35. Chapter Thirty-Three
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
ECHO
T o say Echo was a little scared was a lie. Her whole body shook as she sat on the bed, taking gasping breaths in. Daddy had put her down for a nap and said he would be back to wake her up, but she had woken up from a nightmare.
Stupid Rick coming after her, torturing her before having his way with her.
Pushing the covers back, she grabbed Jingles and held him close as she made her way out of their room. Her other hand massaged her chest, trying to get a full breath of air in, to ease the ache forming.
“Echo?” someone gently said.
She turned around and found Levi looking at her. She cocked her head to the side and stared at him.
“Are you okay, Little One?” he asked.
Echo continued to rub her chest and squeeze Jingles.
“Do you want Daddy?” Levi asked.
She nodded and turned around, walking to his office. Echo could hear Levi walking close behind her. Stopping, she looked at him once again.
“Just making sure you get to him.” Levi held up his hand.
Her shoulders slumped. It wasn’t getting any easier to take a deep breath in. Was she dying?
With that thought, she started walking. Daddy would be able to help; she just knew it. He always helped her with things.
“Echo!” several people yelled.
“Shhh,” Levi quieted them.
She looked back at Levi curiously. Why did he shush those people?
“Go on,” Levi encouraged her.
“Little Bit?” Daddy called out. “What are you doing out of bed?”
Her heart started beating faster as she looked over at him. He was standing at the doorway of his office, looking right at her. His eyes narrowed on the hand rubbing her chest before looking at Levi.
“Levi, what happened?” he asked.
“Don’t know. Found her walking in the hallway and have been following her to make sure she got here.”
“And the chest rubbing?”
“She was breathing harder; like she couldn’t get a breath in.”
“Fuck.”
Echo giggled and walked over to Daddy, holding her hand up.
“Eyes away!” Daddy commanded loudly.
She looked around the room to see everyone looking away. Why?
“Little Bit, come to Daddy,” he demanded. “Come on.”
Once she got to Daddy, his arms wrapped around her and hoisted her into the air. She snuggled into his embrace and let out a sigh. Already, she could breathe easier.
Daddy walked back into his office and sat with her in his lap. Her head was resting on his chest.
“Where were we?” Daddy asked.
Her whole body tensed. She hadn’t realized he was talking to someone. She hadn’t thought about a lot of things.
Echo took a couple of seconds to assess everything. She was only wearing one of Daddy’s shirts with her underwear on. Her eyes went wide as she pushed back and stared at him. How could she have completely forgotten that she wasn’t wearing anything but a shirt and underwear?
Daddy cupped her face. “Shhh, you’re okay. No one saw anything.”
But how was he sure? He couldn’t be.
“Can you say hi to Ace and Xavier?” Daddy asked.
But she didn’t make any attempt to look back at them. She had walked through the club practically naked. Okay, she wasn’t fully nude, but she was pretty close to it. Had they seen her nipples through the shirt?
“Little Bit, hush. You’re okay.” Daddy squeezed her face gently.
Was she, though?
“Now say hi to Xavier and Ace,” Daddy patted her bottom.
She shyly looked over her shoulder toward them and waved. They waved back.
“How are you?” Xavier asked.
She shrugged and put her head back on Daddy’s shoulder. How was she? That always seemed to be a loaded question.
“Did you have a nightmare?” Daddy asked.
She nodded. An awful nightmare. It seemed like any time she closed her eyes, she was plagued with them. She had talked to Jingles a little about it before she fell asleep. Maybe that was why she had a nightmare; it was fresh on her mind.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there, Little Bit. Daddy needs to get his baby monitor so I know when you wake up. That way, I can be there for you,” he gently said, running his hand up and down her back. “Just relax in Daddy’s arms. I’ve got you.”
And that was precisely what she did. Maybe Daddy should buy an adult baby carrier. Then she could feel safe and close to him all the time. But she knew she would still have nightmares. They slept together at night and she still woke him up.
But maybe if she was around him more they would slowly go away. Maybe her body would realize that she was safe and not have them anymore.
Daddy said Echo was probably having more because she felt safe around him and was letting her walls down. She didn’t know if that was true, but he could be right.
“Where were we?” Daddy asked.
“Are you sure?” Ace asked.
“Yes.”
Daddy continued to run his hand up and down her back, resulting in her fully relaxing into his body. This was nice. Echo could get used to this.
“We found out who the other guy is,” Xavier said. “Surprisingly, it was actually easy to find him.”
What were they talking about? Was she supposed to be here? Echo knew they didn’t always do things on the right side of the law, which means they could be discussing something illegal. Was Daddy sure he wanted her to be there?
“You didn’t do any of the work,” Ace grumbled. “I was the one who found him and gathered all the information.”
“It was teamwork,” Xavier chuckled. “I talked to the guy who helped and got a description and where they headed.”
“And I could have still found him without the other guy. I just checked the cameras. Which, by the way, they really suck at staying clear of cameras everywhere else—even though they managed to in the alleyway. Probably thought people wouldn’t look at the ones further away. Rookie mistake.” Ace didn’t sound happy.
Her mind was swirling with information. They couldn’t be talking about what she thought they were talking about, right?
“Just give me the information.” Daddy’s hand stilled for a second before continuing.
