Protector Daddy

by Roberts, Laylah

  “Baby doll, Daddy wants you to calm down. Nice, deep breaths. Can you do that for me? Stop crying please. Deep breaths. You can do it.”

  “D-daddy . . .”

  “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “N-need you.”

  “I’m going to be heading home soon. I’ve just got a small situation here.”

  “M-me t-too.”

  He frowned. What was she talking about? What situation?

  “Millie, where is Hack?”

  “H-he’s still a-alive!” she wailed.

  What the fuck? What the fuck did that mean?

  “What do you mean he’s still alive? What happened? Where is he?”

  “S-still u-unconscious. Luther h-hit him so h-hard I t-though he was d-dead. But T-tabby has p-pressure on his w-wound. But Luther c-could wake up. We tried to t-tie him up. Tabby d-did while I h-held gun. But Daddy, I need you!”

  43

  He’d never driven so fast in his fucking life. He’d raced out of the bar, shouting at Reyes that there was something going on at his place. Reyes and Razor had jumped into his truck with him, leaving Jason to deal with their visitors.

  Poor bastard.

  He sped into his driveway and had barely put the truck in drive before he was out the door. Thankfully, Razor had managed to hold onto all the puppies. Although he left them in the truck as they raced up towards the house.

  “Millie!” Spike roared as he ran. “Millie!”

  He stormed towards the door, nearly tripping over Hack’s prone body lying in the foyer.

  “Fuck!”

  A woman who’d been holding something to the back of Hack’s head scrambled back with a terrified cry.

  “Spike, rein it in,” Reyes snapped.

  Spike briefly took in the woman, noting her battered appearance. Shit. Fuck. What had gone on here?

  “Daddy? Daddy!”

  His attention turned from Hack and the woman as he leapt towards Millie. She was leaning against the hallway outside his office. Her face was deathly pale, her hair a mess, clothes rumpled. She’d obviously been through hell.

  And he hadn’t been here.

  He gathered her close, holding her gently and still he heard her indrawn breath of pain.

  There was a groan from behind him.

  “Hack’s coming around,” Razor called out.

  “We c-couldn’t get him any f-further,” she said to Spike. “He was t-too heavy.”

  She was shaking so hard she could barely speak. Poor baby.

  Leaning down, he carefully took hold of her chin, lifting her face. That’s when he noticed the mottled bruising around her neck.

  “Who the fuck strangled you!” he roared.

  * * *

  Millie sat on Spike’s lap, surrounded by his strong arms and for the first time since he’d left that night she felt safe. Mr. Fluffy was snuggled up on her lap and even though he was getting rather heavy she wasn’t going to move him.

  He was a hero, after all.

  “All of you need to go to the emergency room,” Reyes said.

  Millie’s gaze went to the woman sitting in the corner, her legs up against her chest. Razor was attempting to talk to her quietly. They were all in Spike’s office. Hack had been helped in there by Reyes and was now sitting on the sofa as Reyes secured a bandage around his head.

  “I’m fine.”

  Spike rumbled in disagreement. He hadn’t spoken since she’d started her recounting of what happened. She was starting to get worried about him. He was sitting on the chair with her on his lap, glaring down at Luther like he’d enjoy tearing him apart limb from limb.

  Reyes had secured the man’s hands behind his back with a pair of handcuffs with pink fluff around the inside of the cuffs. She might remember to be embarrassed about that later.

  “You’re not fine. You can barely speak. Both of you are covered in bruises and Hack has a huge bump on the back of his head,” Razor pointed out in a soft tone, obviously trying not to scare Tabby any more than she was.

  Spike snarled down at Luther who was still unconscious.

  “What are we going to do with Luther?” she asked. “What happened at the warehouse? Is everyone fine?”

  “Everyone is fine. But there was another rat,” Razor explained. “Mitchell.”

  “Oh God.”

  “Don’t worry.” Reyes told her. “Steele was prepared.”

  “Your knuckles . . .” she whispered to Spike, no longer capable of speaking any louder. Her throat was so sore.

  “He’s fine, you should see the other guy,” Razor said lamely.

