Page 50 of Butch

“Levi.” Daddy sighed.

“I’ll go check on the club,” Hawk said before anyone else could mention anything.

“Is he okay?” Raelynn whispered to Reaper.

He nodded. “He is. He just likes to overexplain some things. He likes to be very clear about things, so there isn’t any miscommunication. That’s how he lost his girl.”

Rae’s heart broke for Hawk.

“No one calls my girl precious but me. She’s mine,” Daddy announced. “Now that’s settled, you can go back to what you were doing before.”

Daddy walked over to Rae and sat next to her. Her eyes were already on him, and she felt a lot calmer than she had before.

“Are you okay?” Daddy asked.

“I am.”

“Don’t lie to me. That’s how you land yourself with a hot bottom,” Reaper replied before walking off.

“Meanie,” she said and stuck her tongue out at his back. “He should know it’s rude to tattle on people.”

Daddy raised his right eyebrow. “Do you want to tell me why you’re lying to me? What happened while I was gone?”

She sighed. “It wasn’t anything serious. I just got a little overwhelmed and wanted to hide, but Reaper wouldn’t let me. Instead, he got everyone to quiet down and made a big thing about it.”

“Was that the yelling I heard?” Daddy asked.

“Yes.” She nodded. “He got people to quiet down, so it didn’t overwhelm me as much or make my head hurt. I could hear everyone, but at the same time I couldn’t, with how loud it was.”

It was so hard to explain how it.

“Hmm, I’ll have to make sure to let everyone know to keep it down from now on,” Daddy gruffed.

She grabbed onto his hands. “No, you don’t have to do that. I don’t want anyone changing because of me. I just need to learn to get used to it or not put myself in those situations.”

Daddy shook his head. “No. We are all learning about this. It’s important. They made accommodations for Echo when she arrived, so they can be considerate of you and not be too loud.”

She remembered Echo telling her about not liking to be touched by people except her Daddy. It made her skin crawl. Everyone had been so careful about not touching her, making sure they never got close to her.

“I don’t want to be a bother,” she mumbled.

Daddy shook her hands off his and cupped her face before she could say anything. “You will never be a bother. I know the guys care about you and want to know if there's anything they can do to help you feel more comfortable around them. And they wouldn’t want you to feel like you are a bother, either, because I can promise you that they don’t think that and never will.”

Raelynn didn’t know what to think about that. Everyone always thought she had been a burden… besides Daddy. So it was weird to have a big group tell her they never would.

“How did the meeting go with Deccan and Ace?” she asked. “Did you find out where he is?”

“I’m not going to tell you anything,” Daddy replied.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want you worry about it.”

She pulled his hands off her face. “I’m going to be worried if you don’t tell me. I’m already worried that he’s going to barge into this room, shooting everyone down, before snatching me away. I’ll be better knowing than not.”

“I don’t know.”

“Please,” she begged. “Please tell me. I need to know. I need this. I can’t be left in the dark. Edmund left me in the dark all the time.”