Page 17 of Daddy's Damaged Little Girl

“I haven’t.”

Sage cringed because Lacey really was a terrible liar, and he was sure to detect that.

“Really?” he asked suspiciously.

“I mean, earlier I did, but she’ll be busy all day. Is there something I can tell her for you?” Lacey asked.

“No. I just want to talk to her.”

“I’ll tell her the next time I see her,” Lacey said and smiled.

Sage thought she heard him snort and then sigh. “Okay. You do that.”

He started to close the door but turned at the last moment. “And Lacey, if I find out you’re lying to me, I will have a talk with your daddy about disciplining you.”

Lacey pressed her lips together and nodded.

Sage didn’t release her breath until the door was shut, and she heard him walk away. She rushed to her friend’s desk. “God, Lacey, am I going to get you in trouble?”

Lacey snorted. “If you do, it will only get my daddy to pay some extra attention to me.”

Sage relaxed.

“Now, tell me what happened?” Lacey asked.

Sage went through what happened with Sebastian, and although Lacey thought she was looking at it the wrong way, she also saw Sage’s side of it and knew she’d feel the same way.

That’s all Sage needed. Just support from at least one person in her life. It wasn’t too much to ask, was it?

Chapter Nine

Sage looked up when someone knocked on her door. She thought about ignoring it, but she couldn’t hide from Sebastian forever.

“Come in.”

One of the volunteers stuck her head in. “Hey, Sage, Arthur Bates is here to see you.”

Dread started to grow in her stomach at the thought of facing her ex-fiancé. “Send him in. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Within a minute, Arthur walked in like he owned the place. God, what had she seen in him? He was handsome in a cold kind of way. His blond hair was always in place, and he was always dressed like he was going to an important meeting. If she really thought about it, it was her father who set them up and pushed them together. Sage had no idea why she hadn’t fought it at the time, but now she was so glad she hadn’t married him.

She sat back in her chair and smiled. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?”

His face instantly darkened. “I don’t like how much you’ve changed, dear. You never would have said anything like that to me before.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I was getting sick of your snobbish, superior attitude.”

He took a few steps toward her desk and scowled. “You’re just angry right now, but we can get you fixed so you’ll go back to what we had before. This time, it’s even better because you’re so thin now.”

Her mouth fell open in shock. She couldn’t believe the gall of the man. “You want to get back together?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“What about what happened to me? How are you going to be able to touch me because I’m so dirty now? That hasn’t changed.”

She saw him swallow.

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