Page 31 of His Sassy Little

“May I be excused, Daddy? I need to change so I’m not wearing just your shirt when the guys get here.”

Arabella set down her fork and glanced up at Daddy just as he nodded his head and waved her off. His non-verbal answer threatened to shatter her sense of calm, but she let it go and headed to get dressed. She needed her Badass outfit if she was going to survive this day.

“There are any number of reasons the man could be headed to Houston.” Rocky was obviously trying to be the voice of reason, but Arabella suspected that his words were falling on deaf ears.

“That might be true,” Pup–Arabella felt weird calling him that, even in her head–interjected, “But I can’t find anything in any of his cases that would lead him there. He has no connections to the area personally that we know of, and no reason to be there professionally.” He typed away on his ever-present computer as he spoke, not once looking up from his screen. Arabella couldn’t help but notice that Rocky barely looked away from the younger man, and she wondered what that was all about. She didn’t have time to dwell on it, though.

“We need to assume he is coming here. If we’re wrong, we lose nothing but if we aren’t prepared…” Stone’s statement made sense and kicked off a cacophony of voices, all trying to talk over the others. Arabella felt a headache blooming and reached up, rubbing her temples in rhythmic circles to relieve the pressure.

The seat cushion next to her dipped and Daddy’s scent enveloped her as he took her hands from her temple and handed her a bottle of water and some pain killers. He was one step ahead of her and Arabella was more than grateful. She tossed back the medicine while Daddy took over rubbing her temples.

“It’s probably more productive to get advice from the woman who knows him.” Daddy’s words were soft and yet somehow, they managed to halt all conversation as each face in the room turned to focus on her.

Oh, shit.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Tanner saw Arabella stiffen up when the room fell silent, and all eyes turned to her. She was quiet with a deer-in-headlights look for so long, he almost stepped in. Just as he opened his mouth to take the attention off her, his chest filled with pride when his girl lifted her chin, squared her shoulders, and faced the room like a general leading her troops into battle. He’d never been so fucking proud of anyone.

“He probably is here for me.” She said in a strong, clear voice. “That doesn’t mean he knows exactly where I am. Just that I’m in the area.”

Arabella stood and began a leisurely stroll around the room as she spoke. She clasped her hands behind her back and continued, “I wasn’t far from here when they found me. It would burn James’ ass to know they were so close and didn’t get me.”

One hand combed through her long blond hair, and she stopped, facing the group of men again. “He’d feel the need to check things out for himself. In three years, that’s the closest he’s gotten to me. It must be driving him crazy that I made such a huge error and still managed to escape.”

“What error?” Stone’s voice was soft as he asked the question, but Arabella still stiffened before huffing out a huge sigh.

“I called home. It had been three years since I’d spoken to any of my family. I missed my mom, was homesick, tired of being alone. I reached out. I forgot to block the number and the area code gave me away.”

There were several mutters of curse words around the room as Tanner stood, intent on going to his girl. Her next words, however, stopped him in his tracks.

“James proved he’d do anything to get me back when he killed my parents two days after that phone call. The police said it was a robbery gone wrong, but the photo that came to my phone from an unknown number was enough for me to know he’d done it. The next day, his men were in my house, and I was back on the run.”

“Jesus.” Tanner rushed to her side and gathered her in his arms. She cupped his cheek momentarily before mouthing that she was okay and turning in his arms to face the men gathered again.

“He’s dangerous. You need to understand that.” He felt her chest moving rapidly against him as she gathered more courage. “I understand that this is something you guys do, and I appreciate your willingness to help me, but I want you to know that I won’t blame anyone who wants to step away.”

The choruses of “Fuck no,” “To hell with that,” and “Not a chance in hell” made him proud to call these men brothers. No way was a single one of them going to back away from this and leave her hanging.

“Okay then,” Stone took charge once again and Arabella sagged with relief in his arms, “Time to get some plans in place, men. Pup, get on it and see if you can figure out what he knows so far. Ham, you’re on guard rotation, she’s not to be left alone at any time…”

Tanner watched with pride as his friends – his family – took charge and put a plan in place to save his girl. He’d never felt more blessed.

“I’m a bit worried I won’t even get to pee on my own for the foreseeable future.”

Tanner was glad to see some of Arabella’s spunk returning by lunch time. She’d even managed to eat some of her nuggets and fries, though he didn’t miss the fact that the broccoli still sat untouched on the corner of her plate.

“If you don’t eat your veggies, there will be consequences, Little girl. And no one but me will ever watch you while you pee.” He hadn’t meant to growl the last part, but the thought of anyone seeing her that way, besides him, made him a little crazy.

“You wanna watch me pee?” she asked with that sass he loved so much in her tone. Before eyeing the broccoli with disdain. “What kind of consequences?” Her voice said she was seriously considering whether it was worth it to test him.

“Not the fun kind.” He used his sternest voice and gave her a look that told her she wouldn’t like it if she defied him.

“I really, really hate broccoli, Daddy.” It was the first time she’d resisted anything he set on her plate so Tanner decided that being slightly lenient wouldn’t hurt and he’d find ways to sneak it to her for the future.

“I’ll tell you what, Little Hurricane. Since you’ve been so good at eating, I’ll give you half a pass this time. If you eat two bites of your broccoli, I’ll consider your veggies eaten.” He thought that was a pretty fair compromise and watched in fascination as Arabella again debated.

“Just two bites?” Her voice was suspicious as she poked the offending vegetable with her fork.

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