Hero Daddy

by Roberts, Laylah

  “Guess he thought you might be useful,” Brody mused.

  “Or maybe he just enjoyed torturing me. Keeping me locked up. On tenterhooks waiting for what he wanted from me.”

  “Did you ever try to escape again?” Duke asked her.

  “No,” she whispered. “Learned my lesson. And he told me that if I did, he’d hurt one of the boys. They’re the reason I did what he said and went to Fringe to meet you. I don’t care about my life. But they’re my kids.” She gave him a pleading look, begging him to understand.

  And he got it, he did.

  “It’s okay, Betsy. I’m not mad at you. I understand why you did it.”

  What he didn’t understand is why Forrest Robins was trying to set him up.

  “Did Forrest tell you why he would want to frame me for his brother’s murder?” he asked her.

  She shook her head. “No. He just told me to go to Fringe and get close to you. I wasn’t sure how I was ever going to get you interested in me. I have a problem with loud noises. I can’t stand people touching me, because most of the people who have touched me in my life have hurt me. I had no clue what I was doing. But then, I got to know you. And you didn’t hurt me, you took care of me, and I actually liked it when you touched me. Forrest left soon after that first night I went to the club. It wasn’t until the night you asked for my phone number that he returned. He wanted results.” She spat out the word.

  “I had no clue what he had planned. I was so torn. I had to do what he wanted because of my boys. But I couldn’t stand the thought of him using you. So when we got home, I asked him what he expected me to do. He pressed me against the wall, his hand around my throat and I knew it wouldn’t take much for him to kill me. He’s been toying with me all this time. I think it’s been fun for him, torturing me.”

  She ran her hands up and down her arms. “He shoved me out of the room. But he didn’t close the door properly. I could hear him talking to his enforcer about framing you for his brother’s death. Something about the old man wanting to know who killed the senator and getting him off his back.”

  “His father?” Duke asked.

  “Yes. There’s some reason Forrest wants his father to think that you killed the senator.”

  “Maybe the old man just wants someone to blame,” Duke guessed.

  “But why me?” Ink asked.

  “Because of the photos the cops have and your weak alibi?” Duke suggested.

  “Photos?” she asked.

  “We were keeping an eye on the senator,” he told her. “There are photos of some of us outside his place. But none of the photos were of me and the cops have cleared us all.”

  She frowned. “But if your alibi is weak, he could have been trying to plant evidence and frame you. That makes sense with what I overheard.”

  “Fuck,” Ink swore.

  “What if there were photos and the cops didn’t get hold of them but somehow Forrest did? Or he could doctor them,” Duke guessed.

  “I’ve found the kids,” Brody suddenly said. “Got the school they’re enrolled in. What do you want me to do?”

  Betsy stiffened in his arms. “You found them? Really?”

  Brody sent her a smile. “I did.”

  “Thank God,” she muttered on a small sob.

  Ink thought through his options. “I’ll contact Matthieu. Send him to get them.”

  Matthieu Clarkson was someone Ink had known for years. He’d been in the French Special Forces. He was deadly, well-trained. And he owed Ink a favor.

  She took a deep breath. “But what about whoever is watching them?”

  “Don’t worry, Matthieu will get them out safely.”

  She clenched her hands in his shirt. “You promise? Because if someone tries to get to them and he finds out, if he stops them, he’ll hurt Royal and Baron.”

  “Betsy, you need to trust me. Trust me to keep them safe and you.”

  “I’m not important. They are. You are.”

  “That shit is going to stop right now,” he growled at her. “You are important as well. You have worth.”

  She just shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks.

  He was gonna fucking teach her self-worth. If it was the last thing he did.

  “We will get them out. Keep them safe. I promise you.”

  She buried her face into his chest and cried. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I should have said something straight away. I’m a coward.”

  “You were used. You were abused and terrorized and threatened. And even through all that, you found a way to warn me. That makes you fucking brave. I won’t hear you call yourself that again, understand me? Or you’ll be over my knee before you can blink.”

