Her Daddy's Jewel (MC Daddies Book 5) Page 16

  Right?

  However, he did reappear to help her out. But again, he let her dry herself. He’d chosen a pair of pajamas for her and left them in the bathroom.

  They weren’t the Powerpuff Girls ones.

  She bit her lips. They were cute pajamas. Pink with white polka dots. They had buttons down the top and a cute collar and were silky.

  But for some reason, she wanted the Powerpuff Girls ones.

  Stop being silly, Jewel.

  When she walked out of the bathroom, he was sitting on the end of the bed with a hairbrush and ties. He’d put her hair up in a bun for her bath.

  “You look cute.” He ran his gaze over her, then frowned slightly. “You all right?”

  She forced herself to smile. “Yep. Of course.”

  He threw a pillow on the floor between his feet. “Sit here, baby blue. I’ll do your hair.”

  She sat patiently while he put her hair into two braids. Standing, she glanced in the full-length stand-alone mirror he had. She looked like a little girl. Sweet and cherished.

  He moved up behind her, putting his large arm around her. “Sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah. Sorry. I feel cute. Softer. I’ve never thought of myself as soft.”

  He kissed the side of her cheek. “Personally, I like your soft side. But then, I like all your sides.”

  “Even my tired, grouchy, will kick anyone’s ass who looks at me funny, side?”

  “Uh-huh. Because I have just what you need to put you in a better mood.”

  “Oh yeah, what’s that?” she asked breathlessly.

  “A nap.”

  What? No, that wasn’t what she was expecting him to say. She scowled.

  “Or a time-out.”

  “I do not need a time-out. I’m not a baby.”

  “Babies don’t get time-outs. Naughty Little girls on the other hand . . .”

  She sucked in a breath at his words.

  “Come on, let’s brush your teeth.”

  She wasn’t so sure she liked this part, but she let him lead her into the bathroom and lift her onto the counter. She parted her mouth so he could brush her teeth.

  “Spit.”

  “I heard you earlier, when you said you could be my Daddy. Is that what you want?” she blurted out.

  He brushed her teeth again. “Spit.”

  She spat and rinsed. “Well?”

  He leaned his hands on the counter on either side of her, giving her a serious look. “You know I’ll do whatever I think you need.”

  “Yes, but . . . is it what you want?”

  “It’s something I researched thinking that you might want it. But truthfully, the more I looked into it, the more I felt like it fit me as well. So yeah, I want to be a Daddy Dom, but only yours.”

  She sucked in a breath. God, he’d been so honest she could only do the same.

  “I don’t know how . . . or even if I want . . . I just don’t know . . .”

  He tucked some hair behind her ear. “I don’t need an answer right now. You can think on it. Just know that whatever the answer, I’m not going anywhere.”

  She nodded, unable to say anything without just letting everything out. And she just wasn’t ready for that yet.

  “Come on, bedtime. You’re exhausted.”

  “I napped for an hour today,” she grumbled as he lifted her down.

  “Seems you could have used more. I want those dark marks under your eyes to disappear, baby blue.”

  “Why do you call me that?”

  “Your eyes, and because you’re my baby.”

  Damn, he was sweet.

  He led her into the bedroom then drew back one side of the bed. She moved around to the other side.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Getting into bed.” Wasn’t it obvious?

  He patted the bed where he’d pulled down the sheets. “This is where you’re sleeping.”

  “That’s not my side of the bed, though. I like this side.”

  “You’re sleeping here.”

  “Why? Do you like this side too? I’ll rock, paper, scissors you for it.”

  “No, you’re sleeping on this side because I need to sleep between you and the door.”

  That was . . . odd. “Is that some weird feng shui thing?”

  He turned, cocking an eyebrow at her. “No, it’s a me protecting you thing.”

  “Huh? How does what side of the bed you sleep on protect me?”

  “Because on this side, I’m between you and the door. If someone breaks in, then they have to get past me to get to you. And they ain’t getting past me.”

