Fuck. He really had fallen down on the job of protecting her.
“You need us for anything else?” Macca asked him from where he stood in the kitchen entrance.
“Nah, we’re good,” he told Macca then glanced down at Daisy. “Or we will be.”
Macca nodded. “She did really well. Listened to all my instructions. Could tell she was scared, but she didn’t let it get the best of her. Didn’t panic. Guessing now she could use a bit of care, though.”
“I know.” He didn’t need Macca telling him how to take care of his girl.
“Hope you do,” Macca said cheerfully, but there was a slight warning in his voice. “Daisy, baby?”
He did not like hearing him call her baby. Daisy didn’t move. Worry filled Jed and Macca frowned at him. Yeah, he was aware she wasn’t really with them and that wasn’t good.
Jed took gentle hold of her shoulders to pull her back. She made a funny little noise and tried to bury in closer.
“Sugar, look at me.”
Another noise.
“Babe.”
Still nothing.
“Daisy, look at me.” He forced some steel in his voice. And she stiffened. He leaned in and whispered against her ear. “I just want to see your face, gorgeous. Everything is all right. You’re okay.”
She took in a breath, leaned back. She was pale. He took hold of her wrist, taking her pulse. It was fast. Macca slipped up close behind her.
“Sure, you’ll be right?”
“Yeah, I got her.”
Macca reached out and touched her shoulder lightly. She jumped and turned towards him.
“I’ll see you later, all right, love? You did real good tonight.”
“Th-thanks.” She took a breath, straightened her shoulders. Brave, his girl. “And thanks for all your help.”
Macca smiled. “Anytime, love. I’m here for whatever you need.”
Jed gave him a look but the other man just shot him a big smile. Bastard.
Then everyone was gone and the house was empty. And quiet. Too quiet. He could sense Daisy was starting to go somewhere else again.
“Baby, I need you to stay with me, all right?” He took her face between his hands.
She stared up at him in surprise. “I am with you.”
“Right. Physically. Mentally, your mind is going somewhere else. I should never have let you stay here.”
She stared into his eyes; her gaze clear. “You had to. You didn’t know where he was watching from. Or who it was. He might have seen me leave. It was the best way to catch him. And hopefully, I’ll be able to sleep now that he’s caught.”
She was completely exhausted, but also wound up. He needed to get her settled down so she could sleep. And there was one way he could think to do that.
“I feel sick. My heart is pounding. I’m still shaking. How can I sleep like this?”
“I’m going to help you.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
After the way he’d acted, he was certain he didn’t deserve her trust. But he would take it. Cherish it. And make certain he never gave her a reason to regret giving it again.
“Adult Daisy might not be able to sleep, but Little Daisy can.”
She stilled. Bit her lip. “I don’t think I’m in the right headspace.”
“That’s why I’m here to help. I want to check the house over one more time, make sure it’s all shut up.”
“I’ll come with you,” she said quickly.
He wrapped an arm around her. He noticed her feet dragging, how much she leaned against him. They reached the bottom of the stairs and instead of leading her up them, he picked her up, cradling her against him with one arm under her ass, her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms tight around his neck.
“I love when you carry me,” she confessed.
“That’s good, baby girl, because I really love carrying you.” He quickly checked the rest of the windows, with her held against him then carried her into the bathroom. He set her down on the counter.
“Stay there. Gonna run you a bath.”
She yawned. “That sounds nice.”
He turned on the taps then looked around. “Got any bubbles?”
“Um, yep, in the bathroom cupboard at the back.” She shifted and he grasped hold of her waist.
“Told you to stay.” He tapped the tip of her nose. “I’m taking care of things tonight.”
“How is that different from any other night,” she teased, giving him hope she was starting to feel better.
“Seems I haven’t been taking care of you as well as I should have been.”
“This wasn’t your fault, Jed,” she told him. “Really. If anything, it was mine.”
“How do you figure that one, sugar?” He grabbed the bubble bath and poured some into the tub before putting it away.
“I must have done something to lead him—”
He placed his hand over her mouth. “I’m going to stop you right there, babe. Don’t care what the fuck you did and I don’t for one-minute think that you did a thing to lead him on but even if you did, he had no right to do what he did. Sending you things, especially those notes. Watching you through the window. Scaring you. Said it once, and I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it to believe it. That behavior ain’t right and it ain’t on you, it’s on him. Got me?”
She looked at him for a moment. “It’s not on you either. You couldn’t know when I didn’t tell you.”
“That won’t happen again, will it?” he asked sternly.
“No. It won’t.”
He cupped her face with his hand. “I’m sorry I jumped to the wrong conclusion and stormed off.” He clenched his jaw. “I keep thinking about what might have happened if I hadn’t come back.”
“You did,” she whispered. “You came back. And you got him. I’m safe.”
He leaned his forehead against hers. And she’d stay that way.
He turned the taps off as she yawned. Yep, she was crashing. Fast. He needed to get her all tucked up into bed and relaxed. He’d need to talk to Kent about some time off. He had some downtime coming after the last job. But a few days wouldn’t be enough. His girl needed him here, helping her through this shit.
