Page 20 of Break Me, Daddy

Frankie eyed the plate warily, as if it were a snake that might rise up and strike at any moment. “I’ll eat the eggs but no toast.”

“Nope. We’re not negotiating your health, Francesca.” He wasn’t a man used to making compromises in the first place, and this was one area where he refused to budge. “You need something more than just eggs, especially since we’re going to be doing some manual labor today.”

Bottom lip trembling, she reached for the plate, pulling it closer. “Do you have any yogurt? The no-fat kind?”

“I’m sorry, baby, I don’t. But we can stop on the way home and pick up whatever you want.” It was the first time she’d asked for anything specific, which he took as a good sign. “Tell you what. If you can finish the eggs and one of the toast triangles, we’ll call it good.”

It felt a bit like cajoling one of his nieces to eat when they were feeling stubborn, but he was willing to do whatever it took at this point. Nodding, Frankie picked up a slice of toast and nibbled at the very tip. She glanced over at him, clearly looking for his approval, and his heart cracked in two at the hope shining in her eyes.

“Good girl. Is there enough butter on it or do you want more?”

She wrinkled her nose in response. “There’s too much butter already.”

How much had she been depriving herself that the tiny scraping of butter he’d put on the toast was ‘too much’? Swallowing his own snarky response, he smiled. “Sorry. Do you want me to make you another slice?”

“No. I’ll eat it.”

She only ate the half she’d promised him, and he resisted the urge to sigh. He’d hoped she would eat more on her own, but apparently they were in for a longer road than he’d realized. As soon as they got back home, she was going to make that call to her therapist she’d been putting off for far too long already.

For now, they needed to get to her storage unit. Picking up her mostly empty plate, he leaned down to press a kiss to her hair. “You did a very good job, baby. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to say that every time I eat something, you know.”

Considering how pink her cheeks always turned at his praise, he was pretty sure he actuallydidneed to say that every time. Maybe that was the secret, helping her associate food with Daddy’s approval. Or not, but it didn’t seem like it could possibly hurt anything, either.

Without answering her, he cleaned up their plates and stacked them in the dishwasher. “All right, let’s head over to the storage unit. Do you need anything else from your unit other than some clothes?”

“No, not really. My laptop is in my car.”

Shit. Her car, which had been parked somewhere for days. Mentally kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner, he shifted gears a bit. “Where are your keys?”

“My purse.”

“Text me your car’s location, I’ll send one of my people to go pick it up.”

Frankie rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Or you could just drop me off and I’ll follow you back here.”

The thought of having her out of his sight for even a few minutes was enough to have panic clawing at his throat. “No. Easier to just have someone pick it up for us while we run our errands. Go get me your keys.”

Arms folded, she jerked her chin up, eyes blazing with defiance. “I don’t want anyone driving my car.”

God, he couldn’t wait for her to be healed enough for him to warm her bottom. His palm physically itched to remind her who was in charge. “This isn’t a discussion, Francesca.”

“Why not? It’s my car.”

Because you obviously can’t be trusted on your own.As soon as the thought popped into his mind, it was followed by a twist of guilt in his gut. Treating her like a felon was only going to breed resentment. More, it wasn’t fair to her. She’d fucked up, sure, but he couldn’t keep her by his side, watching her every move, no matter how much he wanted to do exactly that.

Still… he had plenty of reasons not to let her drive that had nothing to do with being an overbearing jackass. “You’re still recovering, baby. And the last thing I want is you passing out behind the wheel.”

“I’m not going to. I haven’t fainted once since I’ve been here, have I?”

“No, but you’ve also been asleep about seventy percent of that time.” When her eyes narrowed, he just barely resisted the urge to laugh at how adorable she was when she was trying to look intimidating. “Tell you what. Let me send Falcon to pick up your car and then this weekend we’ll go out driving for a bit. That way if you get tired or sick behind the wheel, I’ll be right there. Deal?”

Her expression slowly softened, though it never quite lost that defiant edge, until she finally sighed and nodded. “All right.”

Thank god. Fighting with her wasn’t exactly how he wanted to spend their morning. “Get me your keys, text me the location, and we’ll get on the road.”

Jumping up from the table, she stomped toward the stairs, and he allowed himself a small grin at her childish behavior. Obviously his babygirl was feeling a good bit better.

---