Her Daddy's Jewel (MC Daddies Book 5) Read online

  “I can be your protector, your confidante, your Dom, and your Daddy, if that’s what you need.”

  12

  Jason walked out of the secured cottage where Maxwell was being held. He stared down at his swollen knuckles. He’d re-opened the scrapes. Damn it, Jewel wouldn’t be happy.

  Sting walked out behind him and lit a cigarette. He offered one to Jason.

  “Hell no, those things will kill you.”

  “You never cared before.”

  He grunted. “Before Jewel.”

  “Never thought I’d see the day you let a woman change you.”

  Jason shot him a look. “I’ll remind you that you said that when you find your woman.”

  “My woman is going to do everything I tell her. She won’t ever try to tell me what to do.”

  “A relationship is compromise.”

  “Urgh, now you sound like that dumbass shrink, Perkins.”

  Jason grimaced. “Sorry you guys had to go to him just because I lost it.”

  Sting snorted. “Ma overreacted. Just because you lost it once didn’t mean you would again.”

  He shook his head. If only Sting knew how many times he’d come close to losing control.

  Turning, he looked back at the cabin. “You happy to keep your guys here watching him?”

  “They’ll complain. Not enough action but they’ll do it.”

  “They can take turns having fun with him.”

  “That’ll cheer them up.” Sting grimaced. “Shocked you didn’t lose it in there, things he was saying about your girl.” He eyed Jason curiously. He’d been there for The Incident. He was the one to pull him out, and he’d told Ma what happened.

  Then she’d sent them all to Perkins to talk through their feelings and other bullshit.

  Jason pushed his anger deep. There was one thing he’d learned from Perkins and that was how to control that rage that lived deep inside him. Of course, Perkins had wanted him to purge it forever. That wasn’t happening. That rage was what kept him alive. The only difference between eighteen-year-old him and twenty-eight-year-old him was that now he could hide it. Nobody knew what lived inside him. How he had to fight to keep it under control.

  How tempting it had been to let it free on the asshole in the cabin.

  But he knew if he did, that he wouldn’t get the answers he needed.

  “Surprised he’s still holding out. Doesn’t seem the type to withstand much pain.”

  “He still has hope,” Jason said.

  “Dumbass. He’ll lose that soon.”

  Jason nodded. When he realized he wouldn’t be rescued. When he realized the only freedom he could hope for was death.

  “Best you wash up before you see your girl.”

  “Bit of blood won’t worry her. She’s tough.” He both loved and hated how tough she was. Loved it because if anyone could handle his darkness, it was her.

  Hated it because she’d had to learn the hard way how to be strong. She wasn’t born like that. It was taught to her over and over again.

  She was vulnerable at the moment, though. Feeling things more than she usually would. Normally, she wouldn’t have run the way she did today.

  He wanted her to be happy. To be free of everything that weighed her down.

  “I need to get some red and green gummi bears.”

  “Red and green ones?”

  “Yeah, Jewel likes the red and green ones.”

  “Do they sell just red and green ones?” Sting asked.

  “No. You have to pick out the other colors.”

  “Bro, you have it bad.”

  “I can’t wait until you find someone you want to spend the rest of your life with.”

  “Never going to happen.” They started walking towards Sting’s vehicle. “Just remember who your favorite brother is when it comes to the wedding.”

  “You’re not going to be the best man,” Jason told him as they got in and drove away.

  “Why not?”

  “Because we’re going to elope. Quick flight to Las Vegas and done.”

  “I can still be the best man.”

  “Yeah, right. The best man makes a speech, no way you’re making a fucking speech at my wedding. No telling what shit you’d say.”

  “Aww, I wouldn’t embarrass you, little brother. Much.”

  Jason just shook his head. Yeah, right.

  “What are you going to tell her about Maxwell?”

  “Why would I tell her anything?” he asked.

