Page 91 of Big Daddy Christmas
“What’s wrong with Ruby?” Sitting up in his chair, Jacob frowned, worry creasing his brow. “Is she okay? Ice said she and Beckett would be late because she got in trouble.”
“She’s fine, honey.” But there was something in Frankie’s tone that told him Ruby was very much not fine.
What the fuck was going on?
And where the hell was Beckett?
While Frankie and Holden disappeared into the bedroom again, Ice pulled his phone from his pocket and pulled up Beckett’s number. He’d called twice now, with no answer, so he shot off a text.
Ice
Where are you?
No response.
He gave Beckett as long as he could before he gave into his need to know what the fuck was going on. “Fuck it,” he muttered, pushing up out of his chair to make his way over to the bridal suite.
“Hey, no boys allowed!” Popping up from where she’d been perched on the couch, Aria waved her hands at him. He only vaguely recognized her from the handful of visits he’d made to Braden’s house, as he understandably didn’t keep pictures of his daughter in his office at the club.
But then Aria’s eyes widened and her hands dropped to her side. “Holy shit. You’re Ice. Oh my god.”
“I am, and I won’t be long. Just checking in on everyone, making sure everything is going smoothly over here.” Flashing his best ‘rockstar smile’ at her, he sauntered over to where Silver and Ruby were seated, waiting to get their hair done.
“You heard her,” Silver said with a grin and a shooing motion of her own. “No boys allowed.”
“I’ll only be a minute.” Deliberately turning his back on the rest of the crowd, he pinned Ruby with a look that had her squirming in her chair. “I haven’t heard from Beckett and he’s still not here. What’s going on, Ruby?”
Red blossomed on her cheeks. “Nothing, Sir.”
Little liar. She was hiding something. Ruby had the worst poker face of any of the subs, which was unfortunate for her since she was also one of the brattiest of the lot.
“Ruby. Are you being honest with me right now?”
Her gaze dropped to the floor, but to his surprise it wasn’t Ruby but Silver who stood, squaring off with him. “We’re handling it, Elias.”
Elias. She only called him that when she really wanted to make a point. Which meant that whatever was going on with Ruby was between them, and he wouldn’t be let in on the secret until later, if ever.
Meeting his babygirl’s dark gaze, he waited a heartbeat, then two before speaking. “You’re handling it.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“You’d tell me if there was something wrong. If Ruby was hurt or in trouble.”
Everything about his girl softened as she laid her hand on his chest. “Yes, Daddy. I would tell you.”
The memory of her from his morning, skittish and clearly hiding something popped into his mind. “And you?”
“Sir?” Her voice rose a bit, a worried little squeak he might have found amusing if he wasn’t so damn certain she was keeping secrets.
Keeping his gaze locked on her stunning face, he let his voice harden, let it become more ‘Daddy’ as he spoke. “You’d tell me if there was something going on with you that I needed to know.”
There it was. Just a little flicker of guilt before her gaze shifted away. “Yes, Daddy.”
Now they were both lying to him, and his palm physically itched to spank the truth out of them. It wouldn’t be the first time he and Beckett had shared those duties, and he doubted it would be the last.
But before he could make up his mind about it, Frankie came barreling back through the door. “Oh no you don’t, Elias Turner. We don’t have time for”—she waved her hands at him—“whatever this is.”
Annoyance pricked at him, but he knew they were on a tight timeline to get things done before the ceremony. He’d have to trust his babygirl when she said that whatever was going on was being ‘handled’.
