Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
For the first time ever, Tazzy didn’t enjoy being on the back of Jaxon’s bike. Not even a little bit. No matter what she’d told her Daddy, what happened at the protest had shaken her to her core.
“I can’t believe the General shot me with a freakin’ paintball gun,” she said.
The new helmets her Daddy bought had Bluetooth connections so they could speak to one another.
“I saw flashing lights after the bullets hit me. I thought it was a mystic vision or something. But now that I think about it, I’ll bet it was people taking pictures to post on their social media.
I mean, what else could it have been—” she broke off with a gasp.
Suzi. “Daddy, if Suzi posts pictures of me with red splotches all over my chest in her paper tomorrow, I’m gonna…
I’ll… okay, I don’t know what I’ll do, but it will be bad. ”
She’d thought someone had really shot her with a real gun.
The paint was dark red, and the impact had knocked the breath right out of her.
It wasn’t until a few minutes later that Jaxon had identified the shooter as the General.
Not that anyone knew it was him. He’d turned their peaceful protest into something scary.
She added that to her list of reasons to hate that man.
After all that, it had taken forever to get away from the square.
Everyone was told to leave, including the Musketiaras, who left with their Daddies.
Well, everyone except Jaxon and her. They had to stay behind to make statements to the police.
Ezra asked a million questions, and every answer she gave only seemed to spark another question.
The worst part was the way Jaxon had gone after the General.
That moment still terrified her. She couldn’t care less what happened to the General.
He deserved every bad thing that could come his way and then some.
But Jaxon had lost control, and if the Sabre crew had not stepped in, he could have ended up back in jail.
The very thought of it made her shudder.
“You okay, babygirl?”
“Yes, Daddy, just a little chilled.”
“In this weather?”
She hugged him tighter, trying to communicate in silence what was too hard to express aloud.
“I understand, babygirl. You just hold on tight, we’ll be at the warehouse in a few minutes.”
She felt completely out of sorts. Her head throbbed, and she would never admit it, but Jaxon was probably right about her not drinking enough water.
The stupid helmet he made her wear kept shoving the band of her ponytail into her skull, and the salve Bones had given her to numb the three paintball welts only made her skin feel strange and numb.
She just wanted to get to the Sabre warehouse, curl up in a chair in the Little Room with the Musketiaras, and forget the last few hours had ever happened.
Tension radiated from Jaxon, which sucked. But at least with their new helmets, they could talk to each other. The rigid way he held his body was so unfamiliar. Usually, he pulled her close and kept his hand on her thigh. She liked that a lot.
But right now, both his hands were on the steering yoke. Not a word that didn’t have to be said came from him. Hopefully, it wasn’t because he was busy blaming himself for not spotting the threat sooner.
She wanted to tell him it wasn’t his fault, but she couldn’t find the words. He wasn’t in the mood to listen anyway. So she just stuck her hands in the pockets of his jacket and rode in silence.
The engine vibrated through her, which she usually didn’t mind.
Now every bump reminded her of the pain in her shoulder and stomach.
Even that, however, couldn’t keep her from daydreaming about all the ways she would love to see the General die.
No, the only thing that could really cut through her anger was her worry for her Daddy.
When they finally pulled up to the Sabre warehouse, Jaxon killed the engine and helped her off the bike. He kept one arm around her as they walked inside. He constantly scanned the entire area, no doubt searching for any further danger even here, at the clubhouse.
“Let me grab a shirt for you, Darkling,” he said. He walked her to a row of lockers and, opening one of the locker doors, grabbed the shirt. “It’s probably going to be too big,” he said, tossing a black shirt toward her.
She held it up and grinned. Removing her ruined shirt, she handed it to Jaxon, who shoved it in his locker. Slipping the new shirt on, she stared at herself in the mirror. She might as well be wearing a dress since his shirt fell all the way to her knees. “It’s perfect,” she said.
Taking one side of the collar, she held it to her nose and breathed in.
Jaxon frowned. “It’s clean, little girl. Do you think I’d hand you a dirty shirt?”
Men just didn’t understand!
“Silly Daddy, I know it’s clean. But it still smells like you.”
His lips tipped up at the corners. Finally. “Oh yeah? Well, if you want one that smells even more like me, I have one in my locker I haven’t washed. I wore it during my workout yesterday.”
