24. Kane

Knowing Tim was so close by had him on edge. He knew that Tim would have no idea where she was. Ian had confirmed there were no tracking devices or apps installed on her phone. No one else knew she was in Pinebrook, so the chances of Parker finding her were slim. But he wouldn't feel better about any of it until he knew the asshole was behind bars.

He had to keep the mood light for Haylee. The look of terror on her face when he'd told her that Tim was only about forty minutes away had nearly killed him. He couldn't stand seeing her so upset. He was finding as many things to distract her and himself as possible. He had already sent Luke the information that Ian provided and would make some calls after he laid her down for a nap.

For lunch, he made her a sandwich with carrot sticks and grapes. She loved eating off the special plates he had for her. Maybe he should have put her food on those plates in the first place. Feeding her was his favorite part. He picked up her sandwich several times during lunch, telling her to open for a bite. When she wrinkled her nose at the carrots, he got some ranch dressing from the fridge to dip the carrots in. She clapped her hands at that and ate them without argument.

"Okay, baby, naptime. Come on."

Sticking out her bottom lip, Haylee crossed her arms across her chest.

"I don't want to take a nap. I've been sleeping for days."

"You are taking a nap, little girl, no arguments. You're still healing. Let's go."

When she didn't move from her chair, he moved in and picked her up, carrying her on his hip. She snuggled into him and sighed. Yeah, she needed a nap. Carrying her up to her room, he set her on the bed and found a pink cotton nightgown to put on.

"Arms up."

She looked up at him thoughtfully. "I can change myself."

"I know you can, but right now, Daddy is taking care of you. Arms up, baby."

"I don't want you to see my bruises. You get upset every time you see them."

He knew he hadn't reacted well to seeing her bruises, and he felt bad for that.

"I get upset because I care about you, and I hate seeing you hurt. But I promise I won't get upset. I just want to take care of my baby girl."

She slowly lifted her arms in the air. Kane didn't hesitate to pull her shirt off, not wanting her to overthink it and change her mind. Once he pulled her shirt off, he noticed how much her bruises were fading, and he got a better glimpse of her creamy skin.

"I'm going to take your bra off, baby. Okay?"

He didn't want to overwhelm her. When she nodded, he kissed her forehead as he reached around to unclasp her bra. When he pulled the material away, he couldn't help but take in her breasts. He licked his lips and reminded himself that he was taking care of her right then, and his raging hard-on could wait. She stared up at him, her own eyes full of lust and need. He couldn't give in to that yet. She needed to know him as her Daddy better. Pulling the nightgown over her head, he helped her get her arms in and then reached under the material and pulled her leggings down.

"Hands on my shoulders."

She obeyed as she stepped out of the pants. She crawled into the bed, and he felt the urge to carry her into his room and tuck her into his bed. She was already snuggled down comfortably, though, and he didn't want to disrupt that. He tucked Virgil into her arm and kissed her forehead.

Virgil. For an alligator. Where the hell she came up with that ridiculous name, he had no idea, but she seemed to love it, so who was he to say anything different.

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead again.

"You stay in bed until I come and get you. Understand?"

She nodded. "Okay, Daddy."

He kissed her gently on the lips and rubbed her back until she was breathing softly and her thumb had found its way into her mouth. Kane went to the nursery and grabbed a pacifier and the baby monitor. When he returned and pulled her thumb from her mouth, she frowned and whimpered softly until he slid the nipple of the pacifier between her lips. He set the monitor on the dresser and carried the other end down to his office with him, where he called his brother.

"Ian called me this morning. Tim is in Bend. He sent her another threatening text."

Damian swore and then swore some more. His brother could be just as hard-edged as he was when it came to the safety of a woman.

"I'm coming down there, and I'm bringing more men."

He could also go a little overkill.

"You don't need to come. I really don't think he'll find her."

"Kane, I'm coming. You would be up here for me in a heartbeat. I'm coming to help. Besides, I want to meet this Little who has stolen your heart."

"Fine. But you have to stay in the apartment above the garage. We're still getting to know each other, and I'm still working on gaining her trust, and I don't need you in here flirting with her constantly. Besides, I'm trying to keep her in Little space as much as possible to keep her mind off all this shit."

"Okay, got it. Stay out of your way. Don't flirt with the Little. Geez. Maybe I should just stay home. It's a good thing I love you because you really aren't a very gracious host."

Kane scoffed at that.

"I'll be there in about seven hours. I'm bringing two more guys to disperse into the town to keep their eye out for him."

"It's a small town. Your guys will stick out like a sore thumb. Everyone knows everyone here. So, make sure they don't make it overly obvious that they're searching for someone."

