Chapter 59
“What do you mean I’m still owed a punishment?” she asked as she stared at Cash across the table, her mug of coffee lifted halfway to her mouth.
“Did you think that I’d forgotten about last night?” He raised his eyebrow. “The way that you stood between me and Dante?”
“I’m not allowed to stand in front of you?” she asked.
“You know what I’m talking about, and it’s nothing to do with standing in front of me. It’s to do with you getting between me and danger. If there’s any sort of danger, you are to be behind me and safe. You are never to protect me.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” she said. “You deserve protection too.”
He shook his head and pointed at her. “Get that right out of your head, baby. You do not protect me. Ever. You will obey me in this.”
She swallowed heavily. He was very stern and she knew he expected that she would do as he said. But she wasn’t so certain. If he was in danger, she was going to do whatever she could to save him.
That’s what you did for the people you loved.
“You put yourself in danger, and that’s against the rules.
You break the rules, you get punished. You know this.
After breakfast, we’re going to take care of that so then we can spend the rest of the day together relaxing.
I thought we could find a space to set up where your Little could play.
Unless you want to move. This might feel more like a bachelor pad. ”
Move? She didn’t need to move. This place felt just fine to her.
“I like it here.”
“Good. I don’t know what to do about Ralen’s stuff,” he said. “I think we’ll just put it all in his bedroom and then shut the door. I mean, he could be back in a few months. Who knows? Dante will get over his snit soon enough.”
She bet he would never tell Dante to his face that he was having a snit. Not if he wanted to come out of that conversation alive.
“I think that’s a good idea,” she said. “And my Little doesn’t need a special area. I just need a spot to set up a desk for work. It doesn’t have to be big. I also have to order a desk and computer. I can even get a laptop if that’s easier, so I don’t need a desk.”
How many rooms would there even be in this apartment? Two bedrooms? Maybe there was a third?
“No, you won’t just have a little corner of the room. You’ll have as much room as you need,” he told her firmly. “We can always knock through to the apartment next door if we need to.”
“Knock through?” she asked in shock. “Won’t the people that live there be a bit upset by that?
He grinned. “We’re the people that live there, baby. Dante bought both of these apartments, one for Ralen and one for me, but we like to live together. We haven’t lived apart in years.”
He sounded a bit lost as he said that, and she couldn’t help but feel for him. She knew what that was like. “I haven’t lived apart from my sisters for years either.”
Reaching over, he took hold of her hand. “We’ll figure this out together. We have each other. That’s the most important thing.”
It really was.
“So, we’ll get a contractor out here and look at knocking through. And then we can make you a playroom and an office.”
“Are you sure that Dante will be all right with that?” she asked.
He snorted. “Dante won’t even know or care. Trust me. Small details like that don’t matter to him. We’ll go take a look at it later, and then we can go to LittleLand and buy whatever you want to fill the space, baby. That’s going to be your space.”
“I don’t need lots of new things,” Addie said. “I can find some second-hand things.”
“No, we’ll get it all from LittleLand. Bonnie will have everything you need. I want to make sure it’s exactly what you want.”
How much would that all cost? It was starting to sound expensive. Although she could pay for some of it herself. She had a nest egg saved.
“I have some money saved I can use.”
“No, you won’t be paying for anything,” he said, rising. He picked her up, lifting her against him so his arms were under her ass, and her legs were wrapped around his waist. “My girl doesn’t pay for stuff. That’s my job.”
“But you can’t pay for everything. I mean, I’ll have to pay half of the bills. Groceries, utilities.”
She assumed he didn’t pay rent, but that didn’t mean that Dante wouldn’t want her to.
“I can see we need to talk about a few house rules,” Cash said as he carried her into the living room and sat on the sofa with her on his lap, facing him.
“First rule, I pay for everything. Anything to do with the house, like the bills, I pay for. Anything that you need, clothes, shoes, I pay for. But I will let you pay for your business expenses.”
Oh, that was so magnanimous of him. He was going to let her pay for her own business expenses. She didn’t even really have many, except for upgrading her equipment and making sure she had fast internet.