“Ew, gross! I don’t want a smelly, stinky Daddy shirt. I want this one. It’s a sexy smelling one.”
He shook his head. “It’s all yours, Darkling. Now let’s get you to the Little Room.
He guided her straight to the Little room without saying much. The moment they stepped through the door, the girls rushed her.
They dragged her deeper into the room before Jaxon could say a word. Maybe now Jaxon could relax a little.
“You stay here, babygirl. I’ve got a meeting to attend.”
He pointed a finger at her. “Do not under any circumstances leave this room without permission.” With one last glance, he left and shut the door.
She looked around the room. If heaven was a place on earth, it would be this kind of place.
It was a crafting playroom with plenty of comfy seating and every fun activity a girl could want.
Soft mats covered the floor. Shelves overflowed with coloring books, markers, board games, and craft supplies.
Big beanbags and low couches sat everywhere so the Littles could sprawl out and talk.
The air smelled sweet like crayons and fresh cookies.
The best part of the room was the swinging chairs that hung from the ceiling in a circle.
Eight chairs, each piled with comfy cushions and decorated to look like princess thrones with their name on a sign at the top.
Tazzy’s chair was painted glossy black, with raspberry red, dark purple, and dark pink cushions and pillows.
She climbed into it and gave a little push so it swayed gently.
The motion felt perfect after all the hugs.
All the girls were there, including Gabi. Instead of taking their own chairs, they surrounded her, worried looks on their faces. Their eyes kept darting to the welt on her shoulder that peeked out from under her shirt.
Georgia hugged her first and held on extra tight. “Oh my gosh! We’ve been worried sick! All I saw was you go down, and then Jaxon yelled that you’d been shot. What happened?”
“I’m good,” she assured her friends and told them everything that had happened.
“Holy smokes!” Georgia said. “I hate that your first time in the Little Room as Jaxon’s Little girl has to be after something so scary. Are you sure you’re okay? Do the paintball welts hurt a lot?”
Winnie climbed into her own swing chair and rocked it gently. “We wanted to stay with you, but the Daddies made us leave.”
Breezy reached over and squeezed Tazzy’s hand. “Can you tell us what happened? We thought you’d really been hurt.”
Tazzy managed a small smile even though her shoulder still stung a bit. “I was hurt, but just a little. I’m more mad than anything. I’ll be fine now that I’m here with all of you.”
Georgia stood up and handed everyone a martini glass.
Each rim sparkled with different bright colors of sanding sugar.
She grinned as she pulled out a pitcher and started mixing.
“Who wants a drink before Tazzy gets started? They’re supposed to be mocktails.
At least that’s what I told Hutch when I asked for the ingredients. ”
She reached into one of the craft crates and pulled out a bottle of marshmallow vodka and a bottle of creme de cacao.
The girls all cheered. Georgia laughed and shrugged.
“Hutch was busy with Sabre stuff, so I helped myself to the real alcohol. Don’t you dare tell on me.
I mean, seriously. A day like today practically demands it, right? ”
Winnie took the finished pitcher from Georgia and started serving. She started with Tazzy and filled her glass first. The drink looked pale pink and smelled like pure sweetness. Tazzy took a sip and let the marshmallow and chocolate flavors melt on her tongue. It went down smooth and warm.
They settled into their swinging princess thrones with their drinks. The chairs swayed gently while they chit-chatted.
Gabi took the first sip of Georgia’s concoction. “Oh my gosh, Georgia. This is delicious! It’s the perfect celebration for a protest that went really well. We had a good crowd, and the signs looked cute. Everyone seemed to have fun. Well, until the shooting started, I mean.”
Breezy nodded, but her face stayed serious. “Yeah, until the shooting. That changed everything fast.”
Lovie leaned forward in her chair. “Why did the General shoot you with a paintball? It seems so weird.”
Tazzy took another sip and closed her eyes, losing herself in the flavor for just a minute longer before having to relive everything. She looked around at her girls and decided they deserved the truth.
For the next ten minutes, she went over every detail of what had happened, from the first moment she felt the shots to the time she walked into Deep Dive.
All was quiet for a few moments after she’d finished.
“But why?” Lovie asked. “With his trial coming up, why not just leave you alone?”