  She sucked in a breath then groaned in pain. Spike turned his gaze from Luther to glare at Razor who held his hands up in the air. “Sorry, man.”

  “I’m fine,” she repeated.

  “You need to go get checked out. Tabby too,” Hack said.

  “So do you,” she insisted. “If I’m going to the emergency room, so are you.”

  “Right,” Reyes said, standing. “All three of you need to see a doctor.” He glared at Hack who went to speak. “But what are we doing with this asshole?” He kicked Luther and Millie whimpered.

  Reyes whirled around, swearing quietly. “Sorry, sweetheart.”

  She blinked. She didn’t know him, but he didn’t seem the type to be gentle. His eyes narrowed on her then he turned to Spike. “She’s in shock. And she’s squinting? Another migraine?”

  How did he know that?

  “Millie?” Reyes prodded gently. “Answer me.”

  “I think it’s just from where I hit my head. I’m okay.”

  Spike made a low, grumbling noise. She knew he didn’t agree with her assessment.

  She reached up and cupped the side of his face with her hand. “I’m fine. I promise. And this isn’t your fault so don’t even start thinking that.”

  She knew he would be blaming himself.

  “No, it’s Luther’s,” Reyes snarled. “Want me to take care of him?”

  “No,” a quiet voice protested.

  They all turned to look at Tabby. She’d put her legs down, no longer looking so scared or defensive. Razor was crouched protectively next to her, a concerned look on his face.

  “Don’t tell me you want us to let him go?” Reyes asked incredulously.

  She cringed then squared her shoulders. “No. Not at all.”

  “What happened?” Hack asked. “How did you come to be here?”

  Millie heard the suspicious note in Hack’s voice. She glared at him. Tabby had helped her. And she’d obviously been through hell with Luther. She didn’t need them snapping at her.

  Tabby rubbed at her temple gently. “I don’t know. I really don’t. I think he must have drugged me. He came home so angry, ranting about how everyone was after him. He started beating on me. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an unusual occurrence. He’s been hitting me almost from the day my uncle gave me to him.”

  “Gave you to him?” she whispered.

  “My uncle thought women were a commodity. All of his wives were either given to him or he bought them. I was just a tool to be used. I knew there was no point in going to him when Luther started beating me. Then I basically became his prisoner, locked up in his house without any way of communicating with the outside world. I thought maybe my cousin would try to get in touch with me . . . we were close once.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Millie told her.

  “After Luther beat me, he gave me some pills to swallow. I wasn’t in a state to refuse. I’ve learned that refusing just makes things worse. Of course, maybe if I’d said no, he’d finally have killed me.”

  She laughed bitterly then groaned in obvious pain.

  “Tabby, no,” Millie said. “If he’d killed you then you wouldn’t have been here to help me. I’m sorry for everything you’ve gone through but I’m very glad you’re not dead.”

  “I don’t have much to live for.”

  She tried to shuffle off Spike’s lap, but he tightened his ho
ld on her. “Spike, let me go for a minute?”

  “No. Not letting you go. Nearly lost you.”

  The words were the first he’d spoken in close to an hour and she knew she couldn’t push him. He was on the edge.

  “Then we need to find you reasons to live for, don’t we?” Razor said quietly.

  “Like me,” Millie told her. “You saved my life, so we’re family now.”

  Tabby blinked at her. “Not the way it works.”

  “It can be. We’re connected now, you and I. And I need a friend so I’m gonna nominate you.”

  “Nominate me?” Tabby looked at Razor in confusion. “Can she do that?”

  Razor shrugged, looking amused. “Guess she can.”

  Reyes kicked Luther. “Want me to take care of him?”

  Spike snarled. “That should be my honor.”

  “Call my cousin,” Tabby said suddenly. “He’ll take care of him.”

  “Thought you weren’t close to him, sugar?” Razor asked her.

  “Not anymore. But we once were. Luther said Jared was after him. He’ll make him disappear. My family is good at that.”

  “Do it,” Spike said suddenly, surprising her. She thought he’d want to take care of Luther himself. “Don’t want to leave Millie. Can’t. Let Bartolli do it. Just don’t want him coming here, near Millie.”