  That was . . . insane.

  And she’d totally lost that argument. So she guessed she was sleeping on this side of the bed tonight and for however long they were here.

  She climbed into the bed and let him tuck her in. Surprisingly, she was rather exhausted.

  He kissed her forehead. “Just going to get ready for bed, I’ll be in soon.”

  She’d drifted off before he even came back.

  Jewel wasn’t sure what woke her up. But from the way her heart raced, she guessed it was a nightmare. Although, when she rolled over, she saw that she hadn’t woken Jason.

  So at least she hadn’t been screaming or anything.

  Lying there, she attempted to bring her heart rate down. Unfortunately, she knew wouldn’t be able to fall back to sleep. Moving again, she looked at the clock on the bedside table. Damn it, she’d only had a couple of hours.

  She was so tired of being tired.

  She knew if she lay here she’d just toss and turn. Maybe she could get up and have a shower or something without waking Jason. Carefully, she climbed out of bed.

  Moving into the bathroom, she peed and washed her hands. She didn’t feel like a bath or shower, though. Would he wake up if she turned on the TV? She chewed her lip. She didn’t want to go downstairs and risk bumping into his family.

  “You okay?”

  She jumped with a squeal at his deep voice, turning to find him leaning in the doorway.

  “You gave me a fright.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

  “Yeah. Was waiting for you to come back to bed. But when you seemed to be taking too long, thought I’d come check.”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have turned the bathroom light on. Go back to bed.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “And what are you planning on doing?”

  “Um. I don’t know. I was thinking about watching TV.”

  He frowned. “You need your sleep, Jewel.”

  “I know. I just know I won’t get back to sleep.” She hugged herself.

  “Nightmare?”

  “Think so,” she whispered.

  “Come on.” He held out his hand to her. She stepped forward and took it. He hugged her tight, massaging the back of her neck to get out the knots. She sighed, slumping into him.

  “You need to sleep, baby blue. Come on, come back to bed. Let’s see what we can do.”

  He lifted her up and carried her back. Once they were both in bed, he drew her against his chest and massaged her head while singing quietly. She relaxed into him, closing her eyes.

  And as she drifted off to sleep, she knew one thing for certain.

  There was no way she could ever let him go.

  14

  “Anything changed?” Jason walked up to where Sting was leaning against a tree, smoking.

  “Asshole still hasn’t said anything. Claims he doesn’t know his partner’s name. Said he’d only met him a few times. Reckons he kept to the shadows so he didn’t get a good look at his face.”

  “Dickshit. Time for me to have another go with him.” Jason cracked his knuckles, the anticipation building inside him.

  He’d managed to get Jewel back to sleep last night, which had been a fucking miracle. But she’d had two more nightmares and after soothing her out of the last one, he’d been unable to sleep. Fury had kept him awake.

  He’d bro
ught her breakfast in bed, feeding her before helping her get ready for the day. Not that he’d been able to coax her out of his room. He’d left her playing one of his PlayStation games.

  What he really wanted was to get back to her. After he took out his anger on Maxwell. A bit of stress relief was definitely needed.

  Sting reached out and grabbed his arm as he went to walk past.

  “What?”

  “Need to talk to you first.”

  “About?”

  “Dax didn’t spot anyone watching her son.”

  “Really? That asshole,” he nodded at the shed, “was sending her photos of him as a threat.”

  “Did you see them?”

  “No, but what does that matter?”

  “Dax doesn’t miss much.”

  “So the asshole has gone. Good. Although it means that he’s a loose end we need to tie up.”

  “Or Maxwell never had anyone watching him. Or that boy isn’t even hers.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about, Sting?”

  “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. Just trying to work out how much you know about this girl. Because you seem to be all in really quick.”

  “I know her.”

  “Did you know she had a kid before now?”

  “No. But that means nothing. She was keeping him hidden for her own reasons.”

