15. Chapter Thirteen
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ECHO
S everal days had passed since Echo had gone to the clubhouse to talk to Deccan. She hadn’t left her house since. Her neck was bruised from Levi’s hold on her. Would that be a regular occurrence if she stayed with Deccan?
Daddy
Levi should have never done that.
I’ve talked to him.
It will never happen again.
Everyone in town knows not to mess with you or they will have to deal with me.
Echo sighed as she read the text messages over and over again. Deccan had been messaging her every hour, trying to get her to respond, but she hadn't. She didn't want to.
There was so much to think about, and she needed time. Or did she? Echo didn’t know what she needed or if she needed anything . She had to need something, right? So much had gone changed. Was she processing it correctly?
Echo was trying to figure out if she should look for another job. Had Deccan talked to everyone in the town to tell them not to hire her? She thought about asking Derek if she could have her job back, but she already knew he wasn’t going to.
Deccan no doubt threatened him. Was he going to threaten every person she knew?
Several more text messages came in, and Echo sighed once again.
Daddy
Answer me, Little Bit.
I know you’re reading my messages.
Why haven’t you left your house?
Is everything all right?
I’m coming in if you don’t reply.
Thankfully, Echo was actually reading them because she didn’t want Deccan to break into her house. Would he? Did he have a key without her knowing? She wouldn’t put it past him if he did.
Echo
I’m fine.
But she wasn’t fine. Having a hand around her throat, squeezing, had shaken her to her core. It brought her back to that awful night.
Had she slept at all the night before? She hadn’t. Echo held a knife the whole night as she stared at the door, waiting for someone to come in. No one had.
Daddy
Little Bit. Why haven’t you left your house ?
She ignored the text. Didn’t he already know? He seemed to know everything about her. How? It puzzled her.
Daddy
Echo.
Echo
What do you want?
She just wanted to be left alone. He hadn’t given her a moment of peace. Would she ever? Deccan seemed hell bent on getting her to talk.
Daddy
I want to know why you haven’t left your house. If you’re okay. Why weren’t you responding before? Are you okay?
She took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. He was going to bug her until she answered.
Her phone started to ring, and she let out a little scream.
Deccan .
Picking it up, she held it to her ear. “What? What do you want?”
“You know what I want, Echo,” his voice rumbled through the phone.
“I’m fine. I am perfectly fine.”
“Little Bit. No lying to Daddy.”
Tears pricked her eyes. She didn’t like lying, but she needed to right now.
“Echo, let me in,” Daddy gently said.
“N-no,” she whispered.
“Little Bit.”
A sob made its way out of her mouth as her shoulders hunched.
“Little Bit.” His voice sounded strange. “Let Daddy in.”
Echo didn’t respond, though. She wrapped her free arm around her waist as she continued to cry in her bedroom.
“Echo, baby. I’m coming in.”
But she didn’t pay any attention to his words. Her emotions were getting the better of her. Arms wrapped around her, pulling her into his chest.
“N-no,” she weakly said.
“You’re okay,” he whispered, soothing her. “Daddy is here.”
She continued to cry into his chest, letting him hold her.
“I’ve got you. Daddy is going to keep you safe.”
Echo didn’t know how long he rocked them back and forth on her bed, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care.
“You’re okay.”
She pulled back from his embrace and looked at him. Daddy wiped away her tears and cupped her face.
“Did you sleep last night?”
Echo looked away. He knew she hadn’t.
“Ah, Daddy didn’t say you could look away.”
Her eyes found his again, and he gave her one of his rare smiles.
“Good girl. Now, answer Daddy’s question.”
“No.”
“No, Daddy,” he reminded her.
Echo hesitated. She had called him Daddy in her mind several times, but she was trying to stop. They weren’t official, and she didn’t know if they would actually end up together.
“You’re okay,” he gently said before she could answer.
Maybe he realized she wasn’t ready to call him Daddy yet. Did he know she called him that in her head? Well, sometimes. She went back and forth, trying to force herself not to even though it was hard.
He was a Daddy.
She wanted him to be her Daddy.
“Did you have nightmares last night?” Daddy asked.
She shook her head. Echo didn’t allow herself to go to sleep because she knew she would. They had gotten better over the years, but she still had them. When she was really stressed, they got worse, but that hadn’t happened in a while.
Until now.
She figured with her having flashbacks when the guy in the clubhouse was gripping her neck that she would have nightmares. So, she took it into her own hands and didn’t let herself fall asleep.
Echo didn’t want to wake up, screaming, thrashing, and begging for them to stop only to find out she was alone.
No one to help her come out of the nightmare.
No one to hug her.
No one to tell her everything was going to be okay.
No one to hold her as she cried her eyes out.
No one to take care of her.
She had no one .
“Little Bit.” Daddy cupped her face with his hands. Slowly, he started to rub his thumb across her cheek. “I’m so sorry that happened.”
She blinked several times. He was sorry? She didn’t think she would ever hear Daddy say those words.
“I thought everyone in the club knew who you were and what you looked like. That should have never happened. It won’t happen again,” he gently said. “Levi feels bad for what he did, but we’ve had several people come in demanding to speak to me so they can get to me. He was just trying to be cautious.”
“He should have asked more questions,” she whispered.
“He should have, which he knows now.”
Echo leaned into his touch and took a deep breath. Her tears were slowing the longer he held her. Would it always be like this? Him helping her calm down when she was falling apart? Putting her back together?
She wished he was there all those years ago to put her back together. That was when she needed him most, but she didn’t know him back then.
What would that have been like? Was he the same dark person he was now? Or was he sweet and innocent?
“Let Daddy hold you for a bit longer.” He brought her back to his chest.
Echo whined and slightly pushed against his chest.
“Hush.” He held her tighter. “You need this. Let me give it to you. And you can’t say that your skin crawls because I know your skin doesn’t crawl when I touch you.”
There he was again, showing her that he knew far more about her than she did about him. Was it ever going to change? How did he know all that information anyway?
Echo relaxed into his embrace, and Daddy slowly started to run his hands through her hair.
“Just relax. Daddy is right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
She decided to take this moment to fully relax. When was the next time she would be able to do this? She’d go back to being angry at him after, but right now, she needed this.
“Good girl. Daddy’s good girl.”