26. Chapter Twenty-Four
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
MARCO
M arco couldn’t focus on the work in front of him. His sole thought was of Rainey and how she was doing. He knew she was nervous about hanging out with the other Littles. He hated it, but he also knew it was good for her to be a little anxious and to hang out with them. He couldn’t coddle her every single time she got nervous. He wanted her to flourish and live her life, creating friends she could rely on .
And she couldn’t do that if he was keeping her next to him whenever she was anxious.
To ease his worries, he had the camera feed for the main room on his computer. It was covered by other windows, but he had the volume up, so if anything happened, he would hear. That was the only way he was surviving right now. It also eased his worries, knowing Dane was with her. He would do anything to protect her if there was a threat.
“How’s everything going?” Leo asked as he walked into his office with his brother, Oliver.
Marco sighed, knowing he definitely wasn’t going to get any work done now. They weren’t in his schedule about anything security-related. So it was a social call, but he couldn’t blame them since he hadn’t been in the office in several days.
“Some struggles like any relationship, but it’s been good. How’s everything with you guys?” he asked.
“Oh, come on, give us something else besides, there’s ‘been some struggles, but it’s been good.’ We didn’t come here just to hear you say that. We want details,” Leo exclaimed.
“Can I get Kirk’s number from Hedda?” Marco completely ignored Leo’s last statement.
“Why ?” Oliver asked.
“To find her ex.”
He didn’t know all the details, but there was enough to know her ex was not good. He wanted somebody to look into him. Ultimately, he wanted to keep her safe, and not knowing who or where he was, was dangerous. He could have asked Ezra if one of the guys in his company could do it, but Marco knew he wouldn’t get everything. They were law-abiding citizens, whereas Kirk wasn’t. Marco knew he could find things that people wanted to hide.
He needed to know who they were dealing with. Did he need to keep her safe? Was she in danger? There were so many questions left unanswered, and he needed to find the answers.
“Woah, dude. What did her ex do?” Leo asked.
“You might want to think about going after her ex. Will she hate you for it?” Oliver inquired.
“She doesn’t know I’m looking into him. She doesn’t need to know right now, either. She’s already had a spook, and I don’t need her getting rattled even more,” Marco replied.
“What did he do to spook her?” Leo asked once again.
“Rainey thought she saw him the other day. Completely freaked out with the other girls around her. I found out later. But her ex did a number on her. He was abusive, more mentally than physically. She mentioned he got more physical toward the end and before she found out she was pregnant. Apparently, he’s also in a gang.”
It was a lot to process. Marco didn’t know his name or what he even looked like. He was at a disadvantage, but that’s why he wanted Kirk’s number, so he could give him the information he knew. Kirk could do whatever he needed to do.
“Shit. Really?” Leo asked.
“Yes, really. I don’t know his name but to see the look on her face, it was enough to want to go after him. It’s no joke. I want every single piece of information.”
“We’ll get the number from Hedda and pass it along. Hedda is very fond of Rainey, so Kirk will do it. You don’t have to worry about that,” Leo explained.
Marco wasn’t worried about having to pay. He would pay Kirk in aheartbeat if he needed to. Rainey’s safety was his top priority, and knowing she was scared didn’t sit well with him.
“I’m going to have Kirk also look into the Springfield Sinners. I talked to Monroe briefly, and she said Echo’s person was standing outside; that’s when Rainey saw her ex. I know for sure it wasn’t Echo’s guy, but he might be in the club.” Marco sighed.
Everything was starting to become more difficult as people arrived in Springfield. Never would he have thought they would have an MC move into their small city. But they had, and now they needed to be vigilant.
“That’s good. We need to keep an eye on this Deccan. He’s the president of the club and has his eyes on Echo. We don’t have the resources to have someone on him all the time,” Leo said.
“Maybe we should lock Echo down until we can resolve this. Or have her come with us to work and stay at our house until everything is resolved,” Marco suggested.
“That’s not going to end well. She is a free spirit and likes to do reckless things. She has a job.”
“What does she do?” Oliver asked.
“I think she writes or is a personal assistant to someone online. She can do it anywhere, and, from what Hedda said, she gets most of her work done early and has a lot of free time,” Leo replied.
“How did I miss that?”
“You were doing a demonstration.”
“She won’t tell us if he does anything bad. I don’t even know if the girls realize he is on our radar. They probably think we are oblivious.” Marco chuckled.
“But we noticed him the first time he saved her.” Leo shook his head.
“That was at the Little Farm?”
“Yeah, for Halloween or something. I can’t honestly recall, but I remember him.”
Marco sighed and leaned back into his chair.
“Do you think Rogan would help if we needed it?” Marco asked.