First things first. Bath. Bed. Sleep.
“Come on, baby girl. Let me help you get undressed.” He moved slowly, keeping his voice soft and steady so as not to frighten her.
She surprised him by being co-operative. She’d only let him undress her once before. She would usually scamper into the bathroom to get changed when he was putting her to bed. Still, as exhausted as she was it was understandable that she’d let him take total control.
He might not like the circumstances around it, but he did enjoy the trust she was giving him. He had her sweater and t-shirt off then without lingering to stare, he whisked off her bra.
This wasn’t about sex tonight. It was about taking care of his baby.
“What a good girl you are for Daddy,” he murmured to her as he helped her stand.
He grabbed hold of her sweatpants and drew them over her hips and down. “Put your hands on Daddy’s shoulders while I help you out. Don’t want my girl falling and hurting herself.”
A very real possibility when she was dead on her feet. She rested her hands on his shoulders and stepped out of her pants. He stood. His cock was already hard, pressing against his jeans.
She needs softness. Compassion. Understanding.
Not his forte, but he’d try to give her whatever it was she needed.
Then he froze. And not due to the sight of her small but plump breasts topped with cherry-colored nipples. Not at the sight of her small waist that nipped in then flared out into surprisingly generous hips given her size. Not even because of that shaved pussy.
Nope he froze when he saw the fucking bruises. Bruises, plural on her right thigh. He crouched down to get a better look. There were small, some had faded to a yellow-brown, others were pu
rple-pink and tinged with blue. He remembered she’d had some slight bruising the last time he’d helped her undress. This was something different entirely.
“Where the fuck did you get these from?”
She froze. Shit. Shit. Shit. Why hadn’t she remembered? Stupid. She’d never intended him to see them. She’d been trying hard to stop, but with Jed away, the voice came back. And then her anxiety over the flowers and notes just seemed to stir things up more. Until her thigh was a mess.
She was so screwed up.
She placed her hand over the bruises, as though hiding them would make him forget that he’d ever seen them.
Jed gently pried her hand away. He just stared at her thigh and she braced herself for his disgust. His horror.
You are such a mess.
“Jed, I can explain.”
He stared up at her and the look in his eyes was so dark and cold that she couldn’t even breathe.
“Who did this to you?”
She shook her head.
“Don’t you fucking protect them,” he said in a harsh voice. “Don’t even think about it. I want a name and I want it now. Who did this to you?”
She licked her lips, her heart racing.
“Who. Did. This?”
“It’s not what you think,” she managed to whisper.
He just waited. Stared up at her. And the room filled with his fury. Foreboding. An imminent storm.
She braced. “I did it.”
17
He rocked, falling back onto his ass as he stared up at in her shock. It didn’t even register that he’d lost his balance or that he probably looked like an idiot.
She. . .she. . .
“You did this to yourself?” he whispered.
Her face was blank as she stared down at him. “Yes.”
His mind whirled, trying to process that. Why would someone hurt themselves like that? He managed to pull his shit together when he noticed that she was creeping away from him, watching him with a wariness that told him she thought he was on the edge of exploding.
He got to his feet then wished he’d moved more slowly as she flinched.
“Baby, you’re scared of me?” He forced himself to calm his voice. It was obvious she was getting ready to bolt and he really didn’t want to chase her through the house.
“No.”
He raised his eyebrow.
“I-I’m scared of what you’re gonna say or think.”
“What do you think I’m gonna say or think?”
“That I’m a freak,” she whispered.
Shock stabbed him in the gut. She really thought that?
“Baby—”
“I don’t do it all the time,” she told him quickly. She’d wrapped her arms around herself defensively. “It’s just when I hear his voice, telling me that I’m a slut or worthless or—”
“Who?” He couldn’t stop himself from grabbing hold of her arms then cursed himself as she let out a scared cry.
Easy, man.
“Baby, who said those things to you?” Who the fuck did he have to kill?
Her eyes were wide, swimming with tears. It killed him to see her like that.
“I-I don’t want to tell you.”
He frowned, not liking that. “Babe, if I’m gonna help you I need to know what the fuck is going on.”
“I dreamed of one day telling you everything. But I’m a lot braver in my dreams. Never intended for you to know about this, though.” She waved her hand at her thigh. “Wasn’t ever going to tell you that he haunts me, even before he died.”
“Babe, who?” His gut clenched with dread.
“Your grandfather.”
She braced herself.
He’d deny it. Of course, he would. He wouldn’t believe her. She’d let him down. He thought she had betrayed him. He loved his grandfather.
He stared at her and she couldn’t read his expression. “My grandfather.”
“I know you might not want to believe me, but he. . .he. . .” she gulped. “I need to tell you all of it. Will you listen now?”
He nodded. She couldn’t read the look on his face, but at least he wasn’t calling her a liar and storming out.
“Yeah, I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.”
Thank God.
“I’ll just go get my robe.” She made to move but he grabbed her hip, holding her still. “No.”
“But I. . .I can’t do this naked!”
