Requested Surrender (26 page)

“Maybe she is happy. I hope.”

Ted was in the process of getting up when he collapsed back down in the chair. “Fuck. E was right. This past shit isn’t the only thing bothering you.”

“No, there are certain issues.” He didn’t add because of the past shit. “Things I should be facing with Lacy, but I’m putting off. Which is not like me at all.”

“Are you that serious about her?”

David didn’t want to answer. Not verbally anyway, as he’d probably say more on that topic than he should. So he nodded.

“Understandable. If the issues are little shit. Like attitude and behavior stuff. You’ll know when you’ll need to step up to the spanking horse and do some flogging, but if the issues are deeper than that, deal with them now. Don’t do what I did and put them aside. They don’t go away and the longer you leave them, the worse they get. I came this close”—he held up his thumb and forefinger and made an imaginary measurement, reminding David of Lacy last night. “This close to losing Jo and she’s the best fucking thing that’s ever happened to me.”

David nodded again and then changed the subject. “How are things going with Kavanagh?”

“Great. Well, on the mentoring front, that is. E nearly blew a gasket when he started asking about Laren.”

Relieved that Ted didn’t push to stay on the Lacy topic, he asked, “Who’s that?”

“Rene and Alex’s friend. She came up with them to help out with little Bea.”

Even though it wasn’t any of his business that didn’t stop T from explaining, “After what Kavanagh tried to do with Rene and Alex, E’s a little sensitive.”

David remembered how Michael Kavanagh tried to wedge himself between Rene and his wife, but that was a long time ago now and Michael was a different man. A reputable Dom. He wouldn’t pull something like that again, now that he knew better. “Is she married or something?”

“In the middle of a divorce, but E doesn’t want any problems so he’s banned the guy from speaking with her.”

“Yeah, like that’ll work.” David was going to say more, but Ethan came through the door.

“Either of you guys seen my keys?”

David shook his head and Ted called over his shoulder, “No.”

“I thought I left them—are the two of you blind?” When Ethan stalked over and scooped his keys out of the monkey dish on the corner of the desk, David frowned.

“Must be. I didn’t even notice them.”

“Jesus fuck. Me neith—”

“Hey, watch the language.”

David turned, easing his scowl when he saw Rene in the entrance with Beatrice in his arms. He stood at the same time Ted did. Ethan only turned around while they all remained quiet. Too quiet, until Rene grinned and readjