Page 33 of His Sassy Little

“Is there any new information?” She almost hated to ask but she wanted to be fully informed.

“He’s still asking around. He hasn’t moved to checking other areas yet, but when he does, we’ll be ready.”

“I’m just so ready for this to be over. I almost wish he knew where I was just so it could end.”

Daddy stiffened at her words, “We will not be leading him to you.”

Her comment had been an offhand one but once he said those words, her brain began working on a plan.

“Why not?” she asked absently as the gears turned in her head and developed what she thought could be an awesome idea.

“You are not placing yourself in his path, Arabella.” Daddy’s use of her actual name let her know how serious he was. This was going to take a lot of convincing.

“But think about it. If we know he’s coming, and we control the timeline and information, we could be so much better prepared when he does come for me.” Arabella’s voice had taken on a hint of excitement as the possibilities flooded her mind.

“No.” His tone was stern and normally, this would be the time that she’d back off, but Arabella had been controlled by James O’Conner for far too long. She was ready to get her life back and this plan could make that happen.

“Daddy, he is going to come for me. He won’t give up. Our best bet is to control when he comes.”

“It’s not happening.”

Arabella lowered her legs and slid to the ground. Crossing her arms and aiming a stubborn glare at her Daddy, she resisted the urge to stomp her foot. She wanted him to take her seriously and throwing a tantrum was not the way to accomplish that.

“I’m tired of running and hiding, I’ve been doing it for so long. I want to be free of him for good, to live my life in the open again. I am tired of being a coward, Daddy. I’m ready to make my stand. I need to do this.”

Tanner’s expression softened some and Arabella thought she might be getting to him when he opened his mouth. “I’m your Daddy, Little Hurricane. I can’t knowingly place you in danger.”

“It isn’t really ‘placing me in danger,”’ she countered, “I’m already in danger. Think of it this way, my danger is a raging wildfire right now. Doing this could make it a controlled burn. It’s actually lessening the danger I’m in, not increasing it.”

“She might be right.” Both were startled when Rocky’s voice carried into their conversation as neither had noticed his approach.

Tanner growled as he whirled to face his friend. “How can you suggest this is a good idea?”

Rocky shrugged, “Control the narrative.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“No fucking way!” Tanner turned his angry gaze toward Stone, “can you honestly tell me that you’d be okay with this if it was Sapphire?”

To his credit, Stone took a minute to think about his answer, giving Tanner hope that he might have an ally before shattering it.

“If it was the only way we could see to make her safe and get her free for good. If it was controlled and she was continually guarded by the men I trust most in this world. If we had eyes on the target and knew his every move. If she was scared, hurting and tired, ready for it to all be over. I can honestly say I would, at the very least, consider it.”

“Bullshit.” Tanner spat, feeling betrayed by one of his best friends. “How can I knowingly put her in more danger than she’s already in and call myself a good Daddy?”

Tanner’s arms flayed out wildly while he paced the office in the back of The Hellhole. Each man in attendance was watching him as if they understood his struggle, but the only one Tanner figured really could was spouting shit like he thought they should actually do this.

“Look,” Stone walked to him and placed comforting hands on his shoulders, causing Tanner to pause and for the first time, study Stone’s expression. What he found made him pause, empathy and determination. “Your job as her Daddy is not only to keep her protected, but to make her safe. We can’t do that if we’re constantly playing defense. We need to go offensive.”

“By using my woman as bait to a murderous psychopath?” Tanner’s disbelief came out clearly in his tone.

“By carefully drawing him to us in the most controlled and safe way possible.” Stone was calm and reasonable.

Tanner hung his head because he had a feeling he’d already lost this debate. He was out of arguments. All he could think of had already been used and rebutted. It looked like he was going to be doing the unthinkable and letting Arabella offer herself up as bait.

“I kept it because I couldn’t bear to get rid of the last thing that offered me some sort of connection to my parents.” Arabella held the phone out to Pup, “I haven’t turned it on since I received the picture, but I would bet anything he’s still monitoring the number for activity.”

Tanner paced again, although he felt like all he’d done was pace since this asinine plan had started to form. At Arabella’s words, he paused and reached out for her. He wanted to spank her ass for even suggesting this, but also wanted to comfort her and he was finally ready to admit that, if it had been him, he’d want to get it over with too.

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