24. Carly

Her ears were ringing from the loud gunshots, but all she could focus on was the fact that her Daddy and Nash were running after the gunshots. She was so scared that she could barely breathe, and all she wanted to do was to run after Damian, but he had told her to stay down. The urgency in his tone kept her in place on the cold hard ground.

When another round of gunshots rang out, she screamed and covered her ears as tears ran down her cheeks. Pretty soon, she heard pounding footsteps running toward her, and when she looked up, Damian was looming over her. Without a word, he picked her up, threw her over his shoulder and ran into her house.

Jogging up the stairs two at a time, carrying her as though she weighed nothing, Damian kicked open her bedroom door and then walked into the ensuite bathroom.

“Listen to me. I need you to stay in this bathroom until I come to get you. Cops are on their way, Nash hit the driver, but if there are any more shooters, the bullets won’t make it into the bathroom through all the walls in between. Understand?”

Again, she was too stunned to say anything. Bobbing her head in agreement, she looked up at him with pleading eyes. She was scared, and all she wanted was to be held in her Daddy’s arms.

“I love you, Carly. I would have preferred to tell you this during a more romantic time, but I need you to hear it right now. I love you with all of my heart. You’re mine, and I’m not letting you go. I need you to be a good girl and stay here so I can keep my baby girl safe. Okay?”

Carly flung her arms around his neck and let out a loud sob. He loved her. She belonged to him. He didn’t just want her temporarily.

“I love you too, Daddy,” she cried into his shirt.

He squeezed her for just a second before sitting her down on the closed toilet lid.

“Stay here, baby. I need to assist Nash. If you leave this bathroom, your perfect ass is going to be sore for a year. I love you.”

And before she could even respond, he was gone, locking and shutting the bathroom door behind him. A warm feeling traveled up her body from the tips of her toes to her cheeks, and despite the situation, she smiled. Damian loved her. He wasn’t protecting her because it was his job as a bodyguard. He was protecting her because it was his job as her Daddy.

Her moment of happiness didn’t last long because another round of gunshots rang out, and Carly practically jumped out of her skin. What if those were bullets hitting Damian? Or Nash? The urge to go running out of her house to see what was going on was so strong or at least to go look out of the bedroom window to the street, but she reminded herself to obey Damian’s command. He put her in the bathroom to keep her safe.

Sirens could be heard getting closer, and she prayed that they would hurry up so that her Daddy had the backup he needed. Tears dripped down her face, and she wished more than anything that Damian would hurry up and come back for her. She needed his arms around her like she needed to breathe. He was her safe space, and she trusted him with everything.

He loved her, and she loved him, and she was ready to start her life with him and have James out of her life for good. Running her hands over her face, she knew her makeup was probably smeared all over. When she looked up into the mirror, she winced. Yeah, she looked horrible.

Giving herself something to do, Carly stood and grabbed a washcloth from the linen closet inside the bathroom and began washing off her makeup. The entire time she cleaned her face, she sobbed. She sobbed for her past with James, for the time she spent with Damian, for the love that she knew he had for her and for their future.

By the time she was done washing her face, she felt dehydrated from all the tears and completely exhausted. Cupping her hands, she filled them with water and took a drink. All she could hear at that point were sirens, and it felt like hours that she waited in the small bathroom. At one point, she began pacing, though it wasn’t helpful since she could only take six steps to get from one side of the bathroom to the other.

When a knock finally came, she was startled out of her thoughts.

“Baby girl, it’s Daddy. Open up.”

Jumping up from the toilet, Carly unlocked the door and swung it open. She immediately began searching Damian’s body for any type of injury, and when she didn’t see anything, she launched herself at him. He caught her and squeezed her against him as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Shh, I got you, baby doll. Everything is okay.”

She was crying loudly, and it wasn’t until she heard someone clear their throat that she looked up and saw two SWAT officers standing behind Damian. He turned and walked over to her bed, sitting down with her on his lap. Trying to pull herself together, Carly wiped her eyes with her hands and looked up to Damian and then at the officers.

“Something happened. Why are you all looking at me like that?” she asked worriedly.

Damian shifted and cupped her chin until she was looking at only him.

“James was sitting passenger in the car. The driver was initially the one shooting and when Nash shot the driver it instantly killed him. The car crashed into a pole and James jumped out and began firing while trying to run. Nash returned fire and killed James.”

Her eyes widened, and the air whooshed out of her lungs. James was dead. The person who made her life a living hell for years was dead. She should be sad. They were married, after all. They had shared love at one time. Right? When she dug into her soul, she searched for the sadness, but nothing came, and instead, she started laughing.

Damian stared at her with concern while the two officers looked at each other with questioning eyes as she laughed hysterically. When her laughter finally died down, and she regained her composure she looked at all three of the men.

