Esme's POV

The pee pushing on my bladder made me stagger to the bathroom.

"Goddamit," I groaned.

It was freaking two in the morning.

Finishing my business, I climbed under my sheets, when my phone rang.

I picked up, without bothering enough to check the caller ID.

"Hello," I answered.

"Running around with other men princess?" came a voice. Pulling the phone away, I saw that it was an unknown number.

Fucking hell.

"What do you want Lincoln?" I groaned. "God. I love it when your voice is thick with sleep. I gives me a fucking boner," he breathed.

"What the fuck do you want Lincoln? Who I run around with is none of your fucking business. Fuck off," I said, ending the call, and flopping face-first into the mattress.

"Good morning father," I greeted my dad, as I sat down to have breakfast.

"What is this I hear about you telling Lincoln to 'fuck off' when all he wanted to, was to see you?" he asked.

"I've had enough of his shit. And perhaps you should be asking him this same question. How do you even know that he called me?" I asked back.

"I'm your father Esme. And watch your tongue when you speak to or about the Davidsons. They are our major investors," he said, pointing his fork at me.

"Darling, when did she ever know the importance of all these things? You should teach her how to behave," my mother said, leaning into my father with a fake ass smile.

"She's stubborn as hell babe. One day she's gonna be the death of me," my father said.

"I will be the death of you alright," I said, getting up and walking away.

The moment I turned away, my eyes welled up. Sniffling slightly, I blinked them away, and went up to my room to get ready for the day.

My phone rang, alerting me. It was Antonio, my second command.

"Donna," he greeted. "Is something wrong?" I asked, rummaging for an outfit.

"Yes- well, no, we have a situation, and we don't know what to do," he said. "What is it?" I asked. "It's quite funny," he said sighing. "Funny? Can it wait till I come there?" I asked. "It can. But, our men are panicking tho," he said, and I heard a scream and a loud crash in the background.

Now I was interested in knowing what was going on...

"You guys keep me on my toes 24/7 man. I'll be there in ten. Take care pops," I said.

"You too. Take care bebita," he said, hanging up.

What the fuck was happening??

My curiosity made me arrive five minutes earlier. I had barely crossed the threshold of our building, when something orange flew past me into a pile of old cardboard, causing me to almost drop my phone.

"Jesus. What was that?" I asked, clutching my chest.

"Donna, it's been wreaking havoc in the whole building since morning. No one knows how it got inside, but dammit, I lost my trousers to it. I lost THE trousers to it," Daniel, one of my men said, panting.

"No way. The Rapunzel ones?" I asked, gaping. "Yes," he replied, horrified.

"What is it?" I asked everyone around. "A monster," they all replied, confusing me more.

There was only one way to find out the culprit behind the damage. I took slow steps toward the pile of boxes.

"Esme be careful," Antonio said from behind me.

When I neared the pile, I heard rustling from one of the boxes, and something jumped out. I caught just as it went flying toward Antonio, and then got a good look at it.

It was a freaking cat. An orange cat.

It was a she...

She almost clawed my eyes and hands out in an attempt to escape from me, but I just held her close, and within a minute she just snuggled up against me.

"See, it's just a cat, and you guys have been running around for four hours now. You're a bunch of crazy people I tell you," I said, laughing and standing up.

"It's a demon, boss," one of the guys said, backing away as I walked into my office.

After a few minutes, Antonio came in and stopped at the door when he saw Ginger sitting on my desk.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him. "Yes. We have shipments coming in tomorrow, and I think we have to double our order this time. Stocks are running low," he said, but never once took his eye off of Ginger.

"Can we wait another fortnight? I mean, bringing supplies in all at once is risky," I said, twirling my pen around. "We need it, Capo. If not double, at least 10k more," he said, referring to the grenade situation that he brought up.

"Yeah. Sure. Order it. I'll ring up Asher," I said, returning to the papers before me. When I didn't hear him leave, I looked up to find him smirking.

"What?" I asked. "You guys are on a first-name basis?" he teased. "Seriously? That is all you caught on to?" I asked.

"Just saying," he shrugged before leaving, and I caught myself smiling for no reason.

This shouldn't be happening.

No feelings, Esme... I reminded myself.

After a few hours of work, I cleared my desk, and picked up Ginger, when I remembered a crucial detail.

No pets in my house...

Shit...

Knowing Ginger, she'd rip anyone that isn't me to pieces. None of my men or Antonio could take her home. I can't have her, and I don't wanna let her go.

There was one more person that I could ask though...

Taking a deep breath, I called Asher, and he picked up as soon as it rang.

"Too much screen time is harmful Raymond," I teased.

"No hello, or how are you? You need to learn business etiquette Knight," he drawled.

"I need a favor," I cut to the chase.

"What do you need your highness?" he mocked.

"Quit it, dumbass. But coming back to matters at hand, I need you to take care of Ginger," I said.

"Who's Ginger now?" he asked.

"My kid," I joked.

"Okay. Wait WHAT?" he freaked.

"Calm down idiot. She's a cat. The Cat Distribution System finally chose me, but alas! I can't take her home. So can you take care of her?" I asked.

"What's the magic word we use?" he asked as if I was a toddler.

"Can you PLEASE take care of her?" I gritted out.

"Gladly. Bring her over, and stay the night. I'll tell mom," he said.

"It's alright. I have work at home anyway. I can't give another excuse to my father," I said, rubbing my eyes, feeling the strain and sleep behind them.

*sigh* "When was the last time you slept Esme?" he asked.

I felt a weird feeling when he called me by my first name.

"Yesterday?" I replied; more like questioned.

"Come over Esme. You need the sleep sweetheart," he said, his voice soft and gentle. "Mom's making lasagna," he added to bribe me.

In the few times that I've been over, Val's lasagna has become my addiction.

"You're gonna tell her to make it just because you want me to come over, aren't you? Poor Val. She doesn't deserve to suffer like that. Besides it's already nine, and she would've finished making dinner. I don't wanna disturb her," I shrugged.

"Either you stay over, or I lock you in when you bring your kid over. You decide," he said.

"I don't know Asher," I said, feeling like I was intruding and being a burden.

"Princess, you are welcome in our home anytime. You're our daughter, after all," I heard Alaric speak.

"YOU HAD ME ON SPEAKER THE ENTIRE TIME? AND YOUR DAD WAS THERE? AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME ABOUT IT?" I lost control, my voice reaching a higher octave.

I heard him laughing.

"Asher you're so fucking screwed. Wait till I get my hands on you," I threatened.

HE WAS STILL LAUGHING. And I heard Alaric laugh too.

"Princess, just stay over. Val's still preparing dinner. It's no trouble, really," Alaric said again.

I didn't have the heart to say 'no' to him.

I looked at the time, and then Ginger.

Screw this. My work and father can wait another day.

"Alright. I'll be there in a few," I said, with a smile on my face.

"Sure. I'll text Micah too. He wanted to catch up with you," Asher said.

"Take care Asher, you too Alaric," I said, ending the call.

A/N: Hey lovelies... How are y'all?? I hope everyone's doing well...

So, what do we think about the chapter?

What do you all think about Lincoln??

Thoughts on Asher and Esme? Any ship names??

Also, the bond between Alaric and our girl tho... *priceless and sweet af* 😩😩

What do you think about the next chapter?? Any expectations? Any ideas?

Until next time,

Love,

Jeff ❤❤