Page 203 of Tempting Little Thief

A softness falls over her and Saylor dips her head, her cheeks pinking.

“Toiletries and your preference in most things are where you’d expect them to be in the north wing,” Saylor tells her, eyes lifting to mine.

I give a small nod. “You can go back now.”

She pauses a moment, looking to Rocklin, and then darts forward, wrapping her arms around her before rushing off in the opposite direction. Rocklin watches her go, only looking to me when I grab her hand and lead her into the house.

“She’s going back to the manor?”

“She is.”

“The wall you knocked down?”

“It’s been rebuilt with a gate. The only way to open it is from this side, unless you have access on the other.”

While there’s a frown covering her forehead, she nods, and we head into the space. Her eyes dart and dash around every inch and I can tell she wants to explore. Hell, so do I. There’re a shit ton of spots in this place I haven’t even looked at. I didn’t even step foot inside before I put the money down because all I needed was its location—right beside her was the only prerequisite.

There will be time for exploring later, and she seems to realize that, so when I lead her up the winding staircase to the floor above, she says not a word, just follows my steps with her hand clutched in mine.

I pull my phone from my pocket, texting Hayze to let him know that we’re back but exhausted, and I’ll catch up with him before we head to the manor in the morning.

When we reach my bedroom door, she doesn’t wait for me to open it but pushes it herself, and a small smile spreads across her lips.

It’s black on black. Black floors, black walls and drapes. Black bed and comforter and everything else in between. The bathroom is the same, which is where I lead her, straight to the giant-ass stone shower, the entire ceiling pouring like rainfall across every inch of the space. I let her go, and silently, we strip down into nothing.

When she goes to attempt to remove the collar around her neck, my hand darts out, halting her movements, and she slowly lowers them to her side.

Little does she know she can’t take it off. It’s a permanent fixture on her now. Waterproof, stain proof, fade proof, and equipped with a little hidden tracker just behind the rose gold diamond in the center.

She’ll forever be in my back pocket now, a tiny dot on the app that follows her and her alone.

Rocklin gives me a soft, flirty little smile as she presses her lips to my shoulder and slips into the separate bathroom, so I chuck the rest of my clothes, looking at the burned flesh beneath my ear. I don’t want her to spend the night beatingherself up, and I’ve managed to hide it with a hoodie the last few days, not to mention we’ve kept our hands to ourselves. So, I throw some Vaseline on it and a quick bandage before stepping beneath the spray.

I let the heated water roll over me and take a deep fucking breath for what feels like the first time in a long-ass time. My sister is safe and she has a home. It might not be what I envisioned for her, but I realize now that’s on me. Not her. She’s too fucking strong to live a docile life. Too good not to shine some light on a little bad. They’ll be good to her there, and she’ll fucking blossom beside them.

It’s crazy, the timing. How I only ever wanted two things in my life, until suddenly I wanted three, and here I am, at the cusp of having all three, all at once.

I run my hands through my hair, my shoulders sagging a little lower as I quickly wash myself before she gets in here.

Tomorrow is going to be rough on my baby, so tonight, I’ll need to be good and gentle with her.

The glass door opens, and I smile when her soft hands wrap around me from behind, her palms pressing to my chest as hers meet my back. She hugs me, pressing her cheek to my spine with a long exhale, the last few weeks catching up to us both.

She was here alone, but not alone, hating life and missing me, and I was out there fighting motherfuckers for my old bosses, secretly coming to her when she didn’t know it. I watched her sleep, then went back to Brayshaw for business.

It was the hardest shit I’ve ever done, leaving her each time I did. I had never needed someone before, but I needed to be near her. I had to have eyes on her, or I couldn’t fucking think. Shit sounds weak, but it is what it is. She’s a drug and I’m fucking addicted.

Keeping myself busy was the only thing that helped, and it wasn’t for nothing. It paid off.

Literally, I never expected anything, but I won’t lie and say it didn’t change some things for me because it did.

Slowly, I ring her around my body, and she smiles up at me when I gently take her hair and tug so the water falls over her. Her eyes close and she lets out soft little mewls as I massage her scalp. I start washing her, beginning with her hair, and work my way down, leaving no part of her unwashed. When I reach between her legs, she squeezes her thighs together a little, clasping her hand on my bicep.

I look up from where I’m kneeling before her now and she lifts a shoulder, her lips pressing to one side.

“I’m sort of—”

“I know and I don’t care.”

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