Evander

“We have a problem.”

Maxwell Stone, de facto leader of our band of misfits here on the island, looks up from the stack of papers in front of him, one brow raised in question. “What kind of problem?”

Leaning over his desk, I place the tablet in front of him and show him the dossier I’ve put together. As he scans the screen, Maxwell’s eyes narrow dangerously.

“A reporter?” His voice is sharp with the leading edge of fury, and I have no doubt that anger is about to be pointed straight at me.

I am, after all, in charge of keeping our little island safe from prying, curious eyes like those of Natalie Bauer. A gossip columnist for a second-rate newspaper in the city, at first glance she isn’t the type of person I would consider a threat.

But a deeper dig into her showed an ambition that hasn’t really materialized in her career. If I had to guess, she was thrust into the celebrity gossip role because she looks like she belongs on the red carpet. Wide, shrewd eyes a startling shade of green peer out from a face that will likely never lose its roundness. In all the pictures I’ve found of her, even when she’s working the carpet, her perfect chestnut hair is pulled back in a high ponytail.

I won’t be confessing how often I’ve gotten myself off to the image of that ponytail wrapped around my hand as I force nosy Miss Bauer to her knees.

Leaning back in his chair, Maxwell turns that sharp gaze on me. “How much does she know?”

“Enough to get herself onto the boat carrying our next food shipment.” Of course, that wasn’t entirely all her doing. I may have… paved the way a bit.

Not that Maxwell needs to know that just yet.

“Fucking hell. How did this happen?”

“From what I can tell, she’s been looking into Juliet. A gossip reporter would easily pick up on the fact that Juliet hasn’t been to any events since Jasper brought her to the island.”

His eyes narrow slightly. “That still doesn’t explain how she found out about the island.”

“Best I can tell, she tracked Jasper and Juliet to the airport we use when we fly in and out of the city, and she managed to get all the info she needed out of one of the security guards there.”

Maxwell’s fingers tap against the sleek wood of his desk, and it’s a testament to how unsettled he is that he lets even that bit of irritation show. “I assume you’ve handled the guard.”

“I have.” Patrick Doyle sang like a canary for my men, likely in the hopes it would spare him in the end. Unfortunately for him, the pigs at the farm upstate will be less interested in what he has to say and far more interested in how he tastes. “He won’t be an issue for us going forward. And I have replaced the rest of the security at the airport with my own men. This will not happen again.”

“I trust it won’t. You’ve never let us down before.” His gaze remains locked on me, an intimidation tactic I’m certain works well for him in the business world. But I’ve stared down far more dangerous men in my time, so I simply stare back, waiting for him to continue.

Which he does, with a stiff nod and more of that irritated finger tapping. “The question remains, what do we do about our reporter problem?”

A dark thrill rushes through my veins at the question. “We let her come.”

Eyebrows rising toward his hairline, Maxwell stares at me for another long, silent moment, only now the corners of his lips curl up in a slow smile. “You want her.”

“I do.” I’m not quite prepared to tell him exactly how much, but I need to give him something if I have any hope of receiving his blessing. “She… intrigues me.”

“Between her and Isabella, we’re making more waves than I’m comfortable with.”

Isabella, the pretty little ballerina Gideon stole from her apartment in the middle of the night. Her disappearance did cause a bit of a fuss, though it died down relatively quickly. Too quickly, really, given the circumstances, and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Maxwell’s money had something to do with how quietly the story simply… went away.

There is some risk of the same happening with Natalie, and it would be foolish to pretend there isn’t. But Maxwell isn’t the only one who has ways of making problems disappear.

“It will be handled,” I assure him, earning myself a thoughtful nod in response.

“All right,” he says slowly. “I’ll allow it, but if this gets tracked back to us in any way…”

“Then I’ll handle that threat, as well. That is why you brought me to the island, is it not?”

Maxwell’s smile turns surprisingly warm. “No. I brought you to the island because I know how badly you’ve wanted a Little one of your own. The fact that you are the best choice for keeping our family safe is simply a bonus.”

“Right.” It’s the same explanation he’s given me a dozen times before, but it doesn’t ring any more true this time than it has in the past. “Well, if you have no more questions for me, then I’ll go prepare for my Little one’s arrival.”

“Go. I’m sure you have plenty to do before she gets here. I’ll let the others know our family will be growing soon. When does her boat arrive?”

“A week.” Not enough time for all the preparations that need to be made, but also not soon enough as far as I’m concerned.