“Cash, that’s hardly fair,” she said.
“We’re not talking about fair. We’re talking about the rules.”
“And do you always get to make the rules?” she asked.
“Yes. Now you’re getting the picture.”
Good Lord.
“Next rule, if you need to go somewhere, you tell me. I want to know when you leave, I want to know when you arrive at your destination, and I want to know when you get home again. I need to know that you’re safe at all times.”
“You think there’s still a risk to me? Even with Monroe not here? We don’t even know that anyone is after her. We only have Limpy to go by.”
“That’s not what this is about. These rules are for all the time. I’m going to be keeping a closer eye on you until we make sure there isn’t any danger, but that never changes this rule.”
“Oh,” she said. “So you really want me to message you that often?” Not that she’d probably go out that much.
“Yes, as often as necessary.”
“Well, I don’t really like to go places by myself, and it’s not like I know anyone around here.”
“You know Bonnie,” he said. “And she likes you. I’m going to introduce you to the rest of the Iron Shadows and their women. You’ve met my sister and then there’s Aidan’s fiancée, Livvy. You can meet Ink and Stone’s women. You’ll soon have lots of friends.”
She knew that he was trying to make her feel better, but part of her was slightly terrified at the idea of being friends with all those women.
You’ve got this. You can do it. You can manage it.
“The Iron Shadows are a motorcycle group, right? That your brother, Ink, and Butch are a part of.”
“Yeah, Hack and Stone are as well.”
“But you’re not?”
“No. Dante didn’t think I could have allegiance to them and him. In a way, he’s probably right. Rule number three, you don’t fix anything around here. Anything that needs doing, anything heavy that needs lifting, any light bulbs that need changing, if something breaks down, I do all of that.”
All right. She wasn’t going to argue that because the last time she’d tried to change a light bulb, she’d fallen off the stool and hurt herself. She and heights didn’t always mix that well.
“All right. I’d still like to go back to the payment of the bills, though.”
“There’s no going back. These are the rules, and you’re going to follow them.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a bossy bastard?”
“Yes, regularly. Ralen got me a mug with that written on it one Christmas.”
She could see why.
“So I don’t have any say over any of these rules?” she asked.
“No, you don’t. I want you to tell me if anything worries you, if you don’t feel well, if you’re in pain, if there’s something you need, if you’re missing your sisters and you want to see them.
I want to know. I want you to be happy here, baby.
The last thing I want is for you to be sad or miserable.
Like I’ve said before, tell me what you need from me. All right?”
“I don’t understand how you can be so wonderful,” she told him.
“You might think differently after I give you this punishment.” He lifted her so she lay over his lap.
“We’re going to do this now, here?” she asked, as she wriggled around trying to free herself.
“Yes, we’re going to do this here and now.” They’d both had showers, and she was dressed again in one of his shirts.
She’d done a quick shopping order while he was heating up breakfast. So she was hoping some clothes would get here soon so she at least had some panties to wear.
“Stay still,” he warned.
“Is this really the way you want to start off our life together?” she asked.
“With me reinforcing the rules? I think this is the best way to start. Now, this is going to be a real spanking, baby. If it gets too much, you let me know. You can say your safeword. What is it?”
“Red,” she said.
“Good girl.” He lifted up the bottom of his shirt to bare her ass.
Then his hand landed with a slap.
Oh my God, that was far harder than she’d expected. What was he planning on doing to her, roasting her bottom?
The smacks kept coming, and for a while she just lay still in shock. She couldn’t believe that he was actually spanking her for trying to protect him last night.
But then she realized that he was going to keep going, he wasn’t stopping.
Addie tried to move off his lap. He tightened his hold on her as his hand moved further down to smack her thighs.
She slammed her feet down onto the sofa.
“It hurts, it hurts,” she cried.
“I know, baby,” he said, not unsympathetically. “But when you’re naughty, you get punished.”
More spanks landed over and over on the tops of her thighs. By the time he finished, her ass was throbbing and she had tears dripping down her face.
