Page 70 of Big Daddy Christmas
“Jacob Aaron. Are you keeping secrets?”
There was enough steel in Cordelia’s voice to have Jacob’s cheeks turning red as he shifted from foot to foot. “Yes, Ma’am. But it’s for a good reason, I promise.”
“Well, you can go tell Braden that his bride is getting her makeup done and if he knows what’s good for him, he won’t bother her again.” When Jacob didn’t move, Cordelia somehow managed to raise her brow even higher. “Go, Jacob.”
“I, um, can’t do that. Ma’am.”
Complete and utter silence fell as Cordelia slowly rose to her feet. Ivy, who had been tucked up against her Daddy, watching the entire scene unfold with open curiosity, now looked rather panicked.
“Did you just tell me no, boy?”
“I don’t think that’s what he meant.” The panic in Ivy’s eyes echoed in her voice as she hopped to her feet. “He just, um… Well, tell her, Jakey.”
“Ivy Mae, unless you want some of what our boy has coming to him, you’ll stay out of it.”
“It’s for a good cause, Ma’am.” Poor Jacob’s cheeks looked like they could cook an egg, red as they were. “I promise I’m not just being a brat.”
“A good cause?” Head tilted to the side, Cordelia studied her submissive. “I assume Braden put you up to this?”
“He did. Well, um, they all sort of did, Ma’am.”
“I see. I’ll be right back.”
Without giving Jacob a chance to respond, Cordelia swept out of the room, leaving the rest of them in stunned silence.
“Holy crap.” Eyes bright, Aria broke the silence with an excited whisper. “I wanna be her when I grow up.”
Beckett
* * *
It was pure fucking torture, waiting for Jacob to return with Lottie. So much so that he nearly jumped out of his damn skin when the door to their suite swung open. “Finally. Took you long enough—oh, fuck.”
Standing in the doorway of their suite, barefoot and wearing nothing but a green silk robe, Cordelia Summers still managed to look every bit the badass Domme she was. Fury, the cold, lethal kind Beckett imagined often left her submissives trembling with the terror of what was to come, whipped around her like an icy wind. “‘Oh, fuck’ is exactly right. I’m about to kick every single one of your asses unless you can give me a very, very good reason not to.”
“We had nothing to do with it.” Damian held up his hands in the time-honored gesture of surrender and took a large step back.
His twin followed suit, and Beckett could swear he heard Braden mumble “cowards” under his breath.
Crossing her arms, Cordelia pinned them each with her iciest glare. “Someone care to explain to me why my boy is over in the other room, refusing to do as he’s told?”
“Fuck.” There was no doubting that response as Braden stepped forward, a placating smile on his face that did nothing to hide the panic in his eyes. Despite the fact that they were all Doms, and Cordelia was a solid six inches shorter than all of them, if not more when it came to Holden, that didn’t stop her from striking fear into all of their hearts. “That’s my fault, Delia. But I swear, it’s for a good cause.”
“Jacob said the same thing.” Tilting her head to the side, Cordelia smiled, but to Beckett it looked more like she was baring her teeth before she used them to rip Braden’s throat out. “Tell me, exactly, what cause is good enough for you to convince my boy to outright defy his Daddy.”
“I’m going to ask Ruby to marry me.” The words burst out of Beckett, drawing Cordelia’s steely gaze straight to him. “And I’m sorry, I know it was shitty to put him in that situation, but we were hoping you guys wouldn’t kick him out the way you kicked Ice out earlier.”
A frown tugged at the corners of Cordelia’s mouth. “You’re asking Ruby to marry you. Now?”
“Not now. Later. If Lottie approves of our plan, that is.”
He saw the moment he won her over. Tears shimmered over the green of her eyes, just for a second before she blinked them back. “You’re going to ask our Ruby to marry you.”
Our Ruby. His babygirl had no shortage of people who loved her, and wanted nothing more than to see her happy. Which meant she also had no shortage of people to kick his ass if he fucked up this proposal. A fact he found equal parts terrifying and comforting. “Yeah. Yeah, I am. I have the ring and everything.”
A high-pitched squeal rent the air, and it took him a moment to realize it came from the hardass Domme in front of him. Face lit with excitement, she danced on the balls of her feet as she held out her hand. “Well don’t be stingy with it! Let me see!”
Figuring there was no point keeping it a secret since Ruby had already seen the ring, he pulled the box from his pocket and flipped it open for Cordelia to see.