Not nearly soon enough.

Natalie

Working on a boat sucks.

I mean, I knew it would. I knew it would be lots of heavy lifting and hard work. But I somehow still wasn’t prepared for just how much work. Or exactly how rough the men who take on these jobs would be.

Pretty much from the moment I’d reported for “duty”, I’d found myself the recipient of leering stares and less-than-subtle hand gestures letting me know exactly what these men would like to do with me.

Or, rather, to me.

If there’s a patron saint of reckless dumbasses though, she’s obviously watching over me, because I was on the boat less than an hour before Lucas took me under his wing. Older than most of the other crew, his hair and beard more salt than pepper, he might have reminded me of someone’s kindly grandfather if it hadn’t been for the hardness about him. He barely spoke a word to anyone that I ever heard, but he found me pinned against a wall by a man twice my size that first day and he sent the man to the infirmary for three whole days.

After that, the rest of the men mostly left me alone.

Which was good, because I don’t think I would have had the energy to defend myself at the end of those long days working the ship. No amount of research could have prepared me for the reality of those endless hours of grueling labor. Thankfully, Lucas had my back there, too. I was never quite out of his sight, and whenever I needed extra help or, frankly, someone to save my ass, he was right there.

Despite his hard demeanor, I never felt like I was in any danger with him. Even when he would catch me doing something he deemed unsafe and he would mutter darkly about how I needed someone to “teach me a lesson I wouldn’t forget”, I just found myself laughing at his grumbling. I assumed he was just venting, muttering to himself as a way of letting off some steam, so I never really gave those threats much thought.

I assumed wrong.

One of the things Lucas had been on me about the entire trip was my safety harness. I knew it was important, I’d read all the manuals, watched all the safety videos so I could properly bullshit my way through the journey to my mysterious island. After all, forged paperwork and a fake identity could only get you so far. I wasn’t exactly sure what the people in charge would do with me if they saw through my charade, but my gut told me it wouldn’t be good. So I did all my research for the month leading up to my departure on the boat, and I learned all the rules.

Unfortunately for me, I’ve always been of the opinion that learning the rules is only necessary so you know the best ways to break them. Which is fine for grammar. But far less fine when those rules are meant to keep you from falling over the railing of a giant fucking ship and plummeting to your death. A conclusion I’d come to rather late in the game.

Almost too late.

I knew I was in trouble before the rain even started. The wind, which had been more of a gentle breeze for most of our trip, had turned violent. Whipping around us with such ferocity I could almost swear it was trying to drag everyone overboard. Like the storm itself had a personal vendetta against the entire ship.

And still, I didn’t wear my harness.

Thank god Lucas was there to catch me when I slipped. The rain had picked up by then, making the deck even more slippery than usual. I lost my footing, and slammed right into the railing. And then went right over it.

For one heart-stopping moment, I thought I was dead. I could see the sea rushing up to greet me, would have sworn I felt the waves crashing over me, dragging me under.

But no. Just as I went over, I was jerked back, into a hard wall of muscle, my heart threatening to beat right out of my chest as my brain tried to come to grips with my brush with death.

“Where the hell is your harness?”

Lucas. Thank god. “I-I forgot.”

I didn’t forget, and one look in his dark eyes was all it took for me to know that he knew it as well as I did. The thunderstorm raging around us was nothing compared to the storm in his eyes.

Tossing me over one shoulder, he ignored the shouts from the other crew as he stormed toward our quarters. With me still draped over his shoulder, he pulled a phone from his pocket and I heard the faint sound of ringing through the speaker and then a deep voice greeting him.

“You told me to call if I needed to take her in hand. So I’m calling.” A pause, then a grunt of agreement. “Will do. Just a second.”

He hit a button, tossing the phone on the bed before dropping onto the mattress and setting me on my feet in front of him.

“Apparently you’ve been very naughty, Natalie.” A voice I didn’t recognize filled the room, and I realized then that Lucas must have put the call on speaker.

“What? Who the hell is that? Lucas?”

“I am the sole reason you haven’t already been kicked off that ship,” the deep voice from the phone drawled, and even though I couldn’t see him, had no idea who he was, terror crawled up my spine. “Lucas has been keeping an eye on you for me, and it seems as though you’ve finally tested the limits of his rather generous patience. What was the final straw, my friend?”