He didn’t want it to come to that point, but he needed to know.
Leo shrugged. “Maybe. If it came to Hedda’s safety, he probably would. I don’t know what kind of price you would have to pay if he were to help. Things have been changing a little since he’s got two Littles of his own now. While he has grown softer, he has also grown colder.”
“The safety of his Littles,” Oliver added.
“Do you have his number? I’ll contact him.”
“Good luck. But I’ll send it to you with Kirk’s number. Though, you probably want to ask Rogan if you can use Kirk before you message him.”
Marco nodded. So many hoops to jump through, but he would do it for Rainey. He wanted her safe. If that meant him asking a dangerous man for help, he was going to do it.
“Hedda is excited for Rainey to have her baby. Said she’ll babysit if you need her to,” Leo said. “The girls have also gotten a list of what each person or their Daddy will be making and who will drop it off. Honestly, we might as well get a key to your house so we can put all the food in before you get there.”
“I’ll make sure to give you a copy of it soon,” Marco replied. “Rainey was shocked when the girls wanted to do things for her.”
“The baby is going to be spoiled rotten.”
Marco thought he would care, but he didn’t. He wanted both of them to be spoiled and shown that people loved them. He had a feeling Rainey didn’t get much of that growing up or with her ex-boyfriend.
He looked at his computer and pulled up the camera feed. Rainey was sitting on a chair, Dane sitting right next to her as she painted. He could tell they were talking, but he had the volume low enough thathe couldn’t hear what they were saying, but loud enough thatif they yelled, he would be able to hear it.
Marco wanted to give her privacybut also to keep an eye on her. What if she needed him and didn’t come? She said she would, but he had a feeling she would hold on until everything became too much.
“What are they doing? Is Hedda behaving?” Leo asked.
“She always seems to get herself into trouble,” Oliver muttered.
“But you two love it.” Marco rolled his eyes.
“Of course.” Oliver grinned.
“I wouldn’t change it for the world—but is she behaving?”
“She is painting with the other girls. Talking, but nothing else is happening,” Marco told them.
Marco pulled up a different tab, covering the camera feed. He didn’t need to be watching Rainey all the time. She needed to have privacy with her friends. He just had to trust that she would come to him if she needed anything.
“So, is she the one or just someone you are helping?” Leo asked.
“She is the one,” Marco replied. “I am going to spend the rest of my life with her. We’ve already told each other I love you.”
Leo’s eyes went wide. “Shit. You work fast. You’ve only known each other for less than a week, right?”
“That’s right, but time doesn’t matter. We feel the pull toward each other. I know she is the one, and I’m not going to back down from that. I’ve told her that, and while she was a little shocked, she didn’t run away.”
Marco was a little worried when he told her he loved her. Was it risky? Absolutely, but he had already told her he couldn’t hold anything back. He needed her to know how he truly felt. He wanted to show her he was going to communicate and be honest with her.
“I’m surprised she didn’t run from you. I mean, look at you.” Oliver pointed.
“Haha. Very funny. She didn’t and hasn’t.”
“Shocking.”
Marco was still a little worried about being so forward. How long ago was it she got out of her relationship? Was he forcing her into another one?
“Hedda wants to do a playdate with everyone and wants to include Frankie,” Leo said, completely changing the subject.
“How does she know about Frankie?” Marco asked.
“Halloween, we stopped by Noah’s house, and Frankie was in the background. The girls are curious and want to invite her to a sleepover.”
“I would be surprised if she said yes. She wouldn't go for that even if they had it at Noah and Frankie’s house.”
Marco felt bad for Frankie. She used to work at the club, cleaning, but her illness kept getting worse and worse. Noah fell in love with her when he first saw her and started to take care of her. Now, they lived in his house and didn’t come out much.
That was no way to live, but Marco didn’t live with the health condition, so he didn’t know how bad it was. There was no doubt she got looks when she was out in public and shook. She probably didn’t want to have people asking her if she was okay or what was happening.
“She has Essential Tremor Disorder?” Oliver asked.
“Yeah, shehas had it for a while now. From what Noah has told me, she is taking medication that helps, but it doesn’t take everything away,” Marco explained.
“Maybe some of the girls can go over and see if she wants to talk for a little bit. Maybe bring her out of her shell. It must be awfully lonely to be there every day, with no one else around.” Leo sighed.
None of them liked the situation. Marco knew Noah had tried to get Frankie to go out of the house, but he didn’t want to push her too much.
“I’ll talk to him about it. Maybe?—”
Screaming sounded through the computer, making Marco stand quickly. Rainey. That was Rainey’s scream. Without thinking, Marco ran toward her.