  “What reasons?”

  “None of your business. The kid is her son. Maxwell threatened him to get her to co-operate. And you need to stop trying to make me doubt my woman.”

  “Whoa, okay. Someone had to ask the questions.” Sting backed up, his hands in the air.

  “No, someone didn’t. Someone needs to shut their mouth. I won’t let anyone talk bad about her.”

  “I wasn’t talking bad about her, just . . . fuck, fine. I’ll keep Dax on him. So far all is good there.”

  He nodded. Although he wasn’t really satisfied. Not at all.

  “Anything going on with the girls?”

  “No.” Sting grimaced. “It’s not helping that the only guys I have to guard them are big and scary looking. Plus, they’re all wearing masks, which makes them look more terrifying. The girls are refusing to talk. We need an interpreter. Vincent could do it, but he’d scare them.”

  He nodded.

  “Be easier if they could talk to a woman,” Sting said.

  “Ask for the world, why don’t you?” he grumbled before heading into the cottage.

  Half an hour later, he left the cabin, his knuckles re-opened and not feeling nearly as satisfied as he’d thought he would.

  “No luck then?” Sting asked as he joined him, walking towards the truck.

  “No. He still claims not to know the identity of his partner.”

  “Gotta say, I’m proud of you, brother. At one time, you’d have completely lost it and killed the bastard already.”

  If only Sting knew how closely he was riding the edge of his control.

  Sting broke away and Jason climbed into his truck. He wanted to get back to his girl. But something niggled at him.

  He rubbed his forehead.

  Trafficking ring. Russian leader. Fuck it. He needed to call Reyes.

  “Is Jewel all right? What’s happening? Why hasn’t she called us?” Reyes demanded as soon as he picked up.

  “She’s fine.” Did he think he would allow her to be anything but all right? “I don’t think she’s ready to talk to you guys.”

  Reyes let out a breath. “Sunny’s stressed and worried. Barely eating. Duke is about to explode. Just tell her that we’re her family and we’re here for her. That we’re not upset with her.”

  Jason frowned. He’d been in contact with Sunny a few times, he knew she was worried but he didn’t realize it was that bad. And he knew that Jewel wouldn’t want to cause Sunny stress.

  “I’ll talk to her.”

  “She’s really all right?”

  “Of course she is.”

  “Good. She deserves to be happy.”

  “Got a few things to tell you.” He relayed the information that Luc Darrins was actually Kenton Maxwell. As expected, Reyes exploded.

  “I paid good money to have that bastard taken care of.”

  “Jewel told me. Seems you covered your tracks at least. Maxwell had no idea that were the one that hired that idiot to take him out.”

  “Fuck! I can’t believe this! I can’t believe she went back to that bastard. Why didn’t she tell me?”

  “He threatened her son.”

  He took a gamble that Reyes knew about Callen, and the sharp intake of breath told him he was right.

  “Fuck. No wonder she ran. This is all my fucking fault. I should have made sure he was dead.”

  “No way you could have known that he wasn’t dead. Listen, there’s another reason I’m calling. Did Emme ever hear Senior mention Luc Darrins?”

  “Why?”

  Jason sighed.

  “Fine. I’ll ask her.” There were some quiet murmurs. Then Reyes came back on. “No, nothing. Why?”

  “There were a number of young, foreign girls at his place. Jewel heard some things that make us think he was involved in human trafficking.”

  “And you think he had something to do with Senior? But you’re miles away from Seattle.”

  Jason grunted, thinking. “I know, but Maxwell had a partner. Jewel overheard Maxwell talking about shipments and the Russian. It’s not much to go on and Maxwell is claiming not to know the real identity of his partner.”

  “I’ll let Markovich know. ”

  Markovich, Emme’s father, had hired the Fox to look into the Robins’ family. They’d learned that Senior was trafficking young girls. And that he’d likely been working with someone called Mr. X.

  But no one knew who he was.

