Daddy’s Little Surprise (Missouri Daddies #6)

16. Chapter Fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

RAINEY

T he girls were all staring at her, waiting for her to answer. She wanted to say no but if they knew Marco, she didn’t want to be rude. Maybe it was better for her to hang out with them and try to get to know them. Make new friends.

But the thought of sitting with them when they all knew each other made her nauseous. She didn’t want to be the center of attention. That was the last thing she wanted.

One of the girls walked up to her and put her arm around her waist.

“I’m Hedda. I have two Daddies. Everything is going to be okay. If you don’t want to talk to us or you want Dane or Marco to be here, then we can wait. It doesn’t have to be now.”

It eased her worries some, but she was still nervous. Were they going to ask her a million questions? She knew for a fact that if they did, she would get overwhelmed way too quickly.

“We just want to talk and get to know you. We had already planned on doing it since you were new, but when we saw Marco kissing you, we just knew we had to do it today ,” another girl said. “By the way, I’m Echo.”

Right about this point she would really like Dane or Marco with her. Maybe she should ask Marco if she could bring Dane to the coffee shop with her. That way, if anything happened, she could pet the dog and calm down. But it would be hard. Some people were allergic to dogs, and she didn’t want to put them in danger or make them feel like they couldn’t come into her store.

“And we can totally do it another day. We know we’re kind of bombarding you right now, so if you aren’t comfortable, we can do it another day. I’m Monroe.”

Rainey was feeling worse with her thoughts. She had wanted to try and get out of it, but with each of them talking, it made her feel guiltier and guiltier.

“How about we do this another day?” Hedda finally let her go.

“No. It’s fine. We can sit and talk. It’s not busy right now, so I’ve got some time,” Rainey forced out.

That was not what she wanted to say. She wanted to run into her office and hide away.

“I’ll get some drinks and food for you guys.” Grace appeared out of nowhere.

Rainey started to rub her stomach, trying to ease her nerves. She was dreading this, but she was going to have to do it at some point.

“Go relax and get off your feet.” Grace shooed her away.

“I haven’t even been on my feet for an hour yet.”

That was a lie. She had been on her feet this morning with Daddy, but she’d had the car ride over, which gave her a break.

“It doesn’t hurt to get off them again. You’ll need regular breaks so you don’t swell up too much.” Grace shrugged and smiled.

Rainey let out a sigh and waddled over to the table where the girls were sitting. They were already talking to each other. Was it too late to not do this? They seemed to have known each other for years, and she was stepping into the middle.

“Come on.” Hedda patted the seat next to her. “None of us bite.”

She sat down and took a deep breath. She couldn’t deny that getting off her feet felt good. It was getting harder and harder to have the desire to walk around, but she knew she needed to do it. Her job required it.

“I’m Charlotte. That’s Monroe, Echo, Hedda, Janie, and Sophia. All our Daddies work with your Daddy.”

“Well, not mine since I don’t have one,” Echo said.

“Yet. You don’t have one yet,” Monroe chimed in.

“We also know he’s your Daddy because he’s one of the owners of the club. You don’t need to be embarrassed about that. You don’t have to feel like you need to call him by his first name. You can call him Daddy in front of us if you want to, but there’s no pressure to do that, either. I know it took me a while to call him Daddy in public,” Charlotte mentioned.

It was a lot of information to process.

“Here’s the food and drinks.” Grace set a tray down. “Enjoy, and if you need anything, let me know.”

“Thank you,” they all said at the same time .

Before anyone could do anything, Rainey stood up and gave everybody their glass of water but also gave them two pastries.

“It has to be even,” she mumbled.

Rainey was stressed beyond belief because of her need for things to be even. She sat down and finally took a breath of air. Charlotte was sitting right in front of her, giving her a weird look.

“Okay. Thank you for doing that,” Charlotte said.

“I’m sorry,” Rainey cringed.

It just took over, and she needed to find some sort of comfort.

“It’s okay. Everyone has a preference for how they want things. I can see you’re stressed, so if it helps you, that’s fine.”

Rainey looked at her, not really believing a word she said. “You aren’t going to make fun of me?”

“Make fun of you for dishing everything out? Absolutely not. We aren’t judgy girls. We won’t judge you for something you like to do.”

“I don’t think it was dishing it out. I think it was making everything even, which is perfectly fine. I like even numbers,” Echo said.

“Y-you like even numbers as well?” Rainey asked.

