Malone's Fate (Haven, Texas Book 14)

Chapter 29

“Idon’t need a spanking!”

“Uh, yeah, you do.”

She huffed out a breath. He was terrible.

“But, like I said, it will wait until you’re feeling better.”

“There’s nothing really wrong with me. And I don’t want you to feel like . . . like you’re obliged to look after me.”

His eyes looked sad as he stared at her. “Baby, you fainted. You aren’t eating or getting enough sleep or rest. I want to take care of you. The last thing I feel is obligation or like you’re a burden. Taking care of you . . . it feels like something I was born to do.”

She sucked in a breath. Had anyone ever said something that nice to her? If they had, then she couldn’t remember.

“I’ve heard a lot of women in Haven get spanked if they break the rules. It seems to go against the whole ethos of protecting them.”

To her shock, he laughed. “It does, doesn’t it? But all the women agree to the rules they’re given. As well as the consequences.”

“They do? Why?”

“Hmm, well, I have my suspicions some of them like the punishments.”

They did? Huh. Actually, she could see Opal loving a spanking. Ryleigh, on the other hand, probably wouldn’t.

And you?

Well, she liked the idea of a fun spanking. But a punishment spanking? Hmm.

Her nanny had spanked her a few times when she was a kid and she’d hated it. After she’d told her dad, he’d put a stop to that. Of course, she’d just come up with other forms of punishments.

“And the others . . . well, I guess they know that those rules are there for them. And that the men in this town would lay down their lives to keep them safe. Have you seen anyone who looked unhappy? Downtrodden?”

“No, everyone is sickeningly happy and nice.”

“Thank you!” He clapped, startling her. “It is a bit sickening, isn’t it? That’s why we have to shake things up every now and then. If it wasn’t for a few bar brawls and some pranks, no one around here would have anything to moan about.”

Lord.

“You’re trouble.”

“I try my hardest. But, seriously, baby. You know I won’t spank you if you tell me no. Although as your guardian, I’ll have to come up with some other punishments.”

“So you’ve just declared yourself my guardian? Without my consent?”

“Would you rather have someone else be your guardian? Linc is going to act as guardian for Ryleigh and Opal.”

She wrinkled her nose at that idea. Linc might have apologized but she didn’t think that meant he liked her.

“Jake would do it.”

Still not ideal. She didn’t know him, and he was the sheriff. Lilac wasn’t sure she could entirely trust him.

“No. Not them.”

“I’m sure Alec would.”

She licked her lips. “Alec?”

“Yep.”

“He’s a very nice, scary man,” she said carefully.

Tanner grinned. “He is. I’m not sure he’d appreciate the nice part, he has mellowed over the years. Especially since meeting Mia. Although, threaten his family and there is nothing he wouldn’t do to protect them.”

Would he consider her a threat to them? When he found out who she was?

“I don’t think I want Alec as my guardian.”

“Sure? The women in this family sure have him wrapped around their little fingers. Even though he thinks he’s in charge, he’s really not.”

That was . . . sweet. It was hard to believe that such a big, dominant man might be wrapped around the finger of a woman. But she knew that not every man was like Stefan.

Not every man hurt the people he was supposed to care for and protect.

But she didn’t know Alec, couldn’t trust him. And what would that say to Tanner? That she trusted his brother, a stranger, more than him?

Nope. She wouldn’t do that. Not to her Tanner. Not after everything he’d done for her. Not after what he meant to her.

“I’m sure. If I wanted anyone, it would be you.”

The smile that took over his face could only be described as boyish and charming. As though he couldn’t quite believe she’d chosen him.

God, who wouldn’t choose him?

“There’re other benefits of being punished if you break a rule,” he said.

She eyed him sceptically.

Like what?

“A punishment wipes the slate clean. No more guilt for breaking a rule. No bringing it up over and over and hashing it out. Both parties move on.”

Oh. Now, that was something she did like the idea of. Lilac tended to overthink everything. To punish herself over and over.

“You really think that would work?” she asked.

“From what I’ve heard, yes.”

“All right. Do it now.” She pushed the blankets back. But he grabbed them and laid them back over her.

“What? What are you doing?” he asked.

“I want the spanking. I want to get rid of all this guilt.” She shoved the blankets back off herself.

“Baby, no.” He drew the blankets back over her. “Stay put.”

“Tanner, I want to get rid of this guilt.”

