And this was Lara, who Betsy had become friendly with.
He left the doll’s bed that he’d been fixing on the table and strode over to Betsy. Now everyone had stopped to watch.
Betsy was standing in front of Lara, her arms out as though trying to protect her from Zac. A very confused and shocked Zac who stared at Betsy like she’d grown another head.
Even Lara had been shocked out of her budding temper tantrum and was staring at Betsy.
A pale, shaking Betsy.
Shit. Shit. Christ.
“Betsy.” He kept his voice calm, soft. She wasn’t doing this to be naughty or to create problems, he could tell that immediately. She seemed to be somewhere else entirely. Her eyes were locked on Zac’s chest. “Betsy, come over to me.”
“He’s going to hurt her.”
“He’s not going to hurt her, Betsy. I promise.”
“She’s my friend. Have to protect her. Won’t let him hurt her.”
“I’d never hurt Lara, Betsy,” Zac said calmly. “All I was gonna do was spank her and put her in timeout. And even Lara will tell you that she deserved that. Was maybe even acting out because it’s what she wanted.”
There was a warning note in Zac’s voice that had Lara flushing guiltily.
But Betsy read that note in his voice as a threat and took a step back, her body tensing even further.
Jesus, baby. What happened to you?
“Easy, man. Fuck,” Ink warned him.
Someone moved from across the room, getting a better view of what was going on. When Betsy came back to whatever hellhole she’d fallen into, he knew she’d hate that they’d seen her like this.
It made him angry. And things weren’t good when he was angry.
“Lara, you want to reassure Betsy that I’d never hurt you?” Zac asked in a low voice.
“Betsy, Daddy would never hurt me.” Lara reached out to touch her and Ink opened his mouth to issue a warning not to, but he was too late.
Lara’s hand touched her back and Betsy flinched away.
She was side-on between both Zac and Lara now, moving her gaze from one to the other.
Shit.
“Betsy, I love Lara. I’d never hurt her.”
Betsy shook her head, a harsh bark of laughter escaping her. “You can hurt people you love.”
Fuck. She was killing him.
“Betsy, look at me.” He took a step towards her. He knew he was the only one who had a chance of reaching her.
She shook her head.
“Brown eyes. Look at Daddy. Now.” He made his voice firm. And was satisfied as her gaze moved from Zac to him. She blinked almost shocked to see him now.
Come back to me, baby.
“Brown eyes, what’s my name?”