“I mean, probably not to the extent that you like even numbers. I can breathe when I don’t get an even number of things. It’s just a preference, but I think for you it’s more, which is totally fine. If it helps you become less stressed, then do it. Don’t pay attention to what others are trying to do or say about what you like. Life is too short for you to worry about that. ”

Rainey didn’t know what to say. She had honestly expected to be made fun of. She wasn’t expecting them to be so welcoming and accepting of what was wrong with her.

Not wrong with you. She could hear Daddy’s voice in her head.

He was trying to remind her of that every day. There was nothing wrong with her, but she had been made fun of so many times because she needed things to be in even numbers. It was going to take a while for her to get used to not being made fun of and people supporting her.

“So, what made you want to move here and open a coffee shop?” Janie asked. “And when are you due?”

Rainey started to rub her belly again. “I’m due in less than three months. I needed a change of scenery and had always wanted to open one. When I saw that this used to be a coffee shop, I took the opportunity to make it mine.”

She really didn’t want to go into details about her ex-boyfriend. She had just met them and had already made a fool out of herself earlier with the even numbers. While they accepted that with open arms, she wasn’t sure they were going to accept the ex-boyfriend part.

“Well, when you get closer, let us know. We can bring you guys food to put in the freezer or eat that week so you can just rest and not have to cook. We’ll talk to our Daddies to coordinate it with your Daddy.”

Tears pooled in her eyes. She hadn’t even thought about that, and here they were, talking about making meals for her and Daddy when she had the baby. Was this what it felt like to have people in her corner?

“It’s okay. I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Janie said.

Rainey waved her hand in the air. “I’m sorry. Just, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. Everyone has gone through something in their life that shapes them into who they are now. You’re okay,” Monroe gently said as she placed a hand on top of Rainey’s.

“On a lighter note, we hang out at the club at least once a week, and sometimes we hang out outside the club if our jobs permit. We have a group chat we can add you to,” Charlotte excitedly said. “You should join us when we go to the club or hang out outside it. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s a good way to make friends. But it’s ultimately up to you and what you’re comfortable with.”

“Yeah, to piggyback off Charlotte, if you get overwhelmed by all this, you don’t have to come. And if you need to bring Dane or your Daddy, you can. We’re not going to judge you for that. Everyone has a different level of comfort with new people,” Janie whispered toward the end.

“It’s also pretty intimidating because we all know each other, right?” Hedda asked.

Rainey nodded and tried to keep her best smile. It definitely was intimidating, knowing they were all good friends. Could they make or break Daddy and hers relationship? Did she have to get along with them so her relationship would survive?

She didn’t think it would because Daddy didn’t talk about it. She figured if it were a big deal to him, he would bring it up and make her aware. Maybe he would do that after she talked to them and got to know them.

“And if you only hang out with us once or twice a month, we’re fine with that, too. We’re not going to be mad if your social meter will only allow that. We also won’t be mad if you don’t like us. We know we can be a lot when we’re together. We aren’t going to hold it against you. Would we like to get to know you and hang out? Absolutely, but we also want to be respectful to you and what you are comfortable with,” Echo said.

“To change the subject. Let us know when you need help moving your things into his house. We’ll gladly help.” Monroe took a sip of her drink.

Rainey started to get anxious from her question.

“Um, well, he’s just letting me stay there temporarily,” she lied. “So, I just have some clothes and other essentials I brought with me. I don’t need any of the other stuff, so I’m okay. It… it really is just temporary, I think. We just met, and I don’t know if it will last, so we’re not moving my things in.”

Rainey felt awful for lying, but she didn’t want them to know she was living in her office, twenty feet from where they were sitting. It would be embarrassing, and she didn’t need the people she hired to know she lived in her office.

“Honey, he’s already staked his claim on you. He’s not going anywhere.” Monroe patted her back.

She looked to her right, out of the window. Everything was getting just a tad too much. They were all nice, but they were also very nosy. Was it normal for a group of girls who wanted to be friends to be like this?

Her eyes searched the crowd as people walked down the street. Rainey’s gaze landed on a man leaning against a motorcycle, looking directly at Echo.

“Uhh, Echo?” she hesitantly whispered .

“What’s up?”

“You have somebody staring at you.” Rainey looked over at Echo.

She didn’t look alarmed as Rainey spoke the words.

“Yeah, I know. That’s Deccan. He watches over me to make sure I’m okay, safe, and all that. He’s kind of like a protector and almost a stalker .”

