Her Daddy's Jewel (MC Daddies Book 5) Page 2

  “Did you find him?”

  “We did. It took us a while, but we finally found him.”

  Fuck. Fuck. They’d found the guy Reyes hired? Had Reyes used his real name? Surely not.

  “Who was it?” Stay calm.

  “A professional killer. He was hired to kill me. Too bad he was crap at his job.”

  “Who hired him?”

  Maxwell tilted his head, his dark eyes studying her. Like a snake about to strike. He moved his hand away from her chin and she resisted the urge to rub at the bruised skin.

  Show no fear.

  His hand moved down over her chest, running along her black top. She’d dressed all in black. Black jeans, boots, leather jacket, and T-shirt.

  Black like her mood.

  “Why do you want to know?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose a man like you has a lot of enemies.”

  “Hmm. I do. It also seems that there is a certain loyalty lacking amongst my people. Or perhaps, just with you.”

  She couldn’t believe he seriously expected her to be loyal.

  “I was your prisoner.”

  “You were my woman. You should have been by my side. Helping me get better. Instead, you ran. You hid. You’re going to pay for that, Julie. Oh wait, it’s Jewel now. Isn’t it? You’re going to pay dearly.”

  Her heart raced as he ran a finger down along her jaw. “Kneel.”

  Her knees were shaking so badly that it might be a relief to kneel. If it wasn’t a command coming from this asshole.

  He could be making her kneel for a number of reasons. To apologize. So he could shoot her. To suck him off.

  She grimaced. Go to that place where nothing can hurt you. Damn it, why was it so hard to find that place?

  “Fucking kneel.”

  “And if I don’t?” she whispered.

  He got in her face. “If you don’t, then instead of just making you suffer for being a disloyal bitch, I’m going to make him suffer. You see the way this works? You do what I say, exactly what I want, and this will just stay between us. But disobey, try to run, do anything I don’t like and I will go after him. Got me?”

  Fuck. Fuck.

  Her breath came in huge gasps.

  And she knelt.

  “Good pet. You’re going to be my good little slut again, aren’t you? You’ll do everything your master tells you and then no one else has to suffer. No one but you.”

  There was a shuffling noise from behind her, but before she could turn to look, Maxwell had grasped hold of her head and there was a sharp prick in her neck.

  Then nothing.

  2

  Where was she?

  Helping a friend? Jewel didn’t have friends other than Sunny. She was so closed off from everyone around her. Occasionally, she’d give small glimpses of what she really thought behind the smirks and the sarcasm.

  Yeah, he’d get snippets. What she didn’t realize was that he’d planned to chip at that shield until it cracked enough for him to slip in.

  Seemed that maybe he should have gotten a fucking stick of dynamite and blown that shield to smithereens.

  His. Fucking. Fault.

  He had to do something. All this time he’d been controlling his need to claim her as his.

  And look what fucking happened.

  “I’m going after her.”

  Around him, conversation ceased. He wasn’t sure what they’d even been talking about. He didn’t care. Someone needed to find her. And that person was going to be him.

  End of story.

  She’d run.

  And when she ran, he chased. It was the predator in him, sure. But she wasn’t prey.

  She was his queen.

  And if he’d fucking claimed her then none of this would have happened.

  Once he found her, he was going to make things crystal clear.

  Running away wasn’t an option for her anymore. He would be laying down some rules. He was reining her in. Not because he wanted to break her spirit. Never that.

  But because she would learn that he was her safe place.

  She. Would. Run. To. Him.

  He didn’t care what the fuck it was about. He would always be here for her.

  It might be a hard lesson for her to learn. But learn it she would. Because he wasn’t fucking going through this again.

  His fucking fault. Because he’d gone for the soft approach. He hadn’t made it clear that if she ran, he would come after her. That if she was harmed, he would kill for her.

