CHAPTER 11
SCARLETT
“We have guests coming over,” Daddy announces, walking into the living room.
I sit up straight, panic rushes through my body.
“Just two guys who work here as our security. They want to discuss something with me. I told them to come over since I don’t want to leave you.” Daddy sits next to me. “Nothing bad is going to happen.”
I relax and lean into his embrace. Right, nothing is going to happen. I am safe here. Juniper and I are safe.
“One day you’re going to talk about it,” he gently says. “I know it’s going to be hard, but you need to tell someone. it’s not healthy to bottle it up.”
I shake my head. I don’t want to talk to anyone about what happened. It will just make me realize how stupid I was in the beginning. How naive I was to fall for his tricks.
“You have nightmares and flinch at things. I don’t want you to live with fear in your eyes for the rest of your life. You don’t have to talk to me, it can be someone else, but I think it would be healthy to talk to someone,” Daddy suggests.
Before I can say anything, there is a knock on the door. My whole body freezes.
“You can come in!” Daddy calls out, wrapping an arm around me and holding me close.
Juniper is lying on her mat having tummy time. She looks so peaceful, like nothing is wrong in the world.
“Thorin.” Two men walk into the room, greeting Daddy.
“Brix and Elijah. Thanks for coming here. This is Scarlett and Juniper.” Daddy points to us.
“Nice to meet you,” they both say together.
I stare at them and wave, not trusting my voice in this instance. They are muscular and very intimidating. Is that a requirement to live in the lodge?
“Do you want to go to your office?” Brix asks.
Daddy shakes his head. “No, it’s okay. Scarlett can hear what you have to say.”
I look at him in shock. I don’t know if I want to know what they’re going to say. What if it’s something bad? What if it’s something secret?
“Are you sure?” Brix asks again.
“I’m positive.” Thorin nods.
“We caught a guy looking around the lodge. Asked him what he was doing and he said he was looking for a girl and his kid,” Elijah says.
My eyes go wide as I stare at Elijah. In an instant, it’s like my head is under water, everything becoming muffled as they continue their conversation.
He found me.
He is looking for me.
How does he know I am here? How? I never mentioned this lodge or anything related to it. I kept it a secret so if I needed to make a run for it, I could without him ever being able to find me.
But he has.
He found me.
He has to know I am here.
“Scarlett?” Daddy’s voice sounds so far away. “Little One?”
But I continue to stare at the ground, feeling so helpless. I should have known I was never going to get away from him. I should have known. But everything inside of me wanted to and still wants to.
“Scarlett.” Daddy’s hands are wrapped around my face.
My eyes connect with his worried-filled ones.
“Come back to me,” he gently says. “Come back to Daddy.”
“I,” I stutter, not knowing what to say.
“Come back to me,” he repeats. “Come back to Daddy. I’m right here. Nothing is going to happen.”
I close my eyes, and Daddy’s hand tightens around my face.
“Look at me,” he commands, his voice a little clearer this time. “Look at me and keep your eyes on me.”
And that’s what I do. I look at him again, and he says calming words to me.
“Such a good girl,” he praises. “My good girl. You’re okay.”
I take a deep breath, filling my lungs with the oxygen they desperately need.
“I’ve got you,” he whispers. “I’m right here.”
I blink several times, looking at him and resting my face into his hands.
“What happened?” Daddy asks, keeping his hands on my face.
And I’m grateful he is. I can feel myself panicking a little as he asks me that question, but I focus on his hands.
“He found us,” I whisper. “He’s going to get rid of her, going to sell her.” I sob. “He doesn’t want her.”
The thought of him selling Juniper breaks my heart. When he told me, I felt so helpless, and that’s when I knew I needed to get away.
“Who?” Daddy asks.
“Juniper.” Tears stream down my face. “He’s going to sell Juniper.”
“She’s just a fucking baby,” Brix growls.
My whole body stiffens when I remember that we aren’t alone. Brix and Elijah are still here.
“You’re okay,” Daddy whispers. “Everything is okay.”
I stare into his eyes and take a deep breath. Daddy is with me. He is going to keep me safe. I have to believe that because I know it’s true, but what if he changes his mind once he knows who he is up against?
“Can you tell me who he is?” Daddy asks, letting go of my face.
My eyes start to move to Brix and Elijah, but Daddy stops me.
“Look at me,” he reminds me.
I keep my eyes on him. “He was my ex-boyfriend of sorts. Thought he owned me, but he doesn’t. He told me when I got pregnant that if it was a girl, he would sell her. If it was a boy, then he was going to raise him to be just like him,” I whisper toward the end.
I lied a little. It wasn’t when I got pregnant, but when I got closer to delivering.
He wanted me to know who was in control, but I didn’t follow him.
I knew right then that I needed an escape plan when I gave birth, and it worked out perfectly.
He had to go take care of some business and left me at the hospital.
“And you stayed with him the whole time knowing either was going to happen?” Elijah asks.
I shake my head. “It wasn’t actually when I found out, but more into my third trimester. I had nothing planned at that point and needed those two months to get everything ready.”
