Chapter Thirty-Seven
DAISY
Groaning, Daisy rolled her head to the side.
Why are the sheets so scratchy? Why is there a beeping sound?
“Daisy?” someone gently said. A female voice. It sounded so familiar. “It's Rainey. You're okay. Everything is going to be okay.”
Why wouldn’t it be okay? Why was Rainey there with her?
Daisy’s eyes flew open. White. Everything was so white.
“Whe—" She started to cough.
“You’re okay,” a deep voice said. “Just take some sips of the water through the straw.”
Tears pooled in her eyes as she remembered passing out in her living room and hitting her head on something hard.
“Daddy, she might not want water,” Rainey said.
“Tough. She needs water,” Marco replied. “Just a couple more sips and then you can stop.”
She took several drinks before pushing the straw out of her mouth. She and water had never been friends, even though she had to drink a lot of it.
“Do you remember anything?” he asked as he set the cup down.
“I passed out and hit my head,” she replied. “Why am I here? Why are you here?”
She was in a hospital room. Daisy knew for a fact that she didn’t pass out here.
“You weren’t answering your phone, and I got really worried.
You normally reply so fast, so Daddy and I came to check on you when he saw you unconscious in the living room,” Rainey explained.
“Daddy broke down the door while I called 9-1-1. He really wanted to take you to the hospital himself, but he didn’t know why you were unconscious.
We didn’t want to move you in case something had happened.
As we got to your house, we got a call from someone named Janelle who said you had cut your foot and hadn’t replied to her, either. ”
“Do you know why you passed out?” Marco asked.
“I got lightheaded. Before I could do anything, I passed out,” she said as she tried to think of everything that happened. “Have you told Daddy?”
Please say no. Please say no.
“We did,” Marco replied. “When the doctor told us you were stable, I called him.”
She sucked in a breath, tears pooling in her eyes. “He should stay there. He has a job to do. I’m really fine.”
But everything in her wanted Daddy. Him to take care of her, hold her, and help with everything.
“He wasn’t able to get to the airport before the last flight went out tonight,” Marco explained.
“You should just tell him to stay,” she mumbled, her voice clogged with so many different emotions.
“Is that what you really want?” Rainey asked. “You don’t want your Daddy right now?”
Daisy burst into sobs, her shoulders shaking. “I want Daddy!” she wailed.
“Oh, Little One, everything is going to be all right,” Marco gently said. “Your Daddy is trying to catch a flight early in the morning to come back to you. I just need you to be brave for a couple more hours.”
But Daisy knew it was going to be longer than a couple of hours.
“I called my brother!” Hedda announced as she threw the door open.
“You called Rogan?” Marco groaned. “Why would you do that?”
“Hey, you might not like what he does, but he is my brother, and I love him. He doesn’t hurt women,” Hedda replied, getting offended. “He’s a good man and had helped everyone out here at least once.”
“But he kills people,” Marco pointed out.
Who was her brother?
“Why did you call your brother?” Rainey asked before turning to Daisy. “Her brother is the head of the Ricci Crime Family in New York.”
Wow.
“I called him to see if he could help Asher out. He said he could. He actually has a plane in Virginia right now,” Hedda said as she walked further into the room. “Asher should be boarding the private plane soon and getting here as fast as he can.”
But it was still going to be hours until Daddy got to her. Daisy rolled onto her side and pulled the blanket over her head, hiding as she cried.
“It’s going to be okay,” Marco cooed at her as he patted her back gently. “Your Daddy is going to be here before you know it, and everything is going to be all right.”
That didn’t make her feel any better. They all talked in hushed voices as Marco patted her back. Daisy didn’t know how much time had passed, but the tears were still not stopping.
“Come on, Daisy. You need to drink some more water with all the crying you are doing,” Rainey said.
“You’re going to make yourself sick if you keep crying like that,” a voice she recognized instantly told her.
She sat up, her eyes connecting with Daddy’s as her world started to spin.
“Whoa, you’re okay,” Daddy said as he pulled her into his embrace. “Daddy’s got you.”
Daisy cried into his chest, gripping onto his shirt.
“I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered. “Daddy is here.”
Daisy didn’t know how long she stayed in Daddy’s arms, crying her eyes out as he held her tightly. But either way, she wasn’t letting go of him.
“You’re okay,” he whispered into her ear. “Everything is going to be okay now. Daddy is here to take care of you and make sure that everything goes okay.”
Daisy pulled away and looked around the room. Hedda, Rainey, and Marco were still there, looking at them.
“We were going to leave, Daddy really wanted to leave to keep your privacy, but I’m worried about you. I wanted to be here for you in case you wanted another Little or two with you,” Rainey said.
Before she could utter any words, a terrifying man walked into the room with a woman and a guy following behind him.
“Rogan!” Hedda yelled. “I didn’t think you were coming as well. Were you in Virginia?”
The scary man smiled at Hedda… Rogan. That was her brother, and she didn’t know how to feel about that. He was intimidating just by the way he commanded obedience through his demeanor.