  “You know the Fox might want to do some investigating.”

  Jason rubbed his hand over his face. “Fuck. Fine. But if he pisses me off, I’m going to punch him.”

  “Just don’t get yourself killed. Jewel needs you. And we might miss you. Maybe.”

  “Fuck you.” He ended the call, feeling like smiling despite the shitty day.

  He was just pulling away from the shopping center when his phone rang. Unknown number.

  “Yeah?” he snapped.

  “You know, they always say it’s the quiet ones you have to look out for. Should have remembered that. I disregarded you and I shouldn’t have.”

  “Who is this?”

  “You know, I thought getting it regular was meant to put you in a good mood. I’m starting to rethink my idea of getting my own Little. Or two. I think two would be more fun. I even have one of them in mind. I just have to get them to agree. Or not. Who am I kidding? If I want something I just take it. Duke is just lucky that I decided not to snatch Sunny from him.”

  Fuck.

  “Fox?”

  “Took you long enough. Is Jewel a Little? I’ve often wondered if there is something in the water at Reaper’s. All these Littles and Daddies. Perhaps I’ve been infected too and that’s why I’m on the search for my own.”

  “It’s none of your business what Jewel is.”

  “Ahh you really do have that secretive, silent, and dangerous thing going on, don’t you? Delicious. I bet Jewel likes it. Was she mad when she found out who you really are?”

  Jason stiffened. “What does that mean?”

  “I meant when she found out who your family is. The Mathers. Your mother is a formidable woman. Is she a Little? Is she into younger men?”

  “Stay away from my family, Fox.”

  “Now, it’s not like they’re not used to death and destruction, even with their attempts to go legit. And death and destruction, those are my air and water.”

  Jason ground his teeth together. “What do you want?”

  “You’re very grouchy. Why? Oh, is Jewel not meeting your needs? Are you not slamming the ham? Sliming the banana? Playing hide the German sausage? Or is it more of a breakfast sausage in your
case? A chipolata. Is that the problem? You know, I hear they’re doing great things with plastic surgery and penis enlargements. They—”

  “Fox!” he snarled.

  “Yes?”

  “Did you call for a reason?”

  “A reason?”

  “Yes, a reason. Or are you just trying to piss me off.”

  “Well, I’ll admit that if I realized it was going to be such fun I might have been doing it more often. But yes, there is a reason. I want some time with Kenton Maxwell.”

  Jason sucked in a breath. “You want to know who the partner is.”

  “Yes. I think he could be the one we’re searching for. If he’s not, well, I’ll still have fun with that asshole.”

  While he wanted to be the one to get Maxwell to break, he also couldn’t turn down help.

  “Fine. I can give you some time with him. But I want to be in there with you.”

  “No can do, chipolata boy. I work alone. But I will tell you what he says.”

  “All right. But don’t cross me on this, Fox. She’s my girl. I want her safe.”

  “And there are a whole lot of females who are right now being kidnapped, terrorized, and sold. I need to find who is doing this and stop it.”

  “So you’re the good guy now?”

  “When it suits me. This is the job I’m hired for. Just so happens I get to kill bad guys along the way.”

  “You can’t kill Maxwell.”

  A beat of silence.

  “You’re going to let Jewel do it?” Fox asked.

  “Hell no, I’m not letting Jewel near him. Or near you.”

  “I think I was just insulted,” Fox said in a cold voice.

  Jason closed his eyes. He needed to relax. He couldn’t afford to alienate the Fox. Especially when he knew who his family was.

  “I’m trying to shelter her from all of this.”

  “Huh, interesting.”

  Why was that interesting?

  “Rather noble. I like that. Yes, shelter her. Right. Got to go. I’ll be in touch when I’m close. Oh, and I hear you need someone who speaks Russian?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I know someone. I’ll send her to you. She’ll keep quiet, she owes me a favor.”

  “Does that mean I owe you a favor?” He knew better than to owe someone like the Fox.