“And that’s when you called me,” Daddy gently finishes for me, realization coming across his face.
I nod. “I had Juniper, and he had to leave for some work thing. I was taking a gamble, asking the nurse to help me leave, but she helped. Drove me to my house and got Juniper safely in the car before giving me some extra cash and leaving. It wasn’t until the late afternoon, which is why I got here in the dark. ”
It was one of the scariest times of my life, leaving him. He has men everywhere, and I had no idea if any of the nurses were reporting to some of them. But I had to try. It worked out, and Juniper and I are safe.
Or we were.
I don’t know about now. He found us.
“Who is he?” Daddy asks.
“Harold Jones. I don’t know what he does or who he is involved with, but that’s his name. Or the name he gave me,” I murmur at the end.
Who’s to say he didn’t give me fake names?
“Shit, Harold Jones?” Brix asks.
I look at him and nod. “Yeah, that’s his name.”
“Is he gone sometimes for a couple of days to a week? Does he come home some days with injuries?” Elijah asks.
I nod again. “I know he’s involved in something dangerous. I just don’t know what it is. He always made sure not to talk about anything in front of me.”
Daddy has gone silent, and I look over at him. He is staring at me with an expression I don’t know. Is he regretting taking me in now? Does he want to let me and Juniper go?
“He’s in the mob, right?” Elijah asks.
Daddy nods. “He is.”
My face goes pale. I knew something wasn’t right. How could I have been so dumb to get with someone who is in the mob?
Harold was so charming, though. He knew all the right things to say and do, and I didn’t question any of it. Not until he moved me in did things slowly start to change.
“I think I should leave,” I whisper, standing up. “Thank you for helping me recover. Tell Aiden that I’m grateful he was here to help me and your sister.”
I don’t make it even a step before strong arms band around my waist, pulling me onto a lap. I yelp as my face turns to see Daddy is the one holding me.
“I didn’t say you could go,” he growls.
“You didn’t say you wanted me to stay either,” I point out. “I didn’t know he was in the mob. I’ll just leave so you don’t have to deal with this. It’s not your problem.”
But everything inside of me wants Daddy to fight for me and tell me to stay. I don’t want to leave him or this lodge. I want to live here for the rest of my life, growing old with him and raising our children.
“You aren’t going anywhere. I told you that you are mine and I am yours. That Juniper is ours. That means I am going to protect you and make sure nothing happens to either one of you,” Daddy firmly says.
“But he’s part of the mob,” I whisper.
“So?”
I gape at him. “So?”
He nods.
“So, he is dangerous! He could tell his boss or whoever that you took me away, kidnapped me, and they could all come for you. They could kill you all!” I raise my voice. “How can you not see that? I don’t want you to die.”
My heart thumps as I stare at him, waiting for him to say something, anything.
“I have friends in the mafia in New York,” Daddy calmly explains. “We’re great friends. They’ll happily come down and take care of this.”
My mouth hangs open as I look at Daddy.
“Didn’t expect him to say that?” Brix chuckles. “Your Daddy isn’t so innocent.”
My head whips to Brix, and I give him a puzzling look. “What?” I whisper.
“Ask him.” Elijah points his head toward Daddy.
I look back at Daddy, only to see him glaring at Brix and Elijah.
“What do they mean?” I ask.
“We don’t have to talk about this.” Daddy looks at me.
“I want to know. What do they mean?”
“I grew up with one of the men, Miles, who is in the Ricci Crime Family.” Daddy looks away for a couple of seconds.
“Tell me,” I urge him. “The whole truth.”
I know he’s holding something back, and I don’t like it. What could it possibly be?
“Miles and I grew up together, joined the Ricci Crime Family together.” He looks me in the eyes. “I’m a member of the Ricci Crime Family.”
“But you don’t live in New York,” I point out. “Don’t mafia groups live in the same city?”
I am going off movies and books I’ve read, which are all fiction. I can’t believe this is actually true.
“Yes, but Rogan, the head of the Ricci Crime Family, wants to have a presence here. A lot of the men here are actually members as well,” Daddy continues explaining.
“I…” I trail off, not knowing what to say.
“You are safe,” Daddy says, gripping my chin. “You are safe here. We are going to take care of you.”
I lift my chin, believing him.
“We’ll let the others know.” Brix rises. “We just wanted to let you know.”
“There’s also an unaccompanied submissive coming soon. Very last minute,” Elijah adds.
“Is there a lodge for her to stay in?” Daddy asks.
“No, so we’re sticking her with us.” Brix smiles.
“Don’t terrorize her,” Daddy grumbles.
“Us terrorize her?” Elijah looks offended. “We would never.”
“We’ll just show her that having two Daddies is better than one.” Brix smiles.
Both of them leave before Daddy could say anything.
“Two Daddies?” I ask, looking at him puzzled.
“They are best friends and share their girl. They’re looking for their forever Little.” Daddy kisses my forehead. “Now, let’s get you down for a nap.”