come see this.” Jaxson pointed to his computer screen, laughing a little.
CHAPTER 7
FRANKIE
Frankie walked up to Daddy’s big window. It was one of those cool one-way windows where she could see out of it, but people looking up just saw a mirror. It was nice to see several people she used to work with down there, going about their day, and not able to see her.
Dominic came into the main room and looked up at the office, straight at her like he knew she was there. Was she prepared for him to come up and talk to her? Did she want that?
But Dominic didn’t head toward the stairs. He went to the kitchen, where she could barely see Trent working. Oh, how she wanted to go down there and get one of his desserts. To taste the sweet goodies she used to enjoy all the time.
Trent and Dominic stood by the entrance, as they talked and slowly ate cookies. Licking her lips, Frankie clasped her hands together and stared at the cookies.
She wanted one.
Frankie could taste the chocolate chip cookie right now, but she didn’t have one. Would Dominic bring her a cookie if she asked? But they looked deep in conversation, and she didn’t want to wait for them to finish. Frankie didn’t want to text Dominic and interrupt their conversation for a cookie.
But it was agoodcookie.
Turning to the couch, she looked at her blanket and Lita. Was she really thinking about going out there and getting a cookie, hoping no one saw her? There were so many people in the club, and she was bound to get caught. But if she put the blanket over her head and covered all of her body, then no one could see her, right?
Right.
After grabbing her blanket, Frankie placed it over her body, covering most of her face, and slowly walked toward the door.
“Lita, you be good in here. If Daddy comes in, tell him I’ve gone to get a cookie,” she instructed her stuffie as her hand held the door handle.
She was really going to do this.
Taking a deep breath, she clutched the blanket even tighter as she left the office. Frankie pulled the blanket even more over her face, not wanting to take the chance of being seen as she headed along the hallway and toward the stairs.
Daddy was going to be mad with her if he figured out she was walking down the stairs, dragging the blanket behind her. She could trip, but she really wanted that chocolate chip cookie. It was calling her name, even if she didn’t know if there was any left or not. But there had to be. Trent was amazing at keeping those cookies stocked all the time… or he used to be three years ago.
Sucking in a deep breath, Frankie slowly made her way down the stairs, keeping close to the wall and pausing every couple of steps to get a better grip on her blanket. No one had dared to come up the stairs yet, which she was thankful about. Would someone try to talk to her?
Frankie wasn’t going to think about it. She was on a mission. Get into the kitchen without being detected, grab a cookie, andget out of there without anyone seeing her. How hard could that be?
Once she got to the base of the stairs, she looked to the left and saw Dominic and Trent still talking outside the kitchen. There were two entrances, but Trent didn’t like other people using the side entrance. But what he didn’t know wasn’t going to hurt him… this time.
Slipping to the side, she slowly and carefully made her way along the hallway and to the second entrance. Frankie couldn’t help but giggle and wiggle her bottom as she stood outside the door. How had she managed to get by with no one finding out what she was doing? It was exciting to try not to get caught doing something. What else had she been missing out on?
Frankie quietly pushed the door open and tiptoed into the kitchen. It was exactly like it was three years ago. Did they not change a thing while she was gone? Frankie thought several things would have changed in all those years. But they hadn’t.
Tears pooled in her eyes as she took in the stainless steel kitchen. Trent liked his counter space, and it showed with how many clean ones he had. He always told her it was so whenever he wanted to make cookies, he could lay them all out on the counter as he rolled them into balls, or so they had enough space to cool properly. Frankie never understood that, but she wasn’t going to disagree with him. Trent was the baker, not her.
Quickly wiping away the tears, she looked around. The kitchen was spotless, like it always was. It was good for Frankie since her blanket was dragging along the floor. Now she didn’t have to worry about it getting all dirty and needing to wash it when she got home.
“Where are you?” she whispered to herself as she walked through the kitchen, trying to find the cookies.
It was her sole mission, and if there wasn’t any left, Frankie didn’t know what she was going to do. Her stomach wasgrumbling as she could smell the delicious, sweet scent of the cookies filling the air.
“Yum,” she hummed as she spotted the cookies on a platter in the back corner.
Frankie should ask her Daddy if she was allowed to have a cookie, but she had no time to now. She was here, and anyone could come in. The longer she stayed, the more likely it was that Trent would come back in. She wasn’t ready to see anyone else.