  She cried against his chest, just clinging to him, barely moving. As though she didn’t have the energy to move, to do anything other than sit there and wet his shirt with her tears.

  And it was breaking his heart.

  Reyes suddenly stood over them. He looked up as the big man crouched down and picked up the blanket that had slipped down. He wrapped it gently around Betsy, then to Ink’s shock he ran his hand down her blonde hair.

  Reyes wasn’t an affectionate guy. Hell, most of the time he refused to speak to anyone who wasn’t part of the Iron Shadows. The only women he could ever recall the cold president even speaking to were Jewel and Sunny.

  So this was completely out of character.

  “Poor little subbie,” Reyes muttered. He looked at Ink. “You need to watch her. She’s so filled with guilt over all of this that she’ll likely do anything to protect you. Without any thought to her own safety.”

  “That’s not happening,” Ink growled. He tightened his arms around her. “She’s not even leaving my fucking sight from now on.”

  At least not until all threats were eliminated. Maybe not even then.

  Betsy stirred in his arms. She glanced up at him, she was a mess. Hair everywhere. Eyes puffy. She wasn’t a pretty crier. Not at all.

  And yet, he thought she looked gorgeous.

  Got it bad, man.

  “Ink, I have to go back.”

  “What?” He had to have heard her wrong.

  “I have to go back. I can’t stay with you.”

  15

  Betsy watched as his face turned to ice. Tension flooded her. She didn’t want to upset him. But leaving wasn’t an option.

  “Her shadow downstairs is starting to get antsy. Betsy, were you supposed to check in with him?” Brody suddenly asked.

  “With who?”

  “The man who followed you here.”

  “I…no, I don’t even know who is following me. I know there is always someone watching. There had to have been at least one person at the club and someone who watched me on our date. That’s how come I left you a note. They’ve probably bugged my phone, although I’ve only had that a short time.”

  “Angus was being blackmailed,” Ink told her. “That’s why he let you into the club, and set up that meeting between us.”

  It made sense.

  “Do you have a way of getting hold of him?” Duke asked her.

  She blinked, feeling confused. “Who? Forrest?”

  “No, brown eyes,” Ink explained. “The guy downstairs. He’s getting suspicious.”

  “Probably because the two of you have been making porn noises for the last forty minutes,” Brody stated matter-of-factly. “He’s gotta be wondering how Ink has that much stamina.”

  “Brody,” Ink snapped.

  She could feel herself growing bright red.

  “Sorry,” Brody muttered.

  “He has a tendency to open his mouth without thinking,” Ink told her. “We need to get Betsy out of here without him seeing. We’ll go out the back way. Leave all her stuff in the room so they can’t trace her.”

  “I…I…Ink I can’t go with you.”

  She waited for the explosion. But to her shock, he just ignored her, looking over at Duke. “Can you get my truck brought around to the back entrance?
”

  “Ink,” she said loudly. “I can’t go with you.”

  “You are not going back there.”

  “My boys—”

  Ink stood and set her down on the end of the bed. He pointed at Duke. “She doesn’t move from this room. I’m going to go call Matthieu, he’s smart and deadly and he owes me a favor. He’ll get your sons out. Then there’s no reason for you to stay.”

  “What about the evidence he has? What about his threat to release it and get Baron arrested for Rex’s murder?”

  Ink paused and stared down at her. He seemed so calm that it surprised her. Then he looked over at Brody.

  “You can get that evidence off his computer?”

  “Maybe. If it’s hooked to a Wi-Fi system and he doesn’t have it backed up anywhere,” Brody told him.

  “He owns at least three houses,” she told them. “He could have the evidence at all of them. I can’t take the risk.”

  They all fell silent.

  “We need something on him. Something that will keep him quiet,” Reyes suddenly said. He looked at her. “You think there’s something like that we could use?”

