Page 26 of Sawyer
“Thanks, man. It’s good you came up when you did. You saved my ass.”
Ravage grunted. “Would have been, if I could’ve taken the gun from that fucker and shoved it up his ass. Main thing is that you’re both going to be okay. I’ll keep an eye out for them. I got a good look at the car. They’ll turn up eventually.”
Reid cut back in. “Thanks again. Let me know if you find out anything.”
“Later,” Ravage said, and then he was gone.
Sawyer sat down in the rocker on Lele’s front porch and filled Reid in on what he’d observed and how the attack happened.
“What about Lele? Have you got anything out of her that we can use to get Jaxson out?”
He knew this was coming. What was he supposed to say?
About that, boss. I’m seeing now that I had Lele Cortez pegged all wrong. And I feel like shit because she’s trusting me and sharing her past and her heart, while I’m lying my ass off. So, I’m gonna keep an eye on her, but my focus is going to be on proving she was set up just as much as Jaxon was, rather than throwing her under the bus.
Yeah, that would go over great.
He might find a way to bring Reid around to his way of thinking. After all, he’d already mentioned the possibility of a setup. But Law? Law would shoot first and ask questions later.
What really bothered him deep down wasn’t his brothers. He could handle them. No, what was eating at him was his feelings for Lele. They grew stronger by the minute.
In the weeks he’d been here, he’d learned only two things recently. First, Lele had the kindest heart of anyone he’d ever met. And second, she was an innocent, which made her easy to manipulate.
It gutted him to know he was one of the men in her life who had done that, even if for what he believed were the best reasons. One day, he would have to give her just as much honesty as she had just given him. He prayed she would forgive him for waiting.
The black skid marks on the road just down from her house convinced him of something else. Someone had tried to scare her at best. More likely, they wanted her dead. So now he had three new mission objectives: To find out who was after her. To find out why. And to make sure they didn’t succeed. And the only place he could do all of that was Darling.
But that was a tomorrow problem. Right now, it was time toshow a naughty girl what happened when she didn’t mind her Daddy.
“You still there?” Reid asked.
He was, but not for long. “Look, Reid. I’m working on it. Right now, I need to take care of Lele. I’ll fill you in when I have any useful information.” And with that, he disconnected the call.
CHAPTER 10
Lele ran for her bedroom. She had to hide. At least she had a few extra seconds since her new Daddy was talking on the phone.
She darted toward her bed but paused before she reached it. Everyone hid under the bed. That would be the first place he would look. She had to get creative.
Racing to the laundry closet, she just managed to crawl into the dryer and pull the door mostly shut when she heard the screen door squeal open, bang against the side of the house, before slamming shut. Twice.
“Leyla Cortez. Get your naughty bottom out here right now!” her Daddy thundered.
Wow, he sounded pretty doggone angry. Was she breathing too loud? She’d never hidden in a dryer before. Did it amplify or dampen the sound?
Her heart took that moment to take up the art of tap dancing all around her chest. Why hadn’t she stayed on the floor like he told her to? She shifted as far back into the drum of the dryer as she could.
She was looking for a new house tomorrow. First priority: a laundry room big enough to house a larger dryer. Maybe even an industrial-sized one. If she’d known she was playing hide and seek today, she’d have worn all black instead of the bright yellow sundress she’d picked.
Her heart began skittering a step, ball, change move as her new Daddy stomped by her hiding place and into her bedroom. First of all, she was really glad she’d chosen a different spot.
Second, um… rude! He shouldn’t barge into her bedroom without her permission. What if she’d left BOB out on her bed? Oh, god! Had she left BOB out? She had a terrible time remembering to put her toys away.
“You are not helping yourself, babygirl. You are adding to your punishment.”
Like she’d fall for a classic Daddy move like that. She wasn’t going to get any punishment at all because he wasn’t going to find her. No way, no how.
She screamed when the door of the dryer flew open and a ginormous hand reached in and grabbed the bottom of her skirt. Without thinking, she kicked out. Her foot caught her Daddy’s shoulder, and he disappeared.
