Discovering Daisy (The Protectors 5.60)

I gently eased Daisy off me and then dropped to my knees in front of Sage. He hadn’t moved from his spot. Daisy’s fingers had moved from his hair to his upper arm and she was gripping him hard.

“There was nothing I could do, Cash,” Sage said as his eyes focused on me. He wasn’t crying – he was in far too much pain for that.

“What happened, Sage?” I asked, though in my gut I already knew. I’d read the police report. I knew what had caused the little girl’s death. I’d just made certain assumptions.

Wrong assumptions.

So very wrong.

“I had to keep my promise,” Sage said softly.

“I know you did, baby.” I reached up to push his hair off his face. His skin was cold. I wrapped myself around him and pressed my forehead against his. Daisy’s small body covered his and mine so that we had Sage wrapped up in a cocoon of warmth.

A safe place where no one could ever touch him again.

A place where he and Mouse had never been put in that room, where they’d never spent even a second in that farmhouse. A place where they’d been just two normal kids, completely oblivious of one another.

“I decided to go with her… it made it easier to move my hand up to cover her nose too. She didn’t want to fight me, but she couldn’t help herself. But she spoke to me, Cash… she told me with her eyes that it was okay.”

“She did, Sage,” I agreed. “I know she did. She was glad you were keeping your promise.”

“When it was over they tried to take her from me, but I wouldn’t let them. Even with all the blood, I wouldn’t let them take her from me. They finally left us alone and everything got cold and I was really tired so I closed my eyes.” Sage let out a harsh breath. “I didn’t want to wake up again. I was so angry when I did. But I was happy that I kept my promise,” he added, his voice full of quiet resignation.

Daisy began sobbing and I curled an arm around her. We held onto Sage for the longest time, but he never cried.

And that scared the hell out of me.

Several minutes passed before we all sat up. “Sage,” I said as I clasped his neck with my fingers. “Talk to me. Tell me what you need.” I hated that I couldn’t tell for myself where he was at. He should have been bouncing off the wall with anxiety or so withdrawn into himself that he wasn’t even functional, but he wasn’t either of those things.

Whatever was happening to him was new.

“Need to sleep,” he said softly. “Just need you to both hold me while I sleep.”

His response surprised me, but I wasn’t about to argue with him. I knew I wouldn’t sleep a wink, since I’d be too worried about him getting up and potentially hurting himself, but I could certainly give him what he wanted. I glanced at Daisy and she quickly nodded. Sage turned to look at her, then quietly wiped at her face. She was a beautiful mess. Tears continued to leak from her puffy eyes, her nose was red and runny, and she was shaking like a leaf.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Sage said.

Daisy shook her head and let out a half-laugh, half-sob and then pushed into Sage’s arms. “You’re the most amazing man I’ve ever met, Sage Brighton. I don’t know why you guys picked me, but I’m so glad you did.”

Sage wrapped his arms around her and let out a soft sigh. The meaning behind her words wasn’t one hundred percent clear, but there was no denying it anymore.

She did fit.

She fit perfectly.

Now we just needed to show her that. My eyes met Sage’s as he held her, and I saw he was in complete agreement.

It was time to make Daisy ours for good.

Chapter 11

Daisy

My men played dirty.

And yes, that was how I’d started to think of them in the weeks that had followed Sage’s brutal admission about what had been done to him and Mouse.

We’d spent the rest of the night exactly as Sage had requested. Just holding him as he slept. It was the same the next day. And the one after that.

He slept for almost four days straight.

Cash and I only left him long enough to get some food for him or get cleaned up, and one of us had always stayed with him. I’d asked Mav to handle anything that came up with work so I could focus all my attention on Sage.

We’d been worried that Sage was falling into a deep depression the more he slept, but every time he woke up, he’d smile at us, ask us if we were okay, then kiss us before drifting off again. He ate and drank when we asked him to, and every day he let Cash lead him to the shower. I wasn’t exactly proud of it, but I’d snuck a peek at the two of them in the shower when I’d been bringing Sage a fresh pair of sweats to wear afterward. I’d been mesmerized at the sight of Cash and Sage just holding onto one another beneath the water. The tempered glass hadn’t been completely translucent, so I’d only gotten to see the outline of their bodies, but it hadn’t been about seeing them naked anyway. It’d been about being given a glimpse into what they were to one another.