  “I don’t know much about what he does, but I know a lot of it isn’t legal. I guess there could be something in his office. If I could gain access…”

  “No!” Ink said. “Not. Fucking. Happening.”

  “I could give her a pen drive,” Brody told them. “All she’d have to do was plug it into his computer, and it would suck up all the files. Few minutes tops.”

  “He’s not there at the moment,” she whispered. “There are guards and cameras, though. Kit, the guy that took over from Rex, sometimes he goes away with him, other times he stays at the house. If he’s around, I don’t think I’ll get into the office. He’s always the one who monitors my phone. Plus, the office is locked when Forrest isn’t in there. How will I get a key?”

  “Why kind of lock is it?” Brody asked. “Deadbolt or a simple latch lock?”

  She gave him a confused look. He brought something up on his laptop then turned the screen to her.

  “Is it like that?”

  She nodded.

  “Good. That’s easy. All you need is a credit card to force open the lock.”

  “I don’t have a credit card.” Force open the lock? Who did he think she was?

  “We can get you a card. I have one you can take. I’ll cancel it and get a new one. I can show you a video on what to do.” He looked over at Ink. “If we find out what security system he uses, I might be able to take care of the cameras. I could cut them out a few times before she goes in. So the guards get lax about it.”

  “This is not happening. She can’t do this.”

  “I can. I can do this.” Maybe. Probably. Oh God.

  “No.” Ink loomed over her. With anyone else she might have been terrified. But she trusted Ink. When it had happened, she wasn’t sure. But she was certain her Little side would never have emerged without his care and attention.

  She both hated and loved the way she felt about him. Loved it because she’d never known a man like him, never thought she would.

  Hated it, because she was terrified of losing him. And part of her was certain it was inevitable.

  “No, Betsy. You’re gonna do as I say.”

  “Ink, please.”

  “No.”

  Her shoulders drooped. She loved that he was protective. But how else was she going to get rid of the threat of Forrest? Without endangering everyone she loved.

  “Ink,” Duke growled. Ink swung towards him.

  “No! You wouldn’t fucking let Sunny do this. So why should I let my woman?”

  She glanced from Ink to Duke then over to the colder man whose name she still didn’t know. He didn’t offer an opinion. Just watched them all carefully. Then he glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow.

  “While I’m all for keeping women out of danger,” he drawled. “If we don’t get Forrest under control, then your woman is always going to be at risk.”

  She gulped.

  “As well as those she loves.”

  “There’s gotta be another way,” Ink muttered. “Why can’t I go in and get it?”

  “He’s got a lot of security. Armed guards. Cameras. Dogs. Alarms.” She shook her head. “It would be a foolish risk.”

  “It’s too much of a risk for you.”

  “I never thought I’d live for much longer, Ink.”

  He pointed at her but looked over at the cold-eyed man. “That is why she can’t go in. She has no self-preservation.”

  “I don’t think she was finished speaking,” Duke eyed her.

  Betsy licked dry lips. Her head pounded with stress. She was moments away from a migraine if she didn’t calm down. “But if you…if you really do want me…”

  Ink drew her up, his hands around her waist, her feet dangling in the air.

  “We got things to work through. Like honesty and trust and communication. But we’ll work through them with you by my fucking side, under my fucking protection, doing as you’re fucking told!”

  She narrowed her gaze. “Doing as I’m told?”

  “Uh-oh,” Duke muttered.

  “When it comes to protection and safety, I’m in charge.”

  “You asked me if I was your sub, your Little.”

  “And if you are then you’ll do as you’re told.”

  She narrowed her gaze. “I won’t be your doormat. I’ll never be that again.”

  “I don’t want a doormat!”

  She flinched as his voice grew loud and he groaned as he set her down. “Shit, brown eyes. Sorry. I have a temper. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

  “It’s okay,” she whispered.

  “No, it isn’t.” The words came from the cold-eyed man, which shocked her.

  She glanced over at him.