  And if she needed someone to put her over their knee to teach her not to put herself in Goddamn danger, then he had a big lap and a willing hand just waiting to impart that lesson.

  “You are?” Reyes asked. “What about the gym, Jason?”

  Who the fuck gave a shit about the gym? He’d only opened the damn thing to give him somewhere to go to each day. In truth, his partner did it all, leaving him free.

  “Jermaine’s been running it fine for the last few weeks while I took care of this place.” He’d been watching over Reaper’s bar while Reyes had been with Emme.

  “You sure you want to do this?” Reyes asked.

  “You don’t even know where she is,” Razor pointed out, turning to look at him.

  Jason was leaning against the back of Reyes’ office. It gave him the best view of the room. It also meant he was already on his feet if something happened. If someone needed help out in the bar, he could be there quick.

  Not that he usually had to do more than show his face.

  He hadn’t gotten his fucking nickname off the back of a cereal box.

  Maybe he hadn’t gone psycho on anyone’s ass for a long time, but the rumor mill worked well. Someone had leaked the reason for his nickname and now when most people looked at him, there was still a hint of fear in their gazes.

  And fuck him if he didn’t like that.

  If they feared him then it meant that they would think twice about fucking with him. Or anyone he cared about.

  “Razor’s right,” Spike said. “We only know that she was in Minneapolis when her phone went dead. You have no idea where to look for her.”

  His control over himself was unraveling with every fucking second she was gone. And nobody wanted to know what would happen once it was completely gone.

  Death. Destruction. Agony.

  So he better fucking find her and soon.

  “I’m going.”

  “You want some company?” Razor asked him.

  Fuck. No.

  “Work best on my own.”

  They all knew this.

  Reyes leaned forward. He looked tired, worried. Jason knew he had a lot of shit going on. But that wasn’t his problem right now.

  Jewel was.

  He had to find his wayward little brat. Then he had to ensure that this never happened again.

  “Get Brody to send me the location of where her phone was last on. I’m going back home to grab some stuff.”

  “Jason, can I talk to you for a moment?”

  He sighed as Reyes called out then waited until everyone else left.

  “There’s something you need to know, about Jewel’s past.”

  Jason narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like that Reyes knew something he didn’t.

  “I’ve noticed you watching her,” Reyes told him.

  Reyes had been watching him? Or watching Jewel? Oh, Jason didn’t like that. It didn’t matter that Reyes had his own woman and gave off a big brother vibe around Jewel. Jason didn’t want anyone watching her but him.

  Jealous much? Possessive psycho? Domineering brute?

  You bet. He was all those things and more. And he wasn’t apologizing for it.

  “Seen the way she looks back at you.”

  Deep breath in. Out.

  “Yeah? That’s all you’ve got? That we look at each other?”

  Reyes stiffened. He wasn’t used to Jason biting back. He was the silent one. The easygoing one. Well, most of the time. Until he snapp
ed. But that had only happened once.

  So far.

  No guarantees it wouldn’t happen again.

  Especially if she was hurt.

  “Fuck, listen, this isn’t something she’d want me to tell you. Hopefully, what I’m about to tell you has nothing to do with why she left, but Jewel and I knew each other from before she came here to work. We were in the same foster home for a short time. She was young, maybe thirteen.”

  Not what he’d been expecting, but okay. It explained the big brother vibe. Everyone knew that if they messed with Jewel then they’d suffer Reyes’ wrath. Of course, they didn’t realize that Reyes would be the least of their problems. The last guy that tried touching her had been beaten to a bloody pulp and left out front as an example of what happened to guys who touched Jewel.

  Hmm, he wondered who could have given that lesson?

  Oh yeah. That would be him.

  Not that anyone knew for sure. They never would. Because that pissant wasn’t going to talk.

  For a long time, he’d been the guy in the background. But there was obviously something fucking big he’d missed. He’d fucked up, going slow, giving her time.

