Ruled by her Daddies (Harem of Daddies)

Resting her head back against the wall, she closed her eyes. Soon. Soon, it would be over. And she wouldn’t have to worry anymore.

Her only regret was not seeing them one last time. She just wanted to say she was sorry. Grabbing the locket out from under her shirt, she just held it. It was too dark back here to see the photo inside.

She didn’t need to see it anyway. She had it memorized. She was standing in front of Aleki, his arms around her as he grinned down at her. She was staring up at Caleb, laughing. Wolfe was the only one looking at the camera. Well, scowling at the camera was more accurate.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, closing the locket and tucking it safely away. “I love you guys.”

She took in a shuddering breath.

“Piggles, I just want to say goodbye. Piggles, I wish you could fly,” she sang.

“Come on. She has to be around here somewhere. I wish the signal was stronger.” Wow. Now her hallucinations were getting really lifelike. It sounded like Caleb was only a few feet away.

“Why would she be in this part of the city? I think Wolfe has got it wrong. Or likely she got rid of that locket a long time ago.”

Aleki sounded grouchy. Why would she dream of him as grouchy when he’d always been so happy?

“She could have. We could have flown halfway around the world to track down some vagrant. There is no way that Genevieve would be in this alleyway. She was always very aware of her personal hygiene. It was one of her best qualities.”

Oh. Wolfe. She wished they were really here.

“Jesus, Wolfe,” Caleb snapped. “She had lots of good qualities.”

“What? Like loyalty?” Wolfe asked.

She whimpered at the pain those words brought. Loyalty. She had none of that, did she? Why had she never told them the truth? Now, that moment was lost. They hated her. Or they’d simply forgotten her.

She didn’t know which was worse.

“Did you hear that?” Caleb sounded like he was getting closer.

“Could have been a cat,” Aleki replied.

“Or a rat,” Wolfe added. “Remember those rats in East Timor? Bigger than a cat. And nasty.”

“Of course I fucking remember them,” Aleki replied. “One of the fuckers bit me. I could have gotten fucking rabies.”

“It’s rare for a rat to pass on rabies to a human,” Wolfe retorted calmly.

“Oh, I feel so much better now,” Aleki replied.

“But you could have gotten rat-bite fever. It’s nasty. Fever. Vomiting. Headache. Death.”

“Will you two shut up,” Caleb snapped back.

She whimpered again.

“Oh, fuck! No! No, no, no.”

Caleb sounded so upset. She tried to move, but her body wouldn’t cooperate. A strange, pained noise hit her ears making her wince. Someone sounded hurt. Who was it? Were they okay?

“It’s you. You’re making that noise. You are the one who is hurt,” Wolfe explained in a cold, emotionless tone.

She hated that voice. He used it with everyone except Aleki and Caleb.

And her.

Until that day. The day she’d ruined it all.