Daisy had never thought it was possible for somebody to be like that, but she had been proven wrong.
“We were on vacation when you called me and decided to come along. Bonnie wanted to come see you and meet the new Little in your group,” Rogan explained.
The girl standing behind Rogan turned, a smile spread across her face as they made eye contact.
“Hi!” she happily greeted. “I’m with Rogan and Raynar.”
She was with both of them?
“Bon Bon, you know that’s not our names,” the man standing next to her said.
Her cheeks flushed. “Sorry. Daddy and Daddy Ray are with me.”
Daisy continued to blink as she looked between all of them.
“Oh, no. Do you think we broke her?” Bonnie asked as she looked up at Raynar.
“No, I don’t think you did. She has had a lot happen in the past couple of hours, and everything is becoming too much,” Rogan explained before turning to Daisy. “I heard that you cut your foot and then fainted.”
She nodded as she held on to Daddy’s shirt even tighter. Even though Rogan was talking to her in a gentle, soft voice, she couldn’t help but feel terrified of him. He oozed confidence and demanded respect simply by the way he held himself.
“I also heard that you have a friend who is hiding from somebody,” Rogan said.
Daisy’s eyes went wide. How did he know?
“Your Daddy was telling me about it on the plane right here. First, it was about how you met because Bonnie wanted to know. And then it turned into him asking whether I could help your friend,” Rogan continued, not moving from his spot.
“Daddy,” she whispered. “What did you tell him?”
Daddy ran his hands up and down her back. “I just told him that you had a friend who was on the run, and you wouldn’t tell me much information. I told him that you were worried about her and had been helping her for so long and that you missed her.”
And all of that was true. She did miss Gabby a lot, but they had both come to terms with the fact they were never going to have a normal life like best friends did. Daisy was still so excited that she was part of her life and that she was alive.
“If you would like my help, I would gladly assist your friend. You, after all, are a good friend of my sister’s, which means you are now part of our family,” Rogan said. “You might have heard some things about me being ruthless and doing bad things, but I do not harm the innocent or women.”
“Even if the woman is bad?” she couldn’t help but ask.
Hedda chuckled and shook her head. “You get that question every single time you try to explain this.”
“Oh. Was I not supposed to ask that?” Daisy asked. “I mean, I understand not wanting to hurt a female, but at the same time, there can be bad people who are females. My mom was one of them.”
She shouldn’t even be calling her mom “mom,” since she was nothing like that. She didn’t even understand why her mom had her to begin with, but her parents had. And now she was alive and away from them.
“Your mom was a bad person?” Rogan asked.
She shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it.
“If you ever want her dealt with, just let me know. I’ll have some people scare her, or whatever you want done with them. I’m assuming it’s not just your mother who wasn’t good,” Rogan concluded.
“They were parents, but I wouldn’t say they were exceptional parents. They didn’t beat me, if that is what you’re worried about,” Daisy replied.
Rogan hummed and stared at her. “My offer still stands. But as for your earlier question, if the woman is a bad person, then I have some women on staff who are more than happy to take care of them, but a man will never lay a hand on them. That is our rule.”
“That doesn’t entirely make sense,” she mumbled to herself, and Daddy’s arms tightened around her.
“All we need is a name if you want to help your friend. You can tell us where she is located. I will have some men go to her. We can take care of this little pest who is bothering her and you,” Rogan said.
“I-I don’t know if that is what she wants,” Daisy whispered.
While they did want the man who had been tormenting Gabby for years, the man who was after her was very dangerous, dealt with. Daisy didn’t want anything to happen to Rogan or his people since they meant something to Hedda.
“Why don’t you call or text her at some point and see if she wants some help? If she does, you can let me know, and we will take care of it,” Rogan said.
“I’m surprised you’re even giving her an option.” Bonnie chuckled. “Normally, when you hear that some women are on the run, you step up without asking them anything.”
Daisy’s eyes flew open as she looked back at Rogan. Was he going to do that? He already knew that she had a friend who was on a run, and Daisy had no doubt that Rogan could find out who her friend was by looking at her phone or really looking at anything.
“I normally would, but Daisy is a good friend of Hedda’s. I do not want to make Hedda mad,” he explained.
“Are you actually going to sit back and wait for her to ask her friend?” Raynar asked.
Rogan shrugged, and something dropped in her stomach… Dread?
“I already know her name. I will be looking into whoever is after her, but if none of them want anything done, I’ll leave it be,” Rogan explained.
“You can’t do anything. Y-you really can’t do anything. I don’t want this to come back on her. She finally found a spot where she is able to relax a little bit, and I don’t want anything to happen to her. She needs to rest,” Daisy quickly said, stumbling over her words.
Rogan’s eyes narrowed on her, and she flinched, her grip tightening around Daddy’s shirt.
“We really shouldn’t be talking about this. Daisy just woke up a couple of hours ago, and she’s been through a lot already,” Marco said, standing. “She needs as much rest as possible. Talking about this isn’t going to help her.”
“We are talking about this now,” Rogan declared.