  His therapist had warned him that he had obsessive tendencies, bordering on stalking. That if he didn’t back off, give her space, he risked pushing her away.

  He couldn’t believe he’d listened to the shit that came out of that dickhead’s mouth. If he’d gone with his gut, if he’d monitored her more closely, stuck his nose into her business, then she’d be safe, wouldn’t she?

  In his arms. In his house. Hell, he’d have locked her in the damn basement if he had to in order to keep her ass safe. With him.

  She’d always be safe with him.

  “You sure you want to go after her? I should be the one doing it. It’s my responsibility.”

  Yeah, like fuck he was going to let another man go after his woman.

  “You got your own shit going on. I don’t,” was all he said, though.

  He’d learned to play his cards close to his chest. Less leverage he gave people, less possibility of them using something or someone against him. Not that he figured Reyes would. He considered the men who had just been in this room to be among his closest friends.

  Still, he wasn’t going to give him much. Not yet.

  Reyes ran his hand over his face. He looked conflicted. Tormented.

  “Don’t mean to be a dick, but I need to get on the road. So talk or don’t talk, but just decide, yeah?” He lied. He meant to be a complete dick. Because he wasn’t feeling too charitable towards Reyes just now.

  “Fuck. Fine. What I say stays between us, though.”

  Jason just grunted. If the fucker didn’t know that he was a goddamn vault, then he hadn’t been paying much attention.

  “Like I said, Jewel and I lived in the same foster home for a while. I didn’t see her again for years, not until I was on the boxing circuit. Underground boxing circuit.”

  Jason nodded. He knew more about that than Reyes probably realized.

  “That’s when I saw her again. I recognized her when I was at a fight, checking out the competition. Only she wasn’t the same girl. She was vacant. She was closed-off. Blank.”

  Jason frowned, not liking the sound of that. “What was wrong with her?”

  “Him. He was what was wrong with her. Kenton Maxwell. Ever hear of him?”

  Jason stiffened. “Yeah.” Kenton Maxwell was scum. Head of a gang who ran an underground boxing circuit where men frequently died. Especially if Maxwell had bet against them. Of course, that wasn’t all that he was into. That was just where he liked to flaunt his greatness.

  Drugs were his main interest. Or had been. Because Maxwell was dead.

  “He’s dead.”

  “Yeah. Well, before he died, he nearly killed Jewel. She was thin to the point of emaciation, completely drugged up. But the blankness was the worst. When she looked at me, it was like she was looking through me. There was no fire, no sharp tongue, no life. That fucker had driven her down until she was just a shell. I knew he was abusing her and I . . .” Reyes’ hands were now fists. Jason knew a woman or child being abused was a hot topic for him. “There was no way I was leaving her there. So I got her out. I bought her a new identity and she disappeared.”

  But then she’d reappeared? Why?

  “Several months later, she contacted me, said that she needed somewhere to go.” Reyes couldn’t look at him and Jason knew there was something more to all this. “I told her to come here. Everything seemed to be fine until lately. I should have talked to her about what was going on. Should have checked in on her. This illness of hers went on too long and then taking time off. Fuck, I should have known something was wrong.”

  “But this can’t have anything to do with Maxwell,” Jason pointed out. “He died in a fire if I recall correctly.” There’d been a lot of talk at the time that he’d been taken out by a competitor. There was a new player that had come into the scene recently.

  Yeah, there were reasons he knew all of this.

  “Yeah, I know. For some reason, he inspired a lot of loyalty in his soldiers. Maybe one of them found her, fuck, I don’t know. All I know is that I’m fucking worried and if I didn’t tell you this and her disappearance has something to do with him . . . then I’d never forgive myself.”

  Jason just nodded. Then he turned to leave. He’d think this all through, but while he was on the road.

  “Find her, Jason.”

  Oh, he would. He had no doubts of that.

  And then he wouldn’t let her go.

  3

  Rolling over, she took in her surroundings.

  Her prison, she guessed.