“I hate that you’re feeling guilty, pretty girl. But I won’t do anything to risk your health. And I think you still need some time to think. No rash decisions.”

“I’m not being rash.”

“You are. No more arguing. Your guardian has spoken.”

Dear Lord help her. He was out of control.

Although he did have a point about not making a rash decision.

“Maybe you should take some time to think about being my guardian.”

“Nope.”

“But there’s still so much we haven’t talked about . . . you might change your mind once you hear it all.”

“I won’t be changing my mind. I’ve wanted you since the first night that I met you, pretty girl. Even though you were crap at darts.”

“I wasn’t crap,” she muttered.

“Lilac.” He waited until she was looking at him to continue speaking. “Did your brother hit you? That bitch of a nanny? Your dad?”

“My dad? No, he would never. My dad loved me. He was just . . . busy most of the time.”

Doing things she didn’t want to think about.

“My nanny spanked me a few times, but I tattled on her to my dad, and he put a stop to that.”

“But he didn’t fire her?” He sounded outraged.

“My brother loved her. And he always got what he wanted.” Even she could her the bitterness in her voice.

“Asshole. What about your brother? Was he abusive, wasn’t he?” Anger filled his face, and she sucked in a deep breath to keep herself calm.

How did she describe the hold her brother had over her? About all the things that he’d done? It was hard to explain that he was a psychopath who could be charming and loving, then turn around and smack you in the face for disagreeing with him.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Did he hit you? Hurt you?”

“Sometimes,” she admitted. “But that wasn’t really the worst of it. I could handle the bruises. The pain. Those were things I was used to. But Stefan was a pure genius when it came to emotional abuse and torture. He could be so loving, you know. Once, I fell out of a tree and skinned my knee. Mrs. Jansen told me to stop crying and shut up. But Stefan carried me inside and cleaned it up, bandaged it. Hell, he even kissed it better.”

She shook her head, holding back tears. “But then a few weeks later, I annoyed him. I can’t even remember what I did. And he took my favorite stuffed toy and burned it.”

“Fuck. Did you tell your dad?”

“Oh no, I never told my dad on Stefan.” She shuddered at the thought. “Stefan was his heir. My dad loved me, but Stefan was the future. I was just a girl.”

“Fuck your father,” he said.

She gave him a startled look. None of this was her father’s fault.

“Just because you are a girl, he let your brother and nanny abuse you? No. That’s not the way things work. He’s supposed to protect and take care of all of his children, understand me? If we’d had a sister, she’d have been the most protected out of all of us. The most cherished.”

“Really?”

“Hell, yeah. You think she would have been allowed to date? Nope. She’d have had to wait until we were all dead and buried. She’d have been lucky to have been let out of the house.”

Swallowing heavily, she drunk in all of his words.

“Poor girl would have been completely smothered. If any boy interested in my sister had come on our property, I’d have shot the tires out on his car.”

“Tanner! You would not!”

“Why not? I’ve done it before. Mostly to Jardin. He’s a pretentious ass.”

“Who is Jardin?” she asked.

“Didn’t you hear me? He’s a dick.”

“No. I mean . . . who is he?”

“Oh, just one of our cousins. The New Orleans Malones. All of them are assholes. Well, except Lottie. She’s a sweetheart. Where was I? Oh yeah, your asshole of a father. Fuck, what sort of family did you grow up in? Sounds like the fucking mafia.”

Oh hell.

She’d said too much. She’d known that as she was talking.

His eyes widened. “Oh, fuck.”

Tanner started to pace.

“Please don’t go looking into him, Tanner. That will just alert him to where we are. He’s clever and he has people searching for us. Please.” There was a reason she’d always been careful not to say his name. Even though Tanner didn’t know her real last name it might not take much to find Stefan.

“Hey.” He walked over to her, sitting on the bed and facing her. “I’m not going to do anything rash.”

She eyed him doubtfully.

“Sheesh, you do a few impulsive things in your life, and you get labelled as a hothead,” he teased.

She laughed, then snorted before putting her hand over her mouth. “Oops. Sorry.”

“I’ve missed your snort-laugh, pretty girl.”

“Tanner,” she moaned.

“I won’t go looking for him. I promise.”

She breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“But I can tell you right now that when I find this fucker, he’s a dead man for touching you. For hurting you.”

