“I’ll just take Dani’s stuff with me. She’ll call me when she’s ready to talk.” Finn wasn’t about to leave it up to Val. Val would sell Dani’s things if she thought she could make a buck.
Her eyes went wide, and she bit into her bottom lip. Finn immediately went on high alert.
“Please tell her to call me. I’m so worried about her.” Her voice hitched as though she was about to cry.
This was the time when the man was supposed to get all soft and willing to listen to her bullshit. Finn was not that man. “What do you want?” She always wanted something.
Her arms crossed defensively over her chest. “She’s my sister. Can’t I be worried about her?”
If she had a heart, maybe. Val had gotten rid of her heart long ago in an attempt to get back to her birth weight. “No. You have an angle. I want to know what it is.”
She dropped the innocent act. Her lip snarled briefly. “You’re an asshole, Finn. I don’t care what you think. I need to talk to my sister. If you find her before I do, tell her to call me. We need to figure out what we’re going to do with the house. She was supposed to sell me her half of the house. I can’t have a damn roommate forever.”
He would have said Val couldn’t shock him. He’d been wrong. “That is the house she raised you in. She gave up her whole future to keep that house so you had a place to live. She didn’t go to college, so you wouldn’t go into foster care. Do you have any idea how hard that was for her?”
Val shrugged and flicked her nails. “I’m offering her a good deal. She can find someplace else. She’s lived there all her life. You would think she’d be sick of it by now. I’m doing her a favor.”
He huffed and zipped the bag closed. He didn’t want to spend any more time in Val’s presence than he had to. “Some favor. I bet you’ll try to cheat her somehow. I will take a look at any paperwork you want Dani to sign.”
She paled a bit, but her voice was filled with malice. “Why don’t you just take her back to the city with you? Don’t you need a hag or something?”
“Fuck you, Val.”
“Only a real man could do that.” She rolled those cold eyes. “That’s why you’re perfect for Dani. She wouldn’t know a real man if one tried to marry her. Oh, yeah, she fucked that up, too. She has pissed off a bunch of the women in this town. Trust me, she’ll be damned grateful I’m willing to buy her out. She is not going to want to live in this town after her stunt.”
Val turned on her stilettos and slunk off.
A slow heat started to spread through Finn’s body as Val’s words sank in. Dani had stayed for Val. After Val finished college, Dani had stayed because she didn’t know anything else. What if she had to leave? What if the town became completely unbearable? She would need a friend. She would need him.
Once he had her on his home turf, he would show her that they could make a relationship work. She would be surprised at first, but she would come around.
He slung the bag over his shoulder. He would make it work.
He just had to figure out where she was.
Chapter Five
Julian looked at Danielle across the living room. She sat next to Abby with Olivia in her lap. She’d barely touched her steak, salad, and mashed potatoes, or the excellent chocolate mousse the Barnes’ housekeeper had prepared for dinner. Though she played with the little girl and managed to hold a conversation with Abby, he could practically feel her anxiety from across the room. He smiled a little, trying to encourage her to calm down. It had been awhile since she’d made the decision to spend the evening with him. He could tell she was second-guessing herself. He wanted that. He wanted her to second- and third-guess herself. She should wrestle with the decision. It was a huge step to take in what already seemed to be a big day of change for Danielle Bay.
He’d sat down with Jackson directly after dinner and questioned him about Danielle. It was just as Julian had suspected. She was very submissive and completely untrained. She’d spent her entire life attempting to please the people around her. Most of them had taken full advantage of her nature. She’d given up her hopes and dreams to care for a mother dying of a brain tumor. When her mother was gone, she’d raised her sister, who Jackson had referred to as a waste of flesh. If she hadn’t fled from her wedding, she would have been taken advantage of by her husband, and her life would have continued on the same sad path.
A warm feeling suffused Julian’s skin. He could change that for her.
He could teach her and potentially find a permanent Dom for the gorgeous little thing. The thought of keeping her for himself nibbled at the edge of his consciousness. He disregarded the idea. He wasn’t cut out for long-term, but he knew many men who were. He would do what he’d always done. He would train her, enjoy her, and match her up to the perfect Dom.
“Baby hog.” Samuel held out his arms to Jackson.
Jackson rocked back in his easy chair, Josh against his chest. He glanced up at Samuel. “How about a please?”
Samuel’s lips turned up. “I thought I already pleased you enough for one night, Jack.”
Jackson’s face lit up as he shook his head. “I’ll give you that one, Sam.” He kissed the top of Josh’s head and allowed Samuel to pull the baby into his arms. The little guy lit up at the sight of his other father, and Samuel carried the baby to the couch. He sank down beside Abby and cooed at the child.
Jackson sat up. “He’s going to kill me one of these days.”
And yet the content look on his face told Julian it wouldn’t be a bad way to go. He studied his former protégé for a moment. Jackson’s lips turned up.
“Are you ready to ask me about it?” Jackson made the question seem almost like a foregone conclusion.
“Ask you what?” He wasn’t aware he had any burning questions for Jackson.
“Aren’t you going to ask me how settling down feels? You’re not exactly a young man anymore, Julian. Haven’t you thought about settling down?”
He was mildly affronted at the thought. “I’m only five years older than you. I’m not exactly an old man.”
Jackson held his hands up in apology. “Of course not, and don’t raise your voice. You’re almost the same age as Abby, and I do not want to have that conversation with her. All I’m saying is you’re in the prime of your life, and it’s time to think about the future.”
Julian’s eyes stole to Danielle, who quickly averted her gaze. She was so shy. He would have to rid her of that condition. At least around him. His immediate future looked quite bright. Danielle was beautiful and completely untrained. She would prove to be an amazingly rewarding challenge, he just knew it. “I’m happy with my life the way it is. Not all of us get a white picket fence, Jackson. Not all of us want one.”
But the words rang hollow, even to his own ears. He kept his face perfectly even, but Jackson’s words sent a strange restless feeling through his gut. He’d hoped that enforced celibacy would cause him to work through the odd longing he’d had in the last couple of years, but it had only seemed to sharpen the hunger. He’d finally decided to take up his old life again. He would take two subs, carefully chosen from a plethora of eligible candidates, and continue as he had before. He would ignore the unsettled feeling he got when around his “settled” friends. His future would be ordered. Then Danielle had jumped into his car.
Chaos suddenly didn’t seem like such a bad thing.
“You need to be careful with her.” Jackson leaned forward, his voice low, his elbows on his knees.
“I am always careful.”