  There were a few blessings. She’d woken up vomiting her guts out. Sure, that might not seem like much of a blessing to someone else, but Maxwell was a germaphobe. He couldn’t be around her while she was puking.

  These past two days since she’d stopped throwing up, she’d barely been able to get out of bed. She was weaker than a newborn babe.

  He could do anything he wanted to her, and she wouldn’t be able to fight.

  Maybe it was better this way. What use was fighting back? It wasn’t like she could leave. For one thing, she had no idea where she was. When she’d woken up, she’d been in this room. It had a bed, a wardrobe filled with slutty clothes that she knew he’d picked out for her. Because that’s what he liked her to be. His fuck doll. Someone he could parade around. She didn’t know why he was obsessed with her. There were plenty of women he could have. Women who would come willingly to him.

  More fool them because he wasn’t the bad boy to be reformed. The danger that clung to him wasn’t sexy. It wasn’t some dark fairytale.

  It was pure evil.

  And that evil wanted her.

  The door to the room opened and she stiffened. She expected him to stride in, with that beautiful face and his horrid stench. But to her surprise, in scurried a girl. She didn’t look older than eighteen. She had a haunted look in her brown eyes that told Jewel she’d seen far too much.

  She carried a tray, the dishes on it rattling. The girl set the tray down on the bedside table without looking at Jewel. But that was okay, because she’d had turned away to study the door.

  The open, unlocked door.

  She closed her eyes. She knew what it was. A fucking test. Like she didn’t know his games? He enjoyed giving her these opportunities. Enjoyed seeing her try and fail.

  And then he got to punish her.

  The stupid thing was that in the beginning, she’d enjoyed being dominated by him. The rules. The punishments. She’d liked the edge of pain, pushing boundaries, and being tugged back. She’d met him at a BDSM club, she’d gone there thinking that she might have been a Domme. Turns out, she was wrong.

  Yeah, shocked her too.

  Maxwell had drawn her into his web of pleasure and pain. Until she’d been completely sucked in.

  Until it was too late.

  So
here she was, staring at an open door and knowing it was a test, but still wanting to run for it.

  But she couldn’t.

  “Food. Eat.”

  The quiet whisper came from beside her. She flicked her gaze over to the girl who still wasn’t looking at her.

  Her accent puzzled her. Eastern European maybe?

  The girl flicked her gaze over briefly then towards the door. She let out a shuddering breath. “Dressed. Bath. Eat.”

  She was shaking, terrified.

  Jewel sighed. “All right.”

  The girl shot her an incredulous look then glanced over at the door.

  “They told you to leave it open, right? You expected me to run.”

  She dragged herself up into a seated position then glanced over at the soup. Ick. Chicken soup. Definitely not her favorite. Then again, she was used to surviving on toast, fruit, and caffeine.

  Yes, she knew it wasn’t healthy. But she’d never learned to cook and she couldn’t afford to eat take-out all the time. These past few weeks, she’d only left her apartment long enough to grab the basics. To her surprise, a bunch of groceries had been delivered to her apartment a few days after she’d called into work ill. She’d never known who had delivered them. Sunny said it wasn’t her. She guessed it was Reyes.

  “Yes,” the girl whispered so quietly that she had to strain to hear her.

  “It’s okay, you can relax. I’m not running.”

  She just watched her without blinking. It was kind of odd. Jewel grabbed the glass of juice she’d brought her, taking small sips. She really didn’t want to eat that soup.

  “I know what happens if I run.”

  “Punished.”

  “That’s what happened to you?”

  And the girl just stared back at her blankly.

  “What’s your name?”

  The girl bit her lip, but wouldn’t reply.

  The door remained open as she tried to force some soup into her raw stomach. The juice went down a bit easier, soothing her throat and giving her some much-needed energy. By the time she was finished, the girl had laid out an outfit.

  A short black skirt, red bra, and a skimpy black top.