Chapter 46
46
Cammie was crying in the background, so Faith didn’t think she’d be able to hear her. And she had the feeling these other men likely knew about Cat and Alejandro’s relationship so her calling Reuben Daddy wouldn’t hurt their sensibilities.
Reuben let out another low noise, filled with fury and pain.
“I’m here. Thank you for coming for me, Daddy.”
“Let go of me,” he growled.
For a moment, she thought Reuben was talking to her. But when she glanced up at him, he was glaring at Alejandro and the other bodyguard.
They instantly stepped back and he drew her up into his arms, stepping away from the wall and into the kitchen where he put his back to the counter and held her tight.
“I’m okay, Daddy. I’m okay.”
He was shaking, and she ran her hands over his shoulders as he buried his face in her neck.
Was he going to cry?
Fudging fudge knuckles. What did she do if he cried?
Then he let out a muffled yell and she froze at the fury in that sound.
“What was I thinking?” There was self-loathing in his voice as he drew his head back to stare down at her.
“Daddy?” she murmured.
“I knew I should have made you stay with me. This is what I get when I try to go against who I am. I’m never following Xavier’s advice again. Why did I think he knew what he was talking about? Give you time? Go slow? No. Nope.”
She waited for the objections to rise inside her.
But they didn’t come.
Perhaps tomorrow or the next day or next week they would. But right now, she wanted those decisions made for her.
“I could have lost you. That cannot happen again.”
She nodded in agreement.
“You’re coming home with me.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
He grunted. Was that in satisfaction? Irritation? She wasn’t sure. She still needed to learn how to read all the nuances of his nonverbal dialogue.
Men. Such complicated creatures.
“I want to go home,” she whispered. “Please, can we go home? Colin is suffocating in my suitcase.”
As she said that, she sensed someone come up behind her. Reuben tensed, but he wasn’t growling or trying to protect her so she wasn’t worried about who it was.
“Who is Colin?” Alejandro demanded, sounding so deadly that she shivered.
“Her squishy,” Reuben told him.
“Her what?”
“Squishy,” Reuben repeated. “Wait. Why is Colin in your suitcase?”
“I already packed. I was going to leave tonight after Eric . . . after he . . .”
“After. He. What?” Reuben asked in a voice that was far too quiet.
“I don’t think I want to say.”
“Why not?” Reuben carefully gathered up her hair, drawing her head back.
“Because I don’t want you to let me go. And I don’t want you to kill him.”
He narrowed his gaze down at her.
“We have to get him to a hospital,” Cammie yelled from the living room
“I don’t know why she cares,” Faith said. She was aware that her voice lacked emotion. But it was hard to care about much right now.
All she knew was that she felt safe in Reuben’s arms and if he killed Eric, then he’d likely go to jail. And since she didn’t want to let him go, she’d have to go to jail as well.
“I don’t want to go to jail. Orange isn’t my color.” Faith turned toward Alejandro as she said that because she figured he’d want to know.
“But you’d look good in orange,” she told Alejandro. “You’d look good in anything. Except maybe white. I mean, it would suit your skin tone, but you know, you’re not really a white sort of guy.”
Amusement filled Alejandro’s face. “She’s cute like this.”
Reuben made a warning noise.
She turned her gaze back to his. “Don’t be jelly, Daddy. Green isn’t your color.” She lightly patted his face. “And I’ve only got eyes for you.”
“Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?” Reuben demanded.
She studied him for a long moment, then she shook her head.
“Do not lie to me.”
“I’m not.” She went over everything that had happened.
Reuben turned and sat her on the counter. He removed her handbag before lifting her top up. She yelped, but he just gently touched her stomach where Eric had kicked her. Then he carefully inspected her throat. It was a bit tender but nothing bad.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Alejandro.”
That was all he said. But Alejandro seemed to know what he wanted.
“I’ll call Aaron, tell him you’re stopping by. We’ll take care of all of this. Nighthawk said there were no calls to the cops. Which is surprising in a neighborhood like this.”
“One of the neighbors is really old and goes to bed at like seven,” she explained even though Alejandro hadn’t been talking to her. “She rarely wears her hearing aids. The other neighbors have got their music up loud. Also, I think they smoke a lot of happy drugs. So they’re probably spaced out. And the ones across the road are away.”
“Convenient,” the Scot said as he joined them, holding her phone.
She took it, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw it still worked.
“Well, not when he was chasing us around,” she pointed out. “Or when he tried to strangle me.”
Reuben picked her up again and tried to give her to Alejandro. “Take her.”
“No way.”
“I’m going to kill him. Take her.”
“Daddy, no. I don’t want to go to Alejandro. I want you to hold me. I feel safe with you. And I don’t want to go to jail.”
“You wouldn’t be going to jail,” Reuben told her.
“I would because I’m never letting you go.”
Reuben let out a deep sigh. “Fuck.”
She buried her face in his neck, breathing him in. “I wanna go home.”
Something was trying to punch past the wall she’d put up. The one that was keeping her emotions at bay.
“Take her home. It’s going to hit her soon and she’s going to need you with her. We have this,” Alejandro said. “Your priority is Faith.”
“Fuck. Fine.”
“What about the girl?” the Scot asked. “She looks like she doesn’t want to leave him.”
“I don’t get it,” Faith said. “He hit her. And he’s not a nice man. He said?—”
“How about we don’t repeat what he said right now, honey,” Alejandro told her in a soft voice. “We’re trying to keep Reuben out of prison, remember?”
“Yeah. Good plan. You’re a smart guy. Cat’s lucky. I like Cat.”
“She likes you as well.”
“We have to take Cammie home with us,” Faith told Reuben.
“No,” Reuben replied.
“Yes.” She gave him a firm look. He thought he always got to be in charge? Well, maybe he did in most things.
But he also had to listen when something was important to her.
And this was important.
Cammie couldn’t stay here. Faith didn’t know what they were going to do with Eric. That was something for Reuben to deal with.
But Cammie was her business.
“She’s coming home with us, Reuben,” she said firmly. “She needs me.”
“I need you.”
Faith patted his shoulder gently. “You have me. I’m here.”
He narrowed his gaze at her as though he could sense her need to roll her eyes.
“Someone needs to keep an eye on her,” Alejandro said. “Make sure she doesn’t talk.”
She shot Alejandro a look. “That is not why she’s coming back with us.”
To her shock, he grinned. “Growing that backbone, aren’t you, chica?”
“It’s always been there. It’s just been a bit wilted, lately.”
Reuben grunted, not looking happy.
“Feeling safe has helped me find it again,” she said softly. “If I didn’t feel secure, then I wouldn’t be able to speak out.”
Reuben’s face cleared and he blew out a breath. Alejandro winked at her as though he knew she was manipulating Reuben and approved.
It was just a slight manipulation, so surely it wasn’t all that bad, right?
“I know what you’re doing, brat,” Reuben whispered. “I’ll take it out on your ass later.”
She shivered. In anticipation, not fear.