  “Ink is furious because he cares about you and doesn’t want any harm to come to you, however he needs to watch his tone around you.”

  Ink snarled and she worried he was going to jump the other man. But to her shock, he took a deep breath and nodded. Then he looked over at her. “Reyes is right. Christ, brown eyes, sorry for scaring you.”

  “I know you won’t hurt me,” she told him, meaning every word. “All men have ever done is hurt me. So it was a shock when I realized I was attracted to you. That I felt safe with you. Nobody has ever protected me, Ink.”

  He cupped her face between his hands. “So let me keep you safe.”

  “Don’t you understand that I want to? I want that more than anything. The only thing I want more is to answer yes to your question.”

  “What?” He gave her a confused look.

  “I want to be your submissive, your Little,” she told him.

  Satisfaction flooded him. She would be his.

  “But I can’t do that while Forrest is a threat. If we get something on him, if we keep the boys out of his hands, maybe you’ll all be safe.”

  “I’m going to get you to put yourself at the top of the list of people who are important and need to be kept safe if it takes me fucking years and countless spankings and time outs.”

  She could feel her cheeks heat, and she couldn’t help but glance around at everyone.

  “Don’t look at them. Look at me. They all know what you are to me. Fucking precious. And I’ll do anything to keep you safe.”

  “I don’t see how you can forgive me for lying to you.”

  “But you weren’t lying, were you, brown eyes? That’s the thing. Maybe you met me under false pretenses, maybe you kept some secrets, but if your reactions were real, your feelings were real—”

  “They were,” she told him.

  “Then there’s nothing to forgive. Doesn’t mean that I’ll tolerate you keeping anything from me in the future. I’m going to know everything. And I’ll be demanding. You get your period, someone cuts you off in a parking lot, you get a damn paper cut, you will tell me.”

  The demand in his face was clear. The ex
pectations were set.

  And all she could do was nod. “I’ll tell you everything.”

  The look of raw satisfaction on his face shocked her. And at the same time, it flooded her with heat. She’d never had anyone want her like this. Rex had wanted her as arm candy, to be a mother to his sons, to make his life easier. Her mother had wanted her to be quiet, obedient, perfect. And Forrest wanted her for his own reasons. To have someone to use and manipulate.

  But never had any of them wanted what Ink did.

  It scared her. And thrilled her. She could lose herself in him. But considering she had no idea who she was, maybe that didn’t even matter.

  “Guy downstairs is getting extremely antsy,” Brody said. “What’s the verdict on Betsy going back?”

  Ink’s jaw clenched tight. “You’ve got three days to get the information before I pull you out. We make a date for Wednesday night. You’re leaving then and not going back whether you have it or not. I’ll get Matthieu to remove your sons on the same day. Brody, how can you get her what she needs?”

  “Got a pen drive here. Always come prepared, boss. You know that. All you have to do is plug it in and make sure the computer is on. It will do the rest.” Brody handed her the small pen drive. “Can you hide that?”

  She swallowed. “They don’t strip search me. They don’t expect me to rebel. I’ll put it in my bra.”

  “Why don’t we give her a burner phone?” Brody suggested. “The smallest one should fit in her bra.”

  Ink whacked him on the side of the head. “Stop staring at her chest.”

  “I wasn’t checking her out.”

  She bit her lip. “I could try to hide it. If I wear it in my bra on silent all the time, they shouldn’t find it. Same as the credit card.”

  “You should take a back-up card, just in case,” Brody told her, handing over a burner phone. Ink grabbed it and started tapping away on it. “Use the phone to watch a video on using the credit card to unlock the office door. You should practice first, if you can.”

  She nodded nervously.

  Surprisingly, it was cold man who handed her another card.

  Ink growled. “I hate this. Brody will hack into the security system and mess it up several times so the guards get used to it being off-line. Don’t attempt to enter the office until Wednesday, just before our date. Then bring it with you. Got it?”