  “Don’t you think she’s going to ask about what’s going on? She doesn’t strike me as the shy and retiring type. She’s not going to be happy sitting at home and waiting for you to come home then greeting you with your slippers and pipe.”

  “Slippers and pipe?”

  “You know what I mean. In our family, the women aren’t happy to take a backseat.”

  “Meaning Ma. You really see Dusty getting involved in the family business?”

  “Over my dead body,” Sting said harshly.

  Exactly.

  When it came to family and safety, Sting didn’t fuck around. Especially with Dusty.

  “But Dusty ain’t Jewel,” Sting said. “She’s sheltered. We’ve seen to that.”

  “And you don’t think Jewel deserves to be sheltered?” Jason snapped. “That she doesn’t need someone to stand between her and all the shitty things in the world the way you all do with Dusty?”

  “That’s not what I mean and you know it,” Sting replied. “It’s obvious she hasn’t had an easy life. But that might not mean she wants you to shelter her from everything.”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, and maybe she doesn’t have a choice.”

  “Good luck with that one, man.”

  Jewel was going to kill him.

  Right after she hugged him. She moved around the walk-in-wardrobe with delight. Okay, so she’d never thought of herself as girly exactly. But she loved clothes, shoes, jewelry, make-up. You could be a tough-bitch and still enjoy a mani-pedi. Not that she could always afford one.

  Jason, it seemed, knew exactly what she liked. There were two black leather jackets, endless denim skirts, longer pleated skirts, designer jeans. Soft, warm tops. And boots. Oh Lord, the boots.

  Then she moved over to pull out a drawer.

  And the edges of her vision went slightly black. From pleasure, not shock. Silver jewelry winked back at her. Bangles, rings, necklaces.

  “Ooh, so pretty.”

  She looked around, feeling a bit foolish for reacting so . . . so girlishly. It was just stuff. But for someone who’d never had much this was overwhelming.

  Anyway, it wasn’t like anyone was watching her. So she could play with everything. Although she should insist he take it all back.

  She didn’t want him to think that she was only with him for what he could give her. Far from it. She couldn’t care less about his money.

  All she wanted was him.

  Suddenly, she realized she was chewing her nail. Urgh, she’d tried so hard to break herself of that habit. Her finger stung and she glanced down to find that a small ball of blood had formed. Crap.

  Dirty. Unworthy.

  “Shut up. Get out of my head. I’m a fucking Queen.”

  She threw her shoulders back and took a deep breath.

  The things Maxwell had done and said, everything that her foster families had called her. None of that mattered.

  All that mattered was what she thought of herself. And yeah, she had moments of feeling like she wasn’t worthy. Of feeling like she was lower than dirt.

  But Jason’s words and actions had started to form a protective barrier over her, deflecting the worst of it.

  Putting on some of the bracelets and a necklace which actually looked like a big knot, she grabbed some leggings and a big oversized sweater. Then she opened another drawer. Her breath caught. It was filled with Powerpuff Girls items. How the hell had he managed this? When had he done it? It made her wonder if he’d been collecting this
stuff for a while.

  There were leggings, T-shirts, a sweater, PJs, as well as a stuffed doll of each girl. She ran her hand longingly over each thing. She wished she could try them all on. Instead, she made herself shut the drawer.

  Seeing those things awakened something in her that she wasn’t certain she was ready for.

  With a sigh, she walked back into the bedroom. A nightmare had woken her up from her nap. She’d gotten at least an hour in. Maybe longer. She’d lost track of time. Afterward, she’d felt shaken. She’d gone into the bathroom to splash some water on her face.

  And hadn’t recognized the woman staring back at her.

  That woman had looked raw, hungry. She was too thin, tired, and stressed. Her hair was lank. She seemed as though the life had been sucked out of her, leaving just flesh and bone.

  That wasn’t who she wanted to be.

