Page 24 of Sawyer (Sabre Security Daddies #6)

S awyer wasn’t prepared for the way Lele looked at him. He felt it like a punch to the chest, knocking the breath right out of him. It was like he’d promised her there were places in the world that were safe, and then snatched the promise away. That was exactly what he’d done.

It gutted him. Nearly dropped him to his knees. But he’d fix it. He’d spend the rest of his life fixing it. Hell, he’d spend the rest of his life just making sure she never wore that expression again. The irony was, that was what he’d been trying to do.

He’d been this close . One more meeting. Just one, to bring his brothers up to speed. Then he could have gone to her without the guilt staining him. He could’ve gone to her clean.

It had taken him a week to pull his head out of his ass and admit what his gut had been screaming since day one. Lele hadn’t set up Jaxon.

A week ago, he’d been chasing after proof of her guilt.

Now? He was hell-bent on proving her innocence.

First to his brothers. Then to every other person in the world who dared to doubt her.

She hadn’t been driving that damn car. He knew it down to the marrow of his bones.

Down in the dark, secret corners of his soul.

After today’s meeting, he’d planned on explaining everything to her. Gently, without the sharp edges he knew were going to slice her when she found out.

Now she had locked herself in the bathroom. Away from him. Because of him. Her sobs echoed on the other side of the locked door. And the sound…God…the sound was driving nails through his ribs, straight into his heart.

“Lele? Half-Pint, open the door. I can make this better, but I need you in my arms while I do. I need to see you. I need to know you to understand.”

“G-g-go away! I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”

“Please, babygirl. Open the door so we can talk.”

Reid’s voice came from right behind him. “Give her some space, brother. Let her breathe and work it through. She’ll come around. She and Georgia hit it off. Maybe she should stay with Hutch for a day or two. The girls can all go over and work their magic. You know they have that.”

Sawyer shook his head. That might be the right play for women who hadn’t been betrayed by everyone they’d ever trusted. But not Lele. Not his Half-Pint. And Hector. Fuck. Hector had betrayed her, too.

Sawyer knew it. He just didn’t have the proof. Yet. He knew part of him didn’t want to find it because it was going to gut her. It would be just one more hole in her heart.

That’s why he needed to get to her. He needed to be there for her when those blows fell. But she couldn’t see that right now because she didn’t know.

He knew her headspace right now. She was a wounded Little girl who thought she’d been betrayed by her Daddy.

That was the last thing he’d do. He’d gone about it all wrong by keeping things from her.

At first, he was doing his best for Jaxson, but once he got to know her, he wanted to protect her, too.

The problem was, things had gotten out of his control.

Two weeks together wasn’t much time, but he’d spent nearly every second with her, either with her in person or watching her on the cameras.

He couldn’t get enough of her. The way she mumbled to herself when she thought no one was listening.

The way she sang ridiculous songs in the kitchen at the top of her lungs.

She had to bake one and a half batches of cookies for everyone she looked after because she ate half the first batch herself.

And those curves—soft, lush, dangerous. Thirty years he’d been waiting, and now here she was. The new center of his life. His Little girl. His one. His only. No one else would ever fit him like Lele Cortez did.

He slapped the door with the flat of his hand. “Lele, open up. Not knowing if you’re okay is killing me. I need to know you’re okay.”

Nothing. Just her muffled breathing.

He leaned his head against the door and let it thud, once, twice. “I just fuckin’ need you.”

Finally, she gave him her words. Not the ones he wanted to hear, but it was better than silence. “No. I told you to go away. I want to go back to Elk Jaw.”

“I’ll take you. I promise. Just open the door.”

Anger filled her reply, but he’d take that, too. Anger was a hell of a lot better than despair. “No. I don’t want you to take me. I don’t want you anywhere near me. I want someone else. And I want to go now.”

No. They were not ending this before they ever got to begin. Life owed her better. A hell of a lot better. And life would be giving her that through him. He’d take any scrap she gave him, but he wasn’t letting go .

“I can’t do that, babygirl. You don’t have to open the door. But I need you to do something for me.”

“What?”

“Step over next to the sink. Can you do that for Daddy?”

“You are not my Daddy! And I’m already standing by the stupid sink.”