“Sorry. I know that was inappropriate. I just… you guys didn’t have to go through what I went through with James.”

The officers shrugged, and Damian shook his head.

“Don’t be sorry, baby. You have every right to feel however you want.”

“Where’s Nash?” she asked.

Damian’s expression immediately changed, and she immediately began to panic.

“Is he okay? Where is he?”

One of the officers cleared his throat again.

“There was a second car of shooters. Nash was shot in the shoulder. He’ll be fine, and he’s already been sent to the hospital by ambulance,” the officer said.

Carly turned toward Damian and let out a sob before burying her face into his chest.

“Shh, baby, it’s okay. Nash will be fine. He’s been shot before.”

She snorted at that.

“Doesn’t mean he wanted to be shot again! And I was so mean to him. I called him a big stupid dummy, and then he got shot while trying to protect me!” she wailed.

Damian’s chest vibrated under her face, and when she looked up to meet his gaze, he was chuckling.

“Baby girl, he knows what you are and that you didn’t mean what you said. He would have protected you even if you had meant it. He’ll be okay. We can go see him at the hospital later on if you want.”

She nodded and slumped back against his chest. The officers spoke to Damian, but she was too exhausted and too zoned out in her thoughts to listen. She heard the other men walk out of the room, but she was comfortable in her Daddy’s arms and didn’t want to move. She just wanted him to hold her forever.

“Let’s go home, baby girl.”

Lifting her head in confusion, she stared at him.

“I am home.”

Damian shook his head and stood up with her in his arms.

“No, you’re not. Your home is with me. That’s home. My house is your home. My heart is your home.”

Her shoulders sagged, and she gave him a sleepy smile before nodding her head and leaning against him again as he carried her downstairs.

“Okay, Daddy. Let’s go home.”

There were still at least a dozen police cars parked in front of her house and down the street when Damian carried her outside, and it looked like there were several detectives collecting evidence. Damian had placed her in the Jeep and buckled her seatbelt for her before grabbing his jacket from the back seat and covering her up with it. Before he closed the passenger side door, he had leaned in and kissed her deeply as though his entire life depended on it.

She dozed on and off on the ride home, and it wasn’t until he was setting her down on his bed that she realized that he had carried her inside. When her eyes opened, she looked up into Damian’s face and could see the emotion there.

“Hi,” she whispered.

He gave her a tight smile and silently began pulling her clothes off. She didn’t fight him. Instead, she let him completely undress her while she stared up at him. He seemed deep in thought and fully focused on his task. She wanted to know what was going through his mind, but she didn’t think it would be a good time to ask.

“Stay here,” he said quietly.

He left her sitting naked on the bed as he disappeared into the bathroom. She heard the bathwater running, and then he reappeared by her side. Scooping her up in his arms, Damian carried her into the bathroom and set her on her feet in front of the tub before stripping off his clothes.

In one swift move, he picked her up and stepped into the deep tub with her back pressed against his front. When he sat down in the water with her, she felt his erection pressed against her back. Even though she knew it wasn’t the right time for sex, it felt good to know that she still turned him on.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly against him. Leaning back, she rested her head against his firm chest, and they soaked in silence until the water started cooling. Damian grabbed a washcloth, squirted some of her vanilla-scented body wash into it, and started washing her body. When the cloth ran over her nipples, they hardened into tight peaks, and she whimpered quietly.

Carly could feel her heart pounding when he moved the washcloth down her belly in between her thighs. She needed his touch, even if it was non-sexual. She just needed Damian. She needed to feel his love and his care for her and to know that everything was going to be okay.

“Daddy,” she whispered.

“Shh… I’m here, baby. Just going to get you washed, and then we are going to go to bed. We’re both exhausted.”

She instantly quieted and let him do his job of washing her. By the time he was done, the water was even cooler, and she was ready to get out and snuggle up in her Daddy’s arms.

Damian stepped out of the bath first and wrapped a towel around his waist before lifting her out and wrapping a fluffy white towel around her. Grabbing another towel from the rack, he began drying her arms, legs, and feet. Once he was satisfied that she was dry enough, he picked her up and carried her into his bedroom and laid her down on the bed.

“Crawl under the blankets. I’m not putting pajamas on you tonight. I need to feel all of you.”

His voice was hoarse, and she watched him as she did what he told her. When she was fully settled under the blankets, he crawled into bed next to her and immediately pulled her close to his body.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she blurted out.

Even though he said that he wasn’t letting her go, she needed him to know how sorry she was for how she had treated him.

“I know, baby. We’ll talk tomorrow. For now, just know that I love you more than anything, and I will never let you go.”

She nodded, and when he pressed several kisses into the back of her head, she relaxed and drifted into a deep sleep.