  Reyes nodded. “Tabby can call him and I’ll meet him somewhere. Razor, you go with Spike and get these three to the hospital.”

  “No,” Tabby said and she rose slowly. “I’ll go with you. I need to see Jared. I need to know why he left me with him.”

  “Then I’m going with you,” Razor said, standing too. He loomed over the petite girl with the pale skin and dark hair.

  Reyes sighed. “Fine. Fuck. Spike, can you take care of these two?”

  “Have been wiping my own ass for years, you know,” Hack grumbled as Reyes helped him up.

  Razor came over and picked up Luther, carrying the bound man over his shoulder.

  “Spike, let me up for a minute. I’ll come right back,” she reassured him. “I won’t leave your sight.” He finally let her go with a grunt and she walked over to Tabby, giving the other woman a smile. “I meant what I said, Tabby. We’re friends now. Anytime you need me, you call me.” She grabbed a piece of paper from Spike’s desk and wrote her number down.

  Tabby looked at the piece of paper and Millie worried that she wasn’t going to take it. Then with a hand that trembled, she reached for it, tucking it in her pocket. “Okay.”

  It was the best she was gonna get, but she’d take it. She just hoped the other woman would call.

  * * *

  Hours later, Spike carried her into the house. He’d taken her and Hack to the emergency room. They’d decided to keep Hack in for twenty-four hours due to his concussion. He wasn’t happy about it, and she had a feeling he was going to make a terrible patient.

  She’d been given the all-clear provided that she got plenty of rest and that Spike kept a close eye on her. She also needed to see her surgeon about her arm soon to make sure no further damage had occurred.

  A giggle escaped her as Spike moved down the hallway towards their bedroom.

  Oh, did she mention they gave her some really good drugs?

  “Quillon. Quillon. Quillon.”

  “Any reason you got an obsession with my name, baby doll?” Spike asked. He’d been snarlier than usual while they’d been in the hospital and she could see he wasn’t doing much better now, even though he knew she was unharmed.

  “Unharmed? I would not call being choked until you passed out as unharmed.”

  Whoops. She must have said that out loud.

  He laid her down on the bed and carefully undressed her. “You did.”

  “Relatively unharmed.”

  “You shouldn’t have been fucking harmed at all,” he snarled. “I should never have left you.”

  “You couldn’t have known, Quillon.”

  “Stop calling me that. You call me Daddy.” He loomed over her, his gaze intense.

  She sighed. “You so pretty, Daddy.”

  He snorted. “They really gave you the good stuff, huh?”

  “Daddy.” She pouted, sniffling pathetically.

  “What? What is it? Are you hurt?” he asked frantically.

  “I never got to eat the magic wands and candy that Hack brought for me.”

  He sagged. “Christ, baby doll. Don’t do that. You scared me.”

  She continued to sniff.

  “Don’t be upset,” he told her. “Be a good girl and Daddy will get you some tomorrow, okay?”

  “Okay. Promise, Daddy?”

  “I promise. Now, let’s get you to the bathroom so you can pee then you’re going to bed. And you’re staying in bed until I say you can get up.”

  “I don’t gots to pee.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  “Nuh-uh. It’s my body, Daddy. I’d know if I had to pee. Not you.”

  “Well, you’re gonna try.”

  “Nuh-uh.”

  “Try for Daddy?” he cajoled.

  “Oh, okay, Daddy. For you. But be prepared to eat your words ‘cause this girl don’t gots to pee.”

  He carried her into the bathroom. She could probably walk. Maybe. But why walk when he liked to carry her everywhere? Maybe she’d never walk again. Ooh or maybe she could float everywhere like a fairy? Or perhaps Tiny could come to life and she could ride him everywhere? Wouldn’t that be something?

  “It would definitely be something all right,” Spike muttered.

  Whoops. Talking out loud again.

  Then he set her on her feet by the toilet and gently helped her sit. Moving away, he put some toothpaste on her toothbrush.

  “See, Daddy? I didn’t have to go. Bet you feel silly now,” she sang.