  That’s when she’d decided to go exploring. Jason had told her that she could have free rein of the house, but she wasn’t ready to interact with his family. Not without him. They were nice, but she didn’t know them, she felt like she didn’t fit in.

  When had he become her support system? When she was with him, she felt stronger, she felt more resilient.

  She could breathe.

  She really needed to call Reyes. It was a wonder he wasn’t ramming the gate, demanding entrance. With Sunny riding shotgun.

  She grinned. She could totally see that.

  What had she done to deserve such good friends? Would they forgive her for taking off like she had? Worry flooded her stomach and she decided to put off calling them for a bit. Wasn’t like she had her phone anyway.

  Deciding she needed a distraction, she walked over to the entertainment center. A PlayStation. She hadn’t used one of those in years. After figuring out how to work it, she plonked down in one of the beanbags

  Okay, this was surprisingly comfortable. She might need one of these for at her place. She didn’t want to think about going home. Mainly because she didn’t want to be anywhere that Jason wasn’t.

  Move in with me.

  Otherwise, I’ll spend all night in my truck, watching over you.

  Blatant blackmail. But could she move in with him?

  You can have your own bedroom.

  Thing was, she didn’t want her own bedroom, did she?

  I can be your protector, your confidante, your Dom and your Daddy, if that’s what you need.

  Was she a Little? She bit her lip. There were parts of it that appealed to her. And she did have an unhealthy obsession with fluffy things, the Powerpuff Girls and sequins.

  The game started and she got ready to kill some bad guys.

  Yeah, this was exactly the kind of therapy she needed.

  “Die you bastard, die!”

  He froze outside his bedroom door. His first instinct was to race in there. Only, she didn’t sound like she was having a nightmare.

  In fact, she sounded like she was having fun? What was she doing?

  “Whoop! I got you, you ugly-ass motherfucker.”

  His eyebrows rose. His lips twitched. That was the most he’d heard her sound like herself in . . . well, a while. Pushing open the door, he entered quietly to find her . . .

  Playing on his old PlayStation?

  Now that wasn’t what he’d expected. He leaned in the doorway and watched. She was so engaged in what she was doing that she hadn’t noticed him.

  “There you are, cocksucker! Take that!”

  Hmm. Should he try to curb her swearing? Maybe. Then again, it made him hot as hell listening to her talk like that.

  “Are you going to stand there perving at me all day or are you going to tell me how you got on with the underwear stain?” She quickly glanced up at him.

  “Underwear stain?” He grimaced. “That’s disgusting. I prefer asshole, mother-fucker, son of a bitch. You know, the classics.” Moving forward, he closed the door and walked over to where she sat in the beanbag. He held out his hand to her. She paused the game, looking at his hand.

  “It’s swollen.”

  “Yeah.”

  She licked her lips nervously. “What did he tell you? Did he tell you about the girls? Who his partner is? Did he say anything about me?”

  He crouched down in front of her. “He’s nothing for you to worry about.”

  She stared at him. Then down at his knuckles. “You talked to him.”

  “Yep.”

  “Are you gonna tell me what he said?”

  “Nope.”

  “What about why you hit him?”

  “Nope.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and he noticed that they weren’t bandaged.

  “Why aren’t your hands bandaged?”

  “Umm, because it was overkill. It was a few scratches. They were getting warm and itchy, plus I couldn’t play the game. Don’t change the subject.”

  “I’m not changing the subject. That topic is over. This one, on the other hand, isn’t.” He gently took hold of her hand, turning it to look at the scratches. Okay, they didn’t appear too bad. That still didn’t mean it was her job to make that call.

  “You should have waited for me to take off the bandages.”

  She rolled her eyes. Brat. “You’re fussing.”

  “Got a right to. And you like it.” He could tell, despite her arguments, that she liked him coddling her. Of course, there was probably a limit to how much she’d allow before she bit back. But he planned on pushing those limits.

  She huffed out a breath. “I could barely wipe my butt with those bandages.”

