a learner license. Matthieu had been contacted by the cops and said he wasn’t pressing charges as the boys were family friends who were welcome to take his car anytime. She wondered if he’d choked on those words.
The cops had finally let them go and Ink had driven them home. Silently.
But he’d obviously spent that time thinking about what he was going to say, because after giving the three of them the chance to explain themselves, he’d spent an hour thoroughly scolding them all, before sending the boys to bed.
Shockingly, they’d gone without argument.
Which made her hugely suspicious.
After they were in bed, Ink had clasped her hand and led into their room. In silence, he’d gotten her ready for bed. Now she was sitting on the bed, watching him pace up and down the room.
“I’m so sorry the boys took your truck. They’re impetuous. And that they crashed Matthieu’s car. They’ll pay for it.”
“Damn right they will. They’re coming to work for me every day after school. Once we find them a suitable school, that is.”
She blinked. She hadn’t really thought about how it would all work with the boys here. But now that they were here and safe…she realized they would need to find them a school. And a proper place to live.
“Is it safe? For them to go to school?”
Ink ran his hand over his face. “We’ll find a school with security. I don’t think it’s a good idea to home school them. They’re too…energetic.”
That was one word for it.
“I’ll get some contractors in to see about renovating the back of the warehouse behind the garage. It just houses my gym, but there’s enough room for two large bedrooms and a bathroom.”
“Really?”
Seemed that he’d been thinking about the future when she hadn’t.
“Of course. They can’t keep sharing that bed. They’re teenagers, they need their privacy.”
“I know. Thank you. For everything. I know they’re not the easiest kids.”
“Hush,” he told her in a gentle admonishment. “They’re yours. That’s all I need to accept them. The fact that they’re industrious, smart and kind to their mother is a bonus. But they’re grounded for the foreseeable future and I won’t hear any arguments.”
She shook her head. She’d never be the disciplinarian. It just wasn’t in her and it was a relief to give that to Ink. Whether the boys listened to him…she worried at her lip.
“What is it?”
“Umm, I just…I hope they don’t…I mean, they’re not used to a father figure…”
“We’re gonna get on fine, Betsy.”
“Are you sure?”
“I was a wild teenage boy once. I got this. It’s mostly all about hormones.”
If he said so.
“But now onto your punishment.”
“My punishment? Why? What did I do?”
The look he gave her told her that he thought that was a stupid question. “What did you do? What did you do? How about disobeying a direct order given for your safety? What was the last thing I said to you before I got out of the truck?”
“Oh, yeah, that.”
“That? Yes, that. I told you to stay locked in the truck, Betsy. You put yourself in danger.”
“I saw the paramedic running. I thought someone had been found injured.”
“By some miracle, they came out without a scratch and no one else was involved. Things would be a different story if they had been.”
God, she hadn’t even thought of that.
“What did I promise you if you got out of the truck, Betsy?” he crooned.
Uh-oh. She wasn’t going to be sucked in by that too-gentle voice. She tensed, geared herself to run. He wouldn’t, would he?
“Betsy,” he demanded.
“The belt,” she whispered. She was both intrigued and terrified at the idea of him using his belt on her ass.
“Five licks of the belt are owed. Be grateful it’s not ten,” he added as she opened her mouth to protest.
“Now? But they’ll hear!”
He frowned, looked over at the door. “Damn it. I should have soundproofed this room.”
Right now, she was grateful that he hadn’t.
Then he snapped his fingers. “Oh wait. I did.”
The look on his face was pure evil. He moved to the door and locked it.
She was in such big trouble.
It might be sadistic of him, but he rather liked the look on her face. Trepidation with a hint of arousal. She deserved this. She’d disobeyed him. It had taken years off his life when he’d discovered the truck missing.
Thank God he had a tracker on it, or he would have gone out of his mind.
But right now, he was going to punish her. Then he was going to fuck