Good. He stepped back two paces.

Reid sighed. “Don’t. You can’t just bust the door down like a maniac.”

“Watch me,” Sawyer said, and drove his boot through the lock. The door gave way as the door jamb snapped like a twig.

“Damn it, Saw! You’re paying for that.” Hutch ran toward him at the crashing sound, but Sawyer had no time for his brother right now. He had to get to his Little girl.

She sat on the floor by the sink, her hands covering her head. When she looked up, her cheeks were wet and her face was swollen and puffy.

And he’d done that to her. He’d never felt like a bigger piece of shit in his life. She was his Little girl. He was there to be a buffer between her and anything bad. But that was hard to do when the person hurting her the worst was staring back at him in the mirror.

He scooped her up from the floor and sat on one of the chairs by the far wall. She struggled for release, but only for a second. He didn’t know if she was even aware that her arms had found their way around his neck, and she was holding on to him with all the strength she had.

He didn’t try to talk. He just held her close and hummed the same lullaby as before, vowing to make everything right in her world again. She was his, and he was going to do whatever it took to make sure she stayed that way. Forever.

When her tears slowed, he carried her from the bathroom and back to his truck. He was going to explain everything to her. Hopefully, she would understand and find a way to forgive him.

Silence held the trip to his home in Arcadian Hills in its cold clutches.

When they arrived, Sawyer parked on the horseshoe drive in the front.

“I’ll help you out of the truck, Half-Pint.

Until you tell me you’ve changed your mind about my being your Daddy, our rules still apply.

You can use your safe word at any time, but I’d appreciate it if you don’t decide about being my Little girl until tomorrow morning.

I want you to have time to be sure of your decision. Can you do that for me?”

She didn’t speak. She didn’t even look at him. His gut clenched. Hard. Had he lost her without ever having a chance to explain? Relief almost knocked him on his ass when she gave a slight nod of her head. At least she was giving him a chance.

He lifted her from the seat of his truck and carried her into his house, not stopping until he reached what he suspected would be her favorite room.

His game room was enormous. Cathedral ceilings made it look even larger, and the arched three-pane window took up most of the outside wall.

He loved the view of the mountains, and it let plenty of light in the room.

He’d always hoped to find a Little who would sit with him while he worked or played video games in this room. That was why a crafting table large enough to sit at least six people stood in front of the window.

Lele showed her first sign of life when she spotted the home theater-sized screen taking up almost all of the longest wall.

She couldn’t stop staring. “Holy cow! Is that a BenQ3100i game projector?”

There was his Little game designer. He’d spent some time in her Daddy’s Little World game and had been truly impressed. She had skills.

“It is. If you feel up to it later, we can play a few games.”

She stared at him and nodded eagerly. Then, as if remembering their current conversation, she tacked on a, “Maybe.”

“That's the best gaming projector on the market. I've never seen one in person. Is this where you play games?”

It seemed his Little girl wanted a short break from their discussion. He could give her that. He’d give her anything. “Most of the time. I have a projector in the bedroom too, an Optoma uhz55. But the games we’ll play in there don't really involve screen time.”

She blushed and looked back down at her hands in her lap. But not before he saw the spark of interest in her eyes. “Is there anything I can get you, Half-Pint? Before I explain the last two weeks?”

She shook her head. “I just want to hear your explanation.” She turned pleading eyes on him. “Please, Daddy. Please make it convincing.”

His heart leaped at her words, but he kept his face blank, serious, and nodded.

“First, I need you to understand my frame of mind when I first arrived in Elk Jaw. I found out the day before that Jaxon Ruick, a man I love like a brother, was assaulted in prison. He was stabbed three times, once in the abdomen, and they had to rush him to the hospital. My brothers and I have been working for six years trying to have his conviction overturned. I believe with all my heart that he is innocent. It’s hard not to feel guilty when you see someone you care about suffering.

And when I arrived in Elk Jaw, I was feeling a lot of guilt and a lot of pressure. ”

“Is he going to be all right?”

His girl. Always concerned for others.

“We think so, but it was a close call. ”

She bit her bottom lip. “Does that mean you've been trying to prove I was responsible for him being in jail for six years?”