Page 52 of Daddy's Little Farmer

“I’m sure Ella would be able to send something up. I’ll ask her.”

Larkin hugged Hicks. “Thank you. We’re going to our bedroom and not the playroom.”

“Good to know.”

“Wow, this is beautiful, Larkin,” Mara said as they entered the bedroom. The room was as big as a small apartment, much like her and Rafael’s. It had a seating arrangement with an entertainment table and bar off to one side. It might have been bigger than her and Rafael’s, and she greatly liked the blue tones. It made her feel more relaxed than the black and white did in Rafael’s.

“Thank you. We spend a lot of time here because it’s private.”

She and Rafael hadn’t spent any time in the room besides sleeping because he was always working. It made her feel even worse thinking about it.

“Come on. We’ve got a few hours,” Larkin said.

The next few hours were enjoyable for Mara, and she laughed more than she had in a long time. She wished she could be that happy with Rafael.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Rafael was in his office when his secretary interrupted him.

“Sir, there’s a Mr. Welder on the phone for you.”

It took him a second to remember. “Put him through.”

“Hello, Tony.”

“Hello.”

Just the tone of that word told him something was very wrong.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve called my girl several times since she’s been there, and every time, she sounds sadder than the time before. When I ask how you’re doing, she says she doesn’t know because she hardly ever sees you. Can you tell me what the hell is going on? I told you she would need attention, especially at the beginning. I’ve been sick thinking I ruined that sweet girl’s life when I trusted you.”

Rafael pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been busy catching up since we got home.”

“Rafael, don’t bullshit this old man. She’s been there for close to eight weeks.”

That surprised Rafael. He hadn’t thought it had been that long. “Things will calm down after a while.”

“Jesus, man, do you hear yourself? You wanted this woman so much, and now she’s an afterthought.”

“That’s not true.”

“The hell it isn’t. Is this one of those deals where she was a challenge, but now that you have her, you’ve grown bored?”

“Goddammit, Tony. That is so much bullshit. I love this woman.”

Tony snorted. “That’s a funny way of showing it. I asked her if she wanted to come back home, and do you know what she said?”

Fuck, the thought of losing her made him sick. “No.”

“She said it looked like that might happen.”

Rafael straightened. “She said what?”

“You’re not making her happy, man. And the sad thing is you don’t even know it.”

Tony was right. Everyone had said one thing or another about her not being happy. Darian asked if he had spent time with her, and he told him the truth. Darian warned him that littles are more emotional than the average woman and need a lot of time, or they don’t feel loved. Other friends with littles had made the same kind of comments. Even his butler, Landry, had said how sad she was, and he hadn’t done a damn thing to fix the problem.

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