He lifted her onto his lap again so she was facing him, and she buried her face into his shirt as she sobbed. He held her, running his hand up and down her back as he whispered soothingly into her ear.
“You’re okay, baby. I have you. You’re all right.” His arms were tight bands around her, holding her together, just the way that she needed so she didn’t go off into a million pieces.
So she didn’t feel fractured and lost.
Gradually, she came back down to earth.
Cash leaned over and grabbed a tissue to wipe her face. “Blow your nose, little Stowaway,” he told her.
She blew. She didn’t even really feel embarrassment. She just felt tired and empty, but it wasn’t a bad empty. It was the sort where all of her mind quieted, and there were no worries or fears.
It was the sort of quiet that you could just live in. The sort that she had never had until him. The only other time she felt close to this was when she was Little, and she knew that she didn’t have to think about anything important because he had it all handled.
Because she trusted him to take care of her.
“How are you feeling, baby? Mad at me?”
She took stock of her emotions. “A little bit.”
He let out a small chuckle. “Thanks for being honest with me. But you deserved it, and deep down, I think you know that.”
Rude. He shouldn’t use her own feelings against her.
“How about we go and see if your package has arrived and you can get dressed? And then we’ll go next door and sort out where you want your playroom. Then we’ll go shopping.”
“Yeah, that sounds like fun, Daddy.”
Oops, she hadn’t realized she was going to call him that, but he smiled down at her, cupping the side of her face. “Daddy, is it? All right then, baby girl. How about Daddy is in charge for the rest of the day?”
Her eyes widened. She wasn’t sure if she should let him go that far.
“Yeah, I like that. Daddy’s in charge,” he stated.
“Aren’t you always in charge, Daddy?” she asked as he stood with her in his arms.
“That is true. I like that even more. Perhaps I’ll get it put on a mug. Maybe a hat. I could start a whole range of Daddy merch.”
She snorted. She could see him doing that as well.
“There’s something I have to tell you. About Ortega.”
“Oh yeah. Why does he want to stay here? What is his obsession?”
“Ahh, well, he seems to be obsessed with a woman. I don’t know who. But in an effort to show her how much he cares about her, he’s been taking care of her enemies.”
“Taking care?” she asked.
“Yeah, as in removing them. And in a weird coincidence he is the man who was carrying the body that night.”
“What? Really?” Shock filled her. “It was . . . your friend?”
“Yeah. And he actually saw you that night. He spotted you getting into the back of my truck.”
“Oh my God.” This was so bizarre. She swallowed hastily. “Why didn’t he stop me?”
“Why does he do anything? He figured that you couldn’t see him and he’s not into harming women. So he left you.”
“That’s a really weird coincidence but I guess it’s better to know?”
“Definitely better to know,” Cash said.
“So he’s just . . . going around and . . . removing people?”
“Yes,” he said. “And I think that’s as much as you need to know. I can’t believe he’s sticking around, though. The Fox won’t be happy and I’ve told him he’ll need to talk to him.”
Why wouldn’t the Fox be pleased? Wait. Who or what was the Fox?
Maybe she was better off not knowing.
He set her down on the sofa, and she immediately stood up. “Ouch, I can’t sit on my bottom.”
“Well, that’s all part of the punishment,” he told her, pointing at her. “Wait here. I’m going to go see if the package is on the porch. I think I heard something.”
She stood there and watched him walk away. Happiness flooded her. She wasn’t certain if anything could be more perfect than this moment.
Then she heard voices coming from out front and got up to peer out the window. She could see Cash standing on the front lawn with another man. This man had his longer hair pulled back off his face and had a full beard. He seemed older with tattoos on his lower arms and neck.
Who was he? Should she go out there?
There was a strange noise behind her and she frowned slightly, turning.
Hmm. There was nothing there. Maybe she should just ignore it. But that was old Addie. New Addie was brave.
And sometimes sassy.
So she wandered out into the kitchen. Unfortunately, she spotted the danger too late, just as something came at her, hitting her on the head.
Pain engulfed her and then the world went black.