  “Baby doll, you’re peeing,” he replied dryly.

  “What? No way.” She tried to lean forward to see and nearly toppled off the toilet. Spike carefully grabbed hold of her.

  “Careful! You’ll hurt yourself.”

  “Sorry, Daddy. You sure I’m peeing?”

  “Yep.”

  Weird. She couldn’t feel a thing.

  “They definitely gave you the good drugs, huh?” he said dryly.

  “They sure did. I don’t know why you got so growly at the poor doctor, he was just trying to help.”

  “He hurt you.”

  “Nuh-uh, that was that big meanie, Luther. Where is he? Did someone take care of him? What does that mean? Take care of him? What will happen to him?”

  “Don’t you worry about what that means,” he told her firmly. He crouched in front of her and reached for some toilet paper to clean her up. Maybe later, she’d be embarrassed about that. Right now, she didn’t care.

  She loved these drugs.

  “But—”

  “Nope. I won’t have you worrying about this. He is not your concern. Reyes took care of it.”

  “He handed him over to Tabby’s cousin?”

  “Yep.”

  “What about Tabby?”

  By now he had her up and standing at the counter.

  “Open up,” he told her.

  She opened wide and he started brushing her teeth.

  “Tabby is fine. Spit.”

  She spat. “But where is she?”

  “She went home with her cousin.”

  “What? Noooo.” Tears dripped down her cheeks.

  He cupped her face in his hands. “She wanted to go with him. Razor tried to convince her to go with them, but she wouldn’t. They couldn’t make her.”

  “But what if he hurts her? Or marries her off to someone? Someone like Luther?

  “We’ll try to keep an eye on her, all right? I promise.” He wiped her tears then drew her close. “I’m more concerned with you right now. You are my number one priority. From now on, nothing will hurt you. I won’t let it.”

  She slumped against him. “And nothing will hurt you because I won’t a
llow it.”

  Picking her up again, he carried her to the bed and tucked her under the covers.

  “Daddy, I can’t go to sleep right now,” she told him.

  “Why not? Oh, you need Chompers. I’ll get him. Is he downstairs?”

  “No, I mean, yes. But also, I’m naked,” she whispered.

  “So you are. That a problem?”

  “Ooh, does this mean we’re going to have some fun between the sheets?” She winked at him.

  “Why are you blinking like that?” he asked. “Are you feeling all right?”

  “I was trying to wink.” She huffed. “Obviously.”

  “Sorry, baby doll. I can see that now.”

  Somewhat mollified, she reached out for him. “How ‘bout you get naked too?”

  “As much as I would like to, you’re not up to anything more than a cuddle right now.”

  She pouted. “That’s no fun.” She sighed. “Hey, where’s Mr. Fluffy? He must be so upset at being left here alone.”

  “If only that was the case,” he muttered.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, baby doll. I’ll go get him and Chompers. You stay in bed, understand me? Move from the bed and as soon as you’re better that will be three ticks on the naughty side of your reward chart as well as thirty minutes in time-out.”

  “Daddy, that’s just mean.”

  “Stay put.”

  She sighed. Honestly, it was like he didn’t trust her or something.

  She was singing to herself and staring up at the ceiling when she swore she heard something. That sounded like a dog barking. Mr. Fluffy? And there went another dog. Huh. That was weird. And was that . . . nah, that made no sense.

  The door to the bedroom opened and Spike walked in with Chompers and a bottle of fairy juice in one hand and Mr. Fluffy in the other.

  “Daddy! Chompers! Mr. Fluffy! You’re all back! I waited such a long time. And I was a good girl. See?”

  “Very good girl.”

  He placed the bottle on the bedside table then set Chompers down beside her. He gave her a moment to cuddle Mr. Fluffy before placing him on his dog bed.

  Then he stripped and turned off the main light before he grabbed the bottle and joined her in bed. He lay on his side, his head resting on his hand as he placed the nipple of the bottle to her lips. She suckled on it, drinking the slightly flavored water until she was sated. After putting the bottle on the nightstand, he lay down next to her, resting his arm over her waist.