Tazzy shook her head. “It goes back to why Jaxon went to prison eight years ago. The General set him up. Jaxon took the fall, and he lost eight years of his life for something the General did. Now the General somehow thinks that Jaxon is a threat again and wants to hurt him. He seems to think the best way to do that is to come after me. He wants to hurt me, so Jaxon suffers.”
Breezy’s face went white. She stared into her glass for a moment before she spoke.
“Sadly, that’s probably all there is to it.
My father likes to hurt people. He likes to watch them suffer.
It doesn’t surprise me that he’s going after you, because that will hurt Jaxon more than going after him directly. ”
“No offense, Breezy, but your father is a dick.” Tazzy tried to gentle her words. It wasn’t Breezy’s fault. “I don’t understand why the General is going after Jaxon at all. Hasn’t he done enough already? He’s already ruined eight years of his life. Why does he keep coming back?”
Breezy sighed, and her voice dropped softer.
“I’m so sorry. The General is a narcissist and, in all likelihood, a psychopath.
In his mind, nothing is ever his fault. In his eyes, he never does anything wrong.
There’s always someone else to blame. It sounds like this time, he picked Jaxon as the fall guy.
It was probably random. Jaxon didn’t do anything.
And now that our Daddies were able to get Jaxon out of prison, in the General’s mind, that makes Jaxon a threat forever.
He won’t let it go because he feels like he’s lost control of the situation.
And for him, that’s intolerable. It means someone else won, and the only person allowed to win is the General. ”
One of the girls whispered, “That’s crazy.”
Everyone nodded and agreed in soft murmurs. The swinging chairs moved a little faster as the tension in the room grew.
Tazzy noticed the look on Suzi’s face. Her eyes had gone sharp, like she was already writing the story in her head. Tazzy pointed at her with her Peep bunny glass. “This is strictly off the record, Suzi Daily. None of this better show up in the Daily Nugget, and I mean it.”
Suzi blinked and held up her hands. “I wasn’t planning on doing that, Tazzy. I promise.”
Tazzy narrowed her eyes. “I saw that look in your eyes.”
Suzi let out a big sigh, and her shoulders slumped. “That is because I haven’t slept more than two hours a night for the past three nights.”
Bliss tilted her head. “Why haven’t you slept? Is the paper keeping you up?”
Suzi’s voice got louder, almost frantic. “I’m living my dream with the paper. Got that? I am living my dream!” By the end, she was shouting.
Lele frowned and swung her chair closer. “Are you okay, Suzi?”
Suzi’s voice rose even more until she was standing on her feet and screaming. “Of course I am! Did you not hear me say I am living my freaking dream!”
The room went quiet. Gabi spoke gently. “Um, it doesn’t sound like you’re living your dream. It sounds like you are stressed out.”
Winnie nodded and added, “Yeah, I don’t think you are supposed to scream like that when you’re living your dream.”
“Only two hours of sleep? How do you get away with it?” Lovie asked. “No way would my Daddy let me stay up like that? What is Deke thinking?”
Georgia gave her a shrewd look. “He doesn’t know, does he?”
Suzi shook her head. “No, of course he doesn’t. Are you crazy?”
“Okay, now we all want to know how you managed that,” Lele said.
Suzi shrugged. “My Daddy is a heavy sleeper. Once he’s asleep, I can pretty much do whatever I want.”
Tazzy took another sip of her sweet marshmallow drink and tried to let the warmth push away the leftover fear that still sat in her chest. The girls kept talking around her, their voices soft and worried, but she found it harder and harder to stay focused on the conversation.
Jaxon had left her here with her posse so she could have fun, but she couldn’t help wondering what he was doing right now.
Was he still furious? Was he telling the other Daddies everything that had happened?
Were they making plans to keep her safe, or were they trying to calm him down so he wouldn’t do something reckless?
She shifted in her goth-style swinging chair and gave it another gentle push.
The motion helped a little, but her mind kept drifting.
She just wanted him to come back. She wanted to feel his strong arms wrap around her and hear him tell her everything would be okay.
The Musketiaras were her besties, but she needed her Daddy.
The girls were still talking, their voices blending together, but Tazzy barely heard them anymore. Her thoughts stayed fixed on the man who had walked out of this room with hard lines of fury still etched on his face.
When would he come back for her? And what would he be like when he did?