“No! No, you won’t. You’ll go nowhere near him. He’s dangerous. If he knew how I felt about you, he’d . . . he’d hurt you. That’s what he does to keep me in line. After my dad died, he moved away from punishing me by destroying my stuff and moved onto destroying people. I couldn’t make friends with any of the staff because he’d use them to punish me. He finally figured he could get me to do what he wanted by threatening people I cared about.”

“That motherfucker. He needs to die, Lilac.”

“I know.” It was the only way they were ever going to be free of him. That she would ever be free.

“I take it that’s why you disappeared on me six months ago?” he asked.

“Yes. I was going to tell you some of it when I saw you that night. But as I was heading toward the bar to meet you, I spotted one of his men stepping out of a car. I knew I had to lose my phone and get out of there. I rang Opal and Ryleigh before I turned it off and shoved it in a bin. They picked me up and we fled. I’m so sorry, it wasn’t until we were on the outskirts of town that I realized I should have texted you too. But if they were tracking us through our phones . . . I don’t know. My brother has his ways, and I couldn’t have you involved with me. So, I took off and I . . . I’ve regretted it ever since. I hated hurting you. Lying to you. God, so much that it felt like it was a cancer growing inside me.” Her voice cracked as she finished her explanation.

“Baby, fuck.” He cupped the side of her face. “You don’t know how much it kills me that you didn’t know you should run to me.”

“I had to protect you?—”

“No, Lilac,” he said firmly. “No. That ends right now. You don’t protect me. Understand? You. Do. Not. Protect. Me. I look after you. That is the way it works from now on. And if you take away my opportunity to protect you, I will not be happy.”

Looking up into his face, she knew he meant every word. Her mouth was dry as she tried to get out the words to explain why she had to protect him. “I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

“Then why come here?”

She sniffled. She couldn’t tell him that part. It wasn’t her secret to tell. “I know it makes no sense.”

“Why? Why come here? Was it for me?”

“Yes, it was for you.” It wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t the whole story.

“Because you knew I’d protect you and your friends. That the entire town would.”

“We did some research into Haven, although I wasn’t sure I really believed that a town like this could truly exist. I know it was wrong and selfish to come here. I’ve probably put you all in danger.”

Fuck.

He couldn’t stand this. Tanner knew he had to get her to calm down. To eat some food. He was doing a terrible job of looking after her.

But this was the most he’d gotten out of her, and he was loathe to stop her from talking.

“You don’t need to worry about us. We can take care of ourselves. And protect you guys.”

She wiped at her cheeks. Fuck. He hated that she was crying.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Her brother had so much to answer for. Tanner was going to find that fucker, and then he would make him pay for all the pain and sorrow he’d caused Tanner’s girl.

Fucker would pay in blood.

And he knew his brothers would help. They might be ranchers now, but they’d come from the same world it sounded like her brother was in. And they knew how to fight hard and dirty.

“It’s time to take a break, baby. To let someone else take over for a while. You’ve worn yourself out. However, lucky for you, you’ve got someone willing and able to take the reins for a while.”

“A cowboy metaphor?” she asked dryly as he wiped her tears away.

“Hey! There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“You don’t think it’s cliched?”

“I think it’s inspired. Like most things I say.”

She rolled her eyes at him.

“What do you say? Stop worrying about me, about everyone else and just concentrate on you for a while. On letting me help you.”

He could see her thinking and then, to his surprise, she nodded. “All right. I’ll try. For a short while.”

He figured it was as good as he was going to get.

“Good girl.”

Her eyes lit up at his words.

“Right, you need to eat something and then have a nap. How about I tell you about some stories from when I was a kid? That will cheer you up.”

Tanner lifted the cover off the plate of food that Abby had brought her. He grabbed the fork and picked up a piece of strawberry. To his relief, she opened her mouth and took it.

“All of my brothers are idiots, who got themselves into some real scrapes. Well, not Alec or West. Alec, because he’s the head of the family. And West, well, because he’s a dick. And boring.”

“You’re so mean to him,” she scolded.

“It’s not mean when it’s the truth,” he protested. “He’s always been an asshole.”

“Is he mean to you?” she asked.

He shot his gaze to her, reading her expertly. “Nothing like what you’re thinking. West is West. And he’d never harm you. None of us would. Here, have a bit of melon. That’s it. You’re doing so well, pretty girl.”

Oh yeah.

She definitely liked hearing him praise her.

Such a good girl.