It was Damian who scoffed that time.

After ending the call with Damian, he dialed Ian.

"It's Kane. Are you able to track the location of his phone all the time?"

"I can only see the location when a text is sent to Haylee's phone. I'm keeping my eye on it. Do you know what kind of car the guy drives? If it's anything new, I can hack into the computer system and track moving location, and depending on the type of car, I might be able to kill the engine."

He knew he was friends with Ian for a reason. The guy was ridiculously smart and a genius when it came to technology, and he wasn't afraid to hack shit if it needed to be done. He also didn't look like someone who would know anything about technology. The guy looked like he spent hours each day in the gym. Smart and good-looking. Not fair. But then again, Kane had a beautiful Little upstairs while Ian was still single. So maybe the beast did win sometimes.

"I don't know what he drives. Haylee is napping. I'll ask her when she wakes up."

"Let me know. I'm monitoring it constantly. I have another guy monitoring it whenever I'm unavailable."

"Thanks, Ian."

Movement on the baby monitor brought Kane's attention back to Haylee.

"Gotta go."

He made it upstairs quickly and into her room.

"Hey, sleepyhead. Ready to get up?"

Haylee let out a loud groan and buried herself under the covers.

"Don't wanna get up."

"You've been sleeping for nearly two hours. You should probably come down and have a snack or at least a protein shake."

Silence.

"Baby alligator," he said in a low, deep voice.

She poked her head out of the blankets to look at him. She did not look pleased, but it was the cutest scowl he'd ever seen.

Note to self, she doesn't like getting up from naps.

"Would you prefer Daddy go make you a protein shake in a bottle and come back up and feed it to you while I snuggle you?"

Her scowl softened at the offer, and he knew that was what she wanted. He nodded and told her to stay put.

When he came back up with a bottle, she was still buried under the covers, whispering something to her stuffed alligator. Kane went around to the other side of the bed and lay down behind her. He kept his distance, not wanting to overwhelm her with him being in her bed. Using several pillows, he adjusted how she was lying and then brought the bottle to her lips. She stared at the nipple for several seconds before she opened her mouth to accept it.

Warmth and satisfaction washed over him as he watched her suck down the bottle. She turned her head slightly so she could see his face.

"That's a good girl. Did you sleep well?"

She nodded, pulling her hand out from under the blanket, the pacifier he'd put in her mouth earlier held in her hand. He took it from her.

"Thank you, baby. Did that help you sleep?"

She nodded again as she sucked the rest of the bottle down to the last drop.

"It was weird at first, but it was soothing once I got used to it," she said softly.

"Good. I'm glad, baby. That is the whole point of your Little space. For you to be able to be calm and relaxed and enjoy yourself."

"Have you heard any news about Tim?"

He hated the worry in her voice as she asked. He knew that no matter how immersed in Little space she might be at any given time, she wouldn't be able to fully relax until this was over.

"No. I haven't. My brother is headed down here with two more guys. The guys are going to be out and about in the town, keeping their eye out for him. Damian is going to stay in the apartment in the garage while he's here. He'll be here later tonight."

Her face dropped into the saddest expression he'd ever seen. Her bottom lip trembled slightly.

"What's wrong, baby girl? Damian is very nice. Are you worried about him coming here? I can set him up in a hotel."

She shook her head quickly. "No, it's fine. I just, I was looking forward to spending more time as a Little. But maybe after he leaves, we can still do it?"

Ah. He hadn't made it clear to her before that this wasn't just a temporary thing for him. The only way it would be temporary is if she made that choice.

"Baby girl, you will still be in full Little mode with Damian here. He is also a Daddy, and he knows you're a Little."

Her eyes widened, and she let out a squeak. "You told your brother I'm a Little?"

Kane chuckled and brushed his hand over her hair. "He's a Daddy. He is so happy that I found a Little. And as far as maybe after he leaves, we can do it, honey. I don't want this to be temporary. I hope that you'll find yourself wanting to be with me permanently, needing me to be your Daddy, and hopefully, falling deeply in love with me because I'm so hot, and I'll fight alligators for you."

He winked at her, and she burst out giggling. He didn't care that it was at his expense; he just wanted to keep her laughing like that forever.

"Are you laughing because you don't think I'm hot?" he asked, sounding completely offended.

He reached under the covers and lightly tickled her side, causing her to squeal loudly.

"No, Daddy! Stop, I need to go pee!"

He grinned and pulled his hand away.

"You are very hot, Daddy. And I didn't know you were so sensitive about it," she told him, smiling.

"Well, I am. I need you to tell me how hot I am at least five times a day, otherwise, I'll think I'm not. Now, get going to the potty, and let's go watch a movie."