Page 56 of Property of Big Daddy

I’m seated around one of the fire pits chatting with some of the other ol’ ladies from the different clubs when Kidd runs up to me.

“Hey.Big Daddy sent me to fetch you.There’s someone at the gate for you.”

“For me?”my brows knit in confusion, but I excuse myself and jog to keep up with his fast pace.“What’s going on, Kidd?”

“Cecilia’s here and well, you need to see it for yourself.”

I see Cecilia’s car is parked near the front of the house, but I don’t see her.“This way,” a biker by the name of Woods tells me.He’s the president from one of the chapters out of Arkansas.I was just talking to his sister, Low.Short for Willow.

I follow him inside the house and back up the stairs to Big Daddy’s office.What the hell is going on?

“They’re in here,” Woods tells me.“You should prepare yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your girl is in rough shape.”

Shit.I rush past him and find Cecilia sitting next to Jessika on one of the couches as my man paces the length of the room looking like he wants to kill someone.

“What’s going on?”Jessika and Cecilia look at me at the same time.Jessika’s face is badly bruised, and her bottom lip looks like it needs stitches.

“Oh, honey.”I drop to my knees and crouch in front of her, taking her scratched up hands in mine.

“I found her running down the road barefoot,” Cecilia tells me.“I didn’t know what to do.She refused to go to the hospital or to report it, so I brought her here.”

“You did the right thing.We’ll take care of her.”

“Should have killed that fucker when I had the chance,” Big Daddy grumbles.

“You don’t know that this was Thad,” I tell him, but my gut instinct knows better.“Who hurt you?Was it Thad?”

Jessika shakes her head, but we all know she’s probably lying to protect him.

“We’ll worry about the who later.Right now, why don’t we get you cleaned up in my room?Just you, me, and Cecilia.”

“I’ve got Doc Stevens coming to take a look at that lip and to see if she needs treated for rape,” Big Daddy says and my beautifully broken friend bursts into tears.

“No one raped me.”Jessika sobs, her voice choked with tears and raw emotion.She clings to my hand, her grip tight with fear.“He was angry, and he hit me.”

“Shh, it’s alright,” I soothe, brushing a strand of hair back from her grief-stricken face.Her weeping increases, her body trembling as she clings to me.“You’re safe here.We’re going to take care of you.”

Cecilia takes her other hand, squeezing it gently.“That’s right.You’re not in this mess alone.”

“I-I need to tell you something,” Jessika stammers between sobs.“I need to t-tell you what he’s planning.”

“Don’t force it,” I tell her softly.“You don’t have to talk about it until you’re ready.”

“No, I n-need to.It’s important.”She swallows hard and wipes at her tears.Her gaze shifts to Big Daddy.“Thad…he came home drunk tonight, and he was talking about the club and how he hates all of you.Said the town would be better off if he got rid of you.I told him he was talking nonsense, but he said he made a deal with some guy.Hector something.”

“Son of a bitch,” Big Daddy snarls, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

“He said that he’s going to cut you out of a big deal,” Jessika continues, her voice shaking.“He was assaying all sorts of things about funneling drugs through the furniture business.”

“Fuck.She doesn’t leave your sight,” he tells me, then storms out of the room, and the anger evident on his face and the rage boiling in his blood scares me.

“Jessika,” I urge gently, squeezing her hand.Her eyes are red rimmed from crying, but she meets my gaze.“Thank you for telling us.”

“You’ve been such a good friend to me.I don’t understand why he’d want to hurt any of you.When I grabbed my phone to text you about what he was saying, he attacked me.I’d never seen him so angry.I mean, he’s pushed me around here and there, but nothing like this.I thought he was going to kill me.”

---