  “You could’ve asked for help.”

  “Jason!”

  “Twenty-eight.”

  She glared at him. “Stop joking around. I want to know what happened with Maxwell.”

  “Wasn’t joking.”

  Her mouth opened. Closed. That got her. He barely hid his smile. Any urge to smile disappeared as he saw her forefinger on her right hand. Shit.

  “You’ve been biting your nail. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She tried to wrench her hand from his, but he wasn’t having it. He held on gently.

  “Talk to me.”

  “Like you talk to me? You won’t tell me anything.”

  “I’m protecting you.”

  She stopped trying to tug her hand from his. “Protecting me?”

  “It’s my job.”

  “Your job?

  “You just gonna repeat everything I say?”

  “Maybe if you weren’t talking crazy,” she muttered.

  He gently grasped hold of her chin. “My job is to protect you, shelter you, look after you physically and mentally. That means I shelter you from anything that might upset or hurt you. And baby blue, I take my job seriously.”

  She sucked in a breath. “You really mean that? You think that you have to protect me from anything that might harm me?”

  “Don’t think. I know.”

  “But you can’t protect me from everything.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s impossible. You can’t be with me every second of every day.”

  “Why not?”

  “Jason!” she cried with frustration.

  “Twenty-nine.”

  “Urgh. You’re very frustrating sometimes.”

  He had to bite back another smile. If she was grouching at him, then she wasn’t worrying about shit that she shouldn’t be concerned about.

  “I’m not a child. I’ve taken care of myself my entire life. Whatever he’s said or done I can handle it.”

  “You shouldn’t have to handle everything. And now, you don’t.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “Can be.”

  She just stared at him. He knew it would take her a while to fully trust him. But that didn’t mean he would back down. He was going to show her what life with him on her side was like.

  “You don’t think I can handle what’s happening.”

  “I know you can. Kno
w you’re strong enough to handle anything.”

  Confusion filled her face. “Then why—”

  “I just don’t want you to have to do it. I want those lines of stress to leave your face. To not have you chew your nails to the quick. Or wake up screaming in a nightmare. I want to see you happy, smiling, carefree.”

  “Would I even be me? I don’t think I know how to do any of those things.”

  “Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t learn. Maybe I can’t be with you all the time. But my number one priority is you. So don’t tell me not to shelter you. Because it’s not happening.”

  She licked her lips.

  “You haven’t put on any lipstick.”

  “Umm, I, no.”

  “You don’t like them?”

  “Not like them?” Her eyebrows rose. “Dude, there’s over a hundred of them.”

  “I wanted you to have a selection. So why didn’t you choose one?”

  “I didn’t want to go helping myself.”

  What the hell? “They’re for you.”

  “Well, I didn’t know that.”

  “Who the hell did you think they were for? Me?”

  She grinned. Then a giggle escaped. She slammed her hand over her mouth. Despite the fact that he was kind of irritated, his insides danced at that sound. See, that’s what he wanted to achieve by keeping all the shitty stuff from her.

  Leaning in, he lightly kissed her forehead then her cheeks then her nose. She raised her face up slightly and he knew she wanted him to kiss her lips.

  “Wait here.” He got to his feet, ignoring her shocked look.

  When he returned, he held several lipsticks. He opened one after another, looking at the color until he had the one he wanted. It was a deep plum color.

  “Pucker.”

  “Um, I can do it.”

  “Pucker,” he growled.

  A hint of worry entered her eyes. “Do you know how to put on lipstick?”

  “Think I’ve got it handled.”

  She huffed out a sigh. “You’re not always going to get your way.”

  He’d see about that. He coated her lips with the deep plum color. “Rub.”

  She rolled her lips together then stared up at him. Satisfaction filled him. “Open.”

  “Why?”

  “So suspicious. Open.” He made his voice sterner. He probably needed to be a bit firmer with her. But it was difficult. She’d been through so much. He just wanted to love on her.