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“Extraordinary circumstances call for out-of-the-box solutions. Normal rules don’t apply,” Jac spoke as though it was a pre-recorded message.
“That’s what I told her,” said Garrett.
Becky rolled her eyes.
“Come on, let’s get you some coffee,” said Sharlee as she looped her arm into Becky’s and headed for the coffee nook in the corner of the kitchen, giggling as they went.
Later that night, Becky was tired, but she couldn’t sleep. She’d been jittery and jumpy, and she missed Carter so much she was on the edge of crying. Jac had been on the phone a few hours ago, and while Becky thought he was talking to Carter, he didn’t offer to share his phone, so it probably wasn’t him. One more night was all she had to get through. Carter would be here first thing in the morning.
She knew he would be here as soon as he could. It just wasn’t soon enough. Becky hadn’t felt so out of control of her life since she left home and embarked on adulthood. Once she was hired to be Jac’s assistant seven years ago, she hadn’t felt unprotected.
Since she and Carter had gotten together, she only felt empowered, and her natural sassiness had returned. She was safe in her world, secure in the knowledge that Carter and the others would always protect her. Until a few weeks ago nothing had been able to shake that reality.
This morning all that changed. Today had demonstrated to Becky that she was vulnerable, and Carter wouldn’t always be there. She’d resisted learning to do more than fire the pistol, but now she decided being proficient was important. She had always been afraid of touching the gun Jac had painstakingly found that fit her hand the best. She rarely carried it with her except for the times that she knew Jac would be asking, and even then, she kept it closed up and safe. But now, things would be verydifferent. She would bring it with her, and Carter would help her figure out the best way to do that.
Carter expected her to know how to protect herself and agreed with Jac that everyone needed to know how to defend themselves in a dire emergency. The hardest thing would be getting used to that woman. She’d always been easygoing. Do what the majority wanted to do if you could. A don’t rock the boat kind of girl, she had always expected her boyfriend to be the kind of man to stand in the gap so she didn’t have to, but this weekend that wouldn’t work.
She’d sign up for one of Ivy’s classes to get hands-on experience with self-defense classes. Sometimes she wouldn’t have a gun or Carter or any of the other guys. If she was attacked on the street, she’d need to know how to survive. The guys would be happy, but would she?
Becky shook it off. It wasn’t about having a carefree, responsible life anymore. It was about survival. She couldn’t be the sweet little submissive for Carter anymore. She needed to toughen up and get a handle on things. She’d always been self-sufficient, but that didn’t seem like enough. Would Carter even want her if she wasn’t his baby girl anymore? Because she wasn’t sure that that was someone she was, after being attacked with a load of snow and then someone trying to blow her up. Maybe being sweet and easygoing was the problem.
Becky didn’t know if she could be anyone else but would give it a damn good try. Even her mind stuttered when she swore mentally because Carter would not be okay with that. The other guys would have lifted an eyebrow, at least, because that wasn’t the person she’d always been. But maybe she should be more like Sharlee and Callie. Tougher on the outside so she didn’t expose her soft underbelly. And maybe she needed to work on that underbelly, too.
Becky was so confused she didn’t know what she would do or how she should act, but something had to change. Carter would say it wasn’t she who had to change, but how they reacted to the world, their preparation would need to be more diligent. It was too much for her to figure out; she just needed her Daddy. Maybe that part of her had to go away too, and the thought devastated her.
It was the only place she could switch off her mind because even when they had friend time or enjoyed each other’s company in the group, her mind continually ran in the background. Maybe that’s how everyone’s worked, but she didn’t think so. Ivy didn’t seem concerned about life, except Ivy was rich and younger than her. Those things might have had something to do with it, or perhaps it was just her personality. She wasn’t sure that Callie turned off either, and she hadn’t seen much of Jessie lately since she was at the end of her pregnancy, and Mark kept her pretty protected at all times.
She sighed. Maybe a swim would clear the utter chaos in her mind because now that she had given in to the swirling thoughts and fears, she was hopelessly awake.
Chapter 12
Becky was in the dressing room finishing up after her swim, she was now physically exhausted as well as mentally and emotionally depleted. She was thinking that she needed to have Carter back when heavy footsteps echoed in the pool room. Turning to the door, she grabbed her towel and threw it in the hamper before heading for the exit. Standing in the doorway was her man. Big, intimidating, worried.
“Baby, are you alright?”
Becky knew that concerned, loving voice, and she dropped the swimsuit in her hand and leaped into his arms. She would have taken him to the ground if he hadn’t been such a large man. His massive muscles and height would necessitate more than her jumping in his arms to take him off balance.
“You’re here? How? It’s not tomorrow.”
“The job ended, and I left the clean-up to Callie and Levi. I did my job until the end, but it was the hardest thing I’ve done in a while. I didn’t want to. After we escorted our clients to their flight, and watched the plane take off, I immediately shifted from work to Daddy mode.” Carter sighed as he held her tight.
“Carter, breathing here.” He loosened his hold and kissed her temple.
“Daddy. I was so scared. Expect me to dog you for a very long time. I love you. I nearly dropped everything to get to you when I discovered you had a fucking device on your car. I still can’t believe it.” His tortured tones changed to fierceness. DaddyTeddy Bear was back. “You will never be out of my sight again,” he said sternly.
It wasn’t possible, but it was a nice sentiment. Becky smiled. “I missed you, too.”
“Baby, I need to know everything.”
“Okay, but if I do explain it all, you have to tell everyone else. I’m tired of repeating myself.”
He moved his hands from under her butt to her waist, allowing her to slide down his body before pulling her in tight. “You’ll tell it as often as you need to so we can catch the asshole who tried to hurt my girl. I’ll take care of you, baby. We all will. This isn’t going to end well for those fuckers, whoever they are. I need you to know that there won’t be any ‘you are forgiven’ fairytales to be seen here. There won’t be any pink princesses and magnanimous gestures from Prince Charming. They are going down as painfully as I can manage.”
Becky could feel herself get lost in the depths of Carter’s eyes as he took charge. His stormy blue gaze was powerful and protective and spoke to her battered nerves loud and clear,it will be okay. Even feeling the fear that now seemed to run continuously in the background, with Carter, she could feel the comfort and confidence radiating from him through his firm, soothing voice, and it did the trick. She was surrounded by his love, and she relaxed.
“You are never leaving my sight.”
“I know, Daddy.”