I’d been so distracted by the voice on the other end of the phone, I didn’t even realize until that moment that Lucas had been making quick work of my uniform, stripping me out of my overalls and shirt, down to nothing but my bra and underwear.

“Lucas!” Shrieking with indignation, I stumbled backward, grabbing for my clothes to pull them back up. But Lucas was much faster and much stronger, and before I could so much as blink, I found myself over his lap.

“She’s been refusing to wear her harness and she damn near went into the water this morning.”

“Is that so?”

There was a coldness to the other voice that froze me in place over Lucas’s lap.

“It is,” Lucas confirmed, his own voice harder than I’d ever heard it. “Do I have your permission to proceed?”

“You do. I trust you to ensure this is a lesson that never needs to be repeated.”

“Absolutely.”

With that, pain exploded across my backside. For a moment, I was too shocked to fight, too stunned to scream. But when the second spank landed, the pain snapped me out of my stupor and I came alive over my assailant’s lap, fighting and screeching for all I was worth.

“Let me go, you fucking asshole! I’ll fucking kill you!”

“It’s a good thing I’ve stocked up on soap.” Laughter filled the room, mixing with the sound of my struggles. “Sounds like I’m going to need it.”

Over and over and over again Lucas’s hand connected with my ass. No matter how hard I fought, how loud I screamed, the punishment never ceased.

And through it all, the voice on the other end of the phone spoke in those deep, drawling tones. “Make sure you give her sit-spots plenty of attention. She won’t learn if she doesn’t feel this every time she sits down for the next few days.” “Our little one is a fighter, isn’t she? You may need to use the paddle if she doesn’t give in soon.”

I fought for as long as I could. Until, at last, I simply ran out of energy. Collapsing over Lucas’s knee, I gave up, sobs wracking my body as he continued to spank my already scorched flesh.

“Ten more, Lucas. I want to be sure this lesson sinks in.”

The ten that came after that declaration were the hardest yet, and by the time Lucas gently lifted me up, cradling me in his giant arms, I was very certain I would never, ever “forget” my safety harness again.

“There we are, my curious little kitten.” The voice turned gentle, almost soothing. “Are you going to be a good girl now? No more giving Lucas any trouble about your safety equipment?”

“She’s nodding,” Lucas said, his tone also taking on a gentle cadence as he rocked me in his arms. “Don’t worry, Evander. I’ll take good care of your little one.”

“See that you do. Sleep now, kitten. Daddy will be there soon.”

Exhausted, far too worn out from my punishment to worry about some strange man calling himself “Daddy”, I fell asleep in Lucas’s arms.

That was a week ago. I’ve been trying to shake Lucas ever since, but if anything, he’s only become more attached to me. A shadow I can’t rid myself of no matter how hard I try. He hasn’t spanked me again, but mostly because I haven’t given him a reason to. Whenever he so much as looks at me sideways, I immediately stop doing whatever it is that’s earned me that look. It’s becoming a bit stifling, if I’m being honest, but I’m not keen to find myself over his lap again any time soon.

But none of that matters. Because in just a short while, we’ll be docking at the island. Excitement bubbles in my veins, the thrill of the chase once again returning to overtake the sheer exhaustion I’ve felt the past few weeks.

Everyone is on alert, either already running to heed the orders we’ve been given, or waiting for their own set of instructions. I know I should be helping, but I’m too caught up in what awaits me at our destination to really care.

My first glimpse of the island takes my breath away. I expected something tropical and lush, but I never actually saw pictures of it. And even if I had, I’m not sure they could have prepared me for the reality of this rich man’s playground. The forest is lush and dense, though it’s been cleared away at the docking area to make way for what appear to be warehouses.

As I take it in, worry worms its way through my excitement. The island is huge, so much bigger than I’d anticipated. How the hell am I supposed to find Juliet? Or any of the other unknown women I’ve been told Jasper and his friends have brought here? Already it seems like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Perhaps there’s a town. Surely if I can make my way to whatever center there might be, I can figure things out from there. Chat up the locals a bit, get a sense of things from them.

I’m so caught up in making my plans, I don’t even notice we’ve reached our destination. Or that the bridge connecting the ship to the dock has been lowered.

Or that a single man has crossed that metal bridge. I don’t notice a damn thing until a long shadow falls over me, and that deep voice I remember from the phone whispers in my ear.

“There you are, my naughty little kitten. Daddy’s been looking for you.”

Without even bothering to look and see who that terrifying voice belongs to, I do the first thing I can think of.

I run.

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