Without a word, he whipped off his t-shirt and pulled it over her body. She slid her arms into the holes. The scent of him surrounded her. The t-shirt warm from his body heat. And her eyes sort of glazed over as she took in his cut body.
The man was gorgeous. Even in her state, she had to take a moment to admire him. There was no other choice.
“Sugar, my eyes are up here.”
She glanced up quickly, totally embarrassed she’d been caught staring.
“Like what you see?”
“You know I do.” She rolled her eyes. “How do you not just stand and stare at yourself in the mirror all day? That’s what I’d do if I had a body like that.”
He laughed. Then he sobered. “Jesus, babe. Got back to town today, dying to see you, absolutely exhausted after the hell of the last few days only to find some asshole has been stalking you. I had to watch you hold it together by the skin of your teeth, bring you up here to take care of you the best way I know how only to find you been fucking bruising yourself because my bastard grandfather has done something fucked-up to you. What he’s done I don’t know and that’s screwing with my head, big time.”
“It’s not. . .he didn’t touch me or anything,” she whispered.
“Well, that’s a relief,” he said. “But there are other things I’m imagining, baby, and I need to know if they’re true. But in the midst of all that shit and that’s a lot of shit to deal with in one freaking day, you manage to make me laugh. And that, as well as a whole lot of other stuff I don’t have time to go into is why I love you. Loved for you for over ten freaking years, just buried it deep. But it never went away. You’ve been mine since you were sixteen, our lives just took different paths for a while, but you were always with me. Now it seems my grandfather might have had something to do with that. So please, will you just tell me.”
She stared at him for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll tell you. All of it.”
He closed the lid of the toilet and sat then pulled her onto his lap.
“Um, you don’t think we should go downstairs to talk?”
“Nope.” He needed this done and he wasn’t giving her time to change her mind or try to soften the story.
“Okay. In all the ways I’d imagined I’d tell you this it wasn’t while sitting on the toilet. With a bare butt.”
“Usually the way one would sit on a toilet, I’d think,” he teased her to ease the tension even though he wasn’t finding anything humorous about this situation. But he felt her relax slightly. He ran his hand up and down her back.
“Babe,” he prompted when she remained silent for a while.
“I’m scared to tell you,” she whispered. “Over the years I thought about this moment. About what I would say. About how you would react.”
“Well, I can help you with that last part.” He drew her back so he could stare down into those deep, gray eyes. “I can’t guarantee I won’t lose my shit. That I won’t punch another wall. What I can tell you is no matter what you tell me, I will not leave you. Ever. You’re in me now. You’re my love. My girl. Might have lost my mind earlier and stormed out, took me less than fifteen minutes to realize I’d fucked up big and come back. That was fifteen minutes too many. Ain’t going anywhere and neither are you.”
She took a deep breath, let it out slowly. “Right.”
He could tell she didn’t quite believe him still. But he would show her.
“It was about two months after you left. A Saturday night. Sylvie was staying over with a friend. Brad was out. And every Saturday I could, I tried t
o go to our place.”
Their place was a pond on his grandfather’s estate. He’d lived with his grandfather after his parents were killed in a helicopter accident. His grandfather hadn’t exactly known what to do with a five-year old boy. Jed’s grandmother had died of cancer years ago. Jed had mainly been raised by a nanny. It hadn’t been a terrible experience. He’d been given whatever he desired. But it hadn’t been a warm, loving household. All of the men in Jed’s family had served at one time and his grandfather had been happy at his decision to enlist. Jed had mainly enlisted so he had a shot at building something for him and Daisy.
“I was sitting there, thinking of you when I heard someone approach. I turned and there was Bobby. I didn’t know him that well. We’d barely even talked. I said hello. He smiled back and said, hello, sexy. Then he walked up and sat beside me. Too close. I tried to move away and he flung an arm over my shoulders. He said he’d been watching me, waiting to catch me alone. Told me I was hot and I deserved better than you.”
That fucking asshole. Hitting on his girl. But he bit back his growl of anger. He needed to hear the rest of this.
“I told him to let me go. To leave. That I loved you. He wouldn’t leave, though.” A sob escaped her and he stiffened.
No, please God, no.
“He wrapped his arms tight around me and kissed me. I tried to fight back but he had me pinned. Then he whispered at me that this might be a job, but he was gonna enjoy fucking me. He was going to rape me. I tried to fight. But he was stronger. He was determined. He had me on the ground, was tearing at my clothes.” She let out a sob and he pressed his lips to the top of her head, his eyes closing. Tears threatened.
Keep it together.
Fuck. Fuck him. Fuck Bobby.
“Sh, baby.” Anger burned so bright inside him that it was an inferno. Much as he didn’t want to know what happened, she needed to give it and he had to take it. For her. He had to take some of that poison away and shoulder what pain he could.
She went still. Quiet. He knew she was back there and that wouldn’t do. He needed the story. But damned if he wanted her reliving it while she told him. He tipped her back, gently grasped hold of her chin. “Baby girl, look at Daddy. Look at Daddy.”
Daddy’s Lost Love Page 16