“His name is Ken Jones,” Ace said.
“How original,” Xavier chuckled. “Sorry, no need to glare at me. You may continue.”
“He isn’t from here, just like Rick.”
Her whole body went stiff. It couldn’t be a coincidence that they were talking about Rick. From what she knew, there weren’t any other Ricks in Springfield.
“You’re okay,” Daddy whispered. “I’m right here.”
But that didn’t help her calm down. They were talking about the men who did something to her. They were talking about one of the men who had attacked her all those years ago.
“Location?” Daddy asked.
“Don’t know that yet. Doesn’t seem to be staying in Springfield, but I’m looking into other possibilities,” Ace replied.
“Did they know each other before this?”
What was Daddy going to do? What were they planning?
“Oh yeah, they knew each other. Apparently, they met back in high school after Rick moved states. Grew close and then split when they went to college. Didn’t have contact with each other until just recently,” Xavier explained.
It was like cold water splashing on her face. Had they come together just to get back at her? She didn’t even know Ken. What had she done to him to make him agree to help Rick? Unless they had said it before and it was just another thing for Ken.
“They were known as the Terrible Two in high school for doing things to girls and guys. No evidence or witnesses ever really came forward,” Ace said. “Sadly for them, I have the evidence now.”
“It’s too late,” she mumbled.
“What was that, Little Bit?” Daddy asked.
“Too late to prosecute them. Most states have a ten-year limit to prosecute them, and that has run out.”
Echo had thought about trying to find the fourth person several times and put him behind bars, but it wasn't that easy. There hadn’t been much evidence, and by the time she wanted to, the ten years were up by a long shot.
She understood the limit, but at the same time, she didn’t. She wanted him to be put behind bars and pay for what he did to her.
“Well, luckily, that doesn’t matter,” Xavier pointed out.
She looked at him, waiting for him to explain, but he just looked at her.
“Because you are just going to get rid of him yourself?” she quietly asked.
“Exactly.”
“Just like you helped Daddy all those years ago?” It wasn’t really a question. Daddy had told Echo that Xavier was there to help him. She didn’t know how much he had actually done, but he was there.
“Didn’t do much then and probably won’t do much now. It’s your Daddy’s job,” he explained. “I’ll just be there in case he needs me.”
It should have frightened Echo that Daddy was going to go after Rick and take care of him. Instead, she found herself getting turned on. Daddy was taking care of her. He was getting revenge.
“So what are we going to do to get them?” she asked.
“ You aren’t going to do anything,” Daddy gently said.
Echo pulled back and looked at him. “How are you going to show himself?”
“Don’t know yet, but we’ll figure it out.”
“Maybe I can contact him, or I can walk around outside without a guard visible so he comes after me, and you can grab him and the other guy,” she suggested.
Did she actually want to do those things? Absolutely not. She didn’t want to be anywhere near them but she also didn’t want to live in fear for the next who knew how long while they waited to get him. It wasn’t helping her.
“No!” Daddy exclaimed.
“No?”
“I didn’t stutter. Daddy said no. It’s not going to happen,” he said before turning to Xavier and Ace. “Make sure everyone knows we’re looking for them. Maybe whispers will go around and they’ll show their faces. We need to be prepared.
“But it would help,” she argued.
“But nothing . You are not going to put yourself in danger. I will not allow it. Too much has happened to you already; no more will. Do you understand?” Daddy asked.
She glared at him. “But I can help! I bet you could find him faster if I just walked around town like nothing has happened!”
“Would you be able to do that?”
Echo opened her mouth and quickly closed it. Would she? Probably not.
“See. Even if you were able to do it, I still wouldn’t allow you to. I forbid you from doing it.”
“Not fair.”
“Echo, you are not pushing yourself to do something you aren’t ready for. Even if it weren’t dangerous, which it is, I still wouldn’t allow you to do it. You’ve gone through so much, and I don’t want you to worry about it.”
“But I’m going to worry about it. It’s hard not to when someone is after you. If I just push through this, then it will all be over!” she exclaimed.
“At what cost?”
“Wh-what?”
“At what cost? Your mental health? Putting you back several steps? Making you so scared that you don’t want to go out afterward?”
She hadn’t thought about it like that. She hadn’t really given it much thought at all. She just wanted to help Daddy so cleared up faster, even if it meant putting herself in danger.
“I will not let you do it. Won’t let you risk anything. Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“If I find out you are talking to other people about you going out to help or just going out, your bottom will be toast from my belt.”
She gasped and placed her hand over his mouth. “You can’t say that in front of them,” she whispered.
Daddy took her hand away. “Little Bit, they are Daddy Doms.”
“Still doesn’t mean they need to know,” she grumbled.
“You’re right. I’m sorry, Little One.”
Echo placed her head back on Daddy’s chest.
“So, what are you going to do about this?” she whispered. “I need to be in the know. I…I can’t be out of the loop.”
“I’m going to find out where they are, and then I’m going to go and torture them,” Daddy stated.
“Just torture?”
“No.”
“Kill?”
Silence filled the room.
“Right, you can’t just say that out loud. Got it.”
“Don’t worry about a thing. Daddy is going to take care of it,” he whispered.
Easier said than done.