Rainey’s eyes went wide as she stared at Echo.

“Are you sure you’re safe?” Rainey asked. “Do you need to hide somewhere? I’m pretty sure I could help you. I have a friend who could help.”

Friend was pushing it. It was someone she knew from years ago. Someone who probably didn’t want her contacting him. He lived up in New York, working for someone dangerous. He hacked into things but also knew how to make people disappear, either dead or alive.

“I don’t need it. He’s been doing this for several months, and nothing bad has happened yet. He actually saved me in a parking lot when a car almost hit me. He’s my little protector. Well, not little because you’ve seen the size of him, but he protects me.”

Rainey looked at the other girls, but they didn’t seem alarmed.

“We have already witnessed this several times. If he does do anything bad, we’re going to tell our Daddies. They’ll contact Hedda’s brother if they need reinforcements,” Charlotte explained.

“Why her brother?”

“You can’t tell anybody. But my brother is the head of a mafia group,” Hedda nonchalantly said.

Her mouth hung open. “Whoa. I don’t know if you were supposed to tell me or not. I don’t know if I want to know this information. Is he going to come after me? I… I don’t need this in my life if?—.”

Hedda chuckled. “He’s not going to come after you. I promise. He’s up in New York and won’t bother you. He might come down to visit, but he won’t hurt you.”

Rainey opened her mouth but quickly closed it. He was the head of a mafia group in New York. She knew New York was huge but wondered if Kirk worked for him. Rainey wasn’t going to ask because she wasn’t close to Kirk, and she didn’t want to raise any suspicion.

“That’s good to know. If he ever does come down from New York, let me know, and I’ll make sure to plan a vacation.” She laughed toward the end, trying to ease what she had said. “Nothing against your brother. I just, I don’t do well when I know the person could kill me a thousand different ways.”

“A thousand is kind of stretching it, but I promise you he’s not going to harm you if he comes. I also can’t tell you when he’s going to visit because sometimes it’s random. He just wants to make sure I’m okay, still alive, and not getting hurt. So, coming at random times ensures he sees what’s really going on with me and not something staged. Not that my two Daddies would do that. They wouldn’t, trust me. But my brother is paranoid and likes to be in control. It helps him, and we’ve learned to live with it.”

Rainey nodded and looked back toward Echo’s protector. He was still leaning against his bike, but this time, he was talking to somebody. As her eyes focused on the man standing next to him, she quickly turned her head and quickly moved it down.

Shit.

He could not possibly be here. He had no idea where she went. How did he find her?

“Are you okay?” Monroe asked.

Rainey nodded but kept her head down. She didn’t want to lift her head in case he was looking over. He didn’t need to know she was here.

“Are you sure you’re okay? It looks like you’ve seen someone you’re terrified of,” Monroe asked again.

How did she know she saw someone she was scared of? Was it that evident?

“She would know because she was in an abusive relationship. She’s seen the looks. But are you okay?” Janie asked.

“Sorry. I just thought I saw someone I knew,” Rainey forced out.

She lifted her head and looked over. Pete was gone. She relaxed into her seat slightly and took several deep breaths.

“Well, if it changes, you let us know. Better yet, you let your Daddy know so he can help you and keep you safe,” Monroe said.

“It’s really nothing. It wasn’t him. It couldn’t be him. He’s dead.”

It was a lie, but she didn’t need the girls telling their Daddies and them telling her Daddy. It was just her mind playing tricks on her. There was no way he could pick this random small town and know she was here.

She knew for a fact she didn’t have any type of tracking device on her. She'd thrown away all the clothes she’d hadand bought new ones. The only thing she kept the same was her stuffed animal, but he had never seen it.

“Ohh, well, you should still tell your Daddy so he can help you if you have a flashback. I know it’s helped me even if I don’t like it,” Hedda said.

“I will, don’t worry.”

Several of their phones went off, and they checked them.

“Well, we’re needed back at the club. It was so nice meeting you. We definitely need to hang out again,” Charlotte said as they all got up from their seats.

Rainey very slowly pushed herself up and every one of the girls gave her a hug. They said their goodbyes, and Rainey’s eyes immediately went to where Pete had been standing. Deccan was still looking at Echo, watching her every move.

It was odd, extremely odd, but at the same time, she thought it was kind of hot. He was protecting her. But why was Pete hanging out with him?