Deccan (Springfield Sinners #1)

34. Chapter Thirty-Two

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

DECCAN

D eccan looked over at Echo, who was writing lines. She had one hundred and fifty lines to write. Had she moaned about it when he told her? Yes, she had, but it was a punishment. She wasn’t supposed to like her punishments.

“Daddy, do I haves to?” she whined, looking up at him.

He raised an eyebrow. “Do you want an extra ten for every time you’ve complained?”

Her eyes went wide, and she shook her head. “No, Daddy. I don’t want extra lines.”

“What number are you at?”

Echo looked down at her paper and let out a huff. He had numbered the paper before handing it to her, so she knew where to stop.

“I’ve only gots twenty,” she mumbled. “I’m never going to finish these!”

“Yes, you will.”

Echo grumbled and Deccan had to hold his smile in. She definitely didn’t like lines, which he was going to remember.

“Can I go play?” Echo asked.

“Not until you finish those lines, Little Bit.” Daddy looked at her.

“But I wanna play,” she whined.

“And this is part of your punishment. If I hear you grumble again, I’ll add ten more.”

She looked down at her paper and started to write again. Deccan went back to looking at the paperwork in front of him. They were getting a shipment of girls from another chapter that owed them money. They were due to arrive in two days, and he needed to get everything prepared for them.

It never went by smoothly. There were always some girls who wanted to fight back, try and escape but they didn’t realize how many men he had when they came. There was no way to escape.

None.

He was going to get his money back that he lent to them, their significant other, or their parents. Of course, all the girls were of legal age.

When they first arrived, he put them in a safe house with girls who had been there for several years and guards. They didn’t pay for rent or food and got a small weekly allowance. All the other money went to paying off their debt.

Once their money was paid, they were free to leave, or if they wanted to continue, they could. He didn’t force them to stay after they finished paying off the debt; he wasn’t that heartless.

“Deccan?” Xavier walked into his office.

Echo stiffened in her seat and peeked out of the corner of her eye. He hated that she didn’t feel comfortable being Little in front of people, but Deccan knew not everyone was.

“You’re okay, Little Bit. Go back to writing your lines,” he gently said before turning to Xavier. “What can I do for you?”

“Shit. Sorry. I can come back later.”

Deccan waved his hand. “You’re fine. She’s fine. What do you need?”

“We’ve got a problem,” he quietly said, looking at Echo.

He sighed. “What kind of problem?”

There always seemed to be a problem. Never a moment’s peace.

“One that involves.” He tilted his head toward Echo.

Deccan stood up and walked toward Echo, kissing her forehead. “Daddy is going to talk to Xavier outside my office door for a second. You continue to write your lines. I expect there to be at least fifteen more lines when I come back.”

She whined and looked up at him. He raised his eyebrow, and she sighed. “Sorry, Daddy.”

“You know what I said before. Whine, and you’ll get ten more. Add ten more to your paper.”

Her mouth hung open. She probably didn’t expect him to actually follow through, but there was one thing about Deccan: he always followed through with what he said.

“If I come back and there aren’t ten more on the line and fifteen more legibly written, I’ll add more,” he said as he walked to the door. “And don’t even think about it.”

“How did you know?” she asked, a puzzled expressions he looked at her.

“Daddy knows everything .”

Deccan walked out of the office, gently closing the door behind him.

“What is it?” Deccan asked.

“There was a note left outside the clubhouse,” Xavier said.

“Shit.”

“It’s to Echo. I read it cause it felt off. He’s after her. Some guy named Rick said he’s coming for her, and he’s going to finish what he started.”

“That fucking bastard,” Deccan growled.

“Who is Rick?”

Deccan clenched his jaw and looked at Xavier. “Rick is one of the fucking people who raped her in middle school.”

“I thought you got rid of all of them.” Xavier looked at him with his eyebrows furrowed.

“Apparently, there were four not three.”

How could he have not known there were four? All this time, she was living with the fact that there was still one of them out there. She had to live with it, afraid that he might come after her. Why hadn’t he dug a little deeper all those years ago?

“Fucking shit,” Xavier cursed. “How the fuck did he get away?”

“I have no fucking idea, but he found her, and he’s out for revenge,” Deccan growled. “He had someone else with him.”

“Has Ace been able to find anything?”

“Haven’t talked to him yet.”

It was on his to-do list, but he needed to look after Echo first. She was his priority.

“I’ll talk to him and see if he found anything,” Xavier offered.

“There was someone who helped her the other day. Gave her his phone number. Get in contact with him and see if he knows the other guy or what direction they went. Ace may be able to catch them on camera somewhere,” Deccan sighed.

“Got it. You go to her. If I find anything out, I’ll let you know.”

Deccan nodded and quietly headed back into his office. Echo was still sitting, writing her lines.

“Did you do as Daddy told you?” he asked, stepping closer to her.

She screamed, her hand landing on her chest, her eyes wide as she looked at Daddy. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Sorry, Little Bit. That wasn’t Daddy’s intention.”

She smiled and looked down at her piece of paper.

“So, Little Bit. Did you do as Daddy told you?” he asked again.

Echo held up her paper and nodded. “Gots more than fifteen written. Though, I think—” She abruptly stopped.

“You think what?” Daddy raised an eyebrow.

He had a feeling she was going to complain about doing so many lines.

“Nofing, Daddy,” she mumbled.

“Okay, Little Bit. Continue writing,” he said, walking back to his desk.

He wasn’t going to get any work done as she did her lines. All he could do was watch her. So precious.

“Daddy, why are you looking at me?” Echo asked, looking up at him.

“Because I can. Because I want to.”

Her cheeks went red, and she ducked her head. Deccan laughed and relaxed in his chair, watching her.