Page 107 of Truth

“Do you think she’ll be all right with this?”

“I have no idea. Brianna has the tendency to surprise me. Sometimes that’s good. Sometimes, bad. I never know until it happens. The only thing that I know is absolutely off limits is name calling. We’ve been working on it, but even the words themselves, without any context whatsoever, can set her off.”

Logan nodded. “Lily was concerned about her this morning. We had a long conversation about it.”

Brianna had handed me her glass before she’d gone to see Lily. I placed it on the floor beside my chair, and leaned back. “She was worried about Brianna?”

“Yep.”

“Brianna’s worried you’ll hurt Lily.”

“Hopefully the two of them talking beforehand helps calm her fears.”

I took a drink of my water. “Hopefully.”

“How was your trip?” I wanted to steer the conversation away from the purpose of our visit before my own anxiety increased. As much as I tried to downplay it for Brianna’s sake, I was apprehensive about what might happen. Not with Logan and Lily, but with Brianna herself. As I’d mentioned to Logan, Brianna was unpredictable in new situations. I wanted this to be a positive experience for her, but that wasn’t guaranteed.

“I have to fly back next week.”

“I thought you were getting some time at home after this last trip.”

“Yeah. So did I. Turns out some things that were supposed to be ready last week weren’t.”

“How’d Lily take the news?”

Logan pressed both index fingers against the bridge of his nose. I could tell he was agitated. Maybe work hadn’t been the best topic of conversation. “She wasn’t happy, that’s for sure. I thought she was going to make me sleep out on the couch when I got home Thursday night.”

I could see Lily doing exactly that. “You could have slept in her room, you know.”

“No. That’s her space. I wouldn’t violate it like that. Plus, she’d probably come in the middle of the night and dump a bucket of ice water on me or something.”

I laughed.

“It’s different with you. You’ve never had a twenty-four-seven relationship with someone.” He paused. “Well, until now.”

“My relationship with Brianna isn’t exactly what you’d call normal.”

“No. It’s not.” He leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “She seems happier, though. Even with the stress today is obviously causing her, you can see a huge difference. Especially from the first time I met her.”

“Yes. She has more good days than bad now.”

As if hearing her name, Brianna appeared with Lily.

Lily stopped right inside the room, and Brianna looked back for several long seconds before walking the rest of the way to where I was sitting. I set my glass down and opened my arms. She hurried to climb into my lap.

“Did you have a nice chat with Lily?” I whispered in her ear.

She nodded.

“Good. Now I want you to turn and watch.” She did as I instructed, maneuvering her body so that she was facing the center of the room. I wrapped my arms around her middle and rested my chin on her shoulder. “Just watch.”

Lily stood with her head down, her hands behind her back, and her feet shoulder width apart. My guess was this was an instruction given to her by Logan earlier, since their normal starting position had her kneeling. It made sense, though, to have her enter the room and pause to get into her submissive mindset. It also gave her a little more freedom given the unknown Brianna added to the scenario.

Logan walked slowly over to her, observing. He circled her, not touching at first, and then glided his hands over her exposed skin. I could tell by the change in the rise and fall of Lily’s chest that he was getting the reaction he wanted.

“Go stand in the middle of the rug and hold your position.”

She moved to comply and was back in her pose within a matter of seconds. So far, Brianna was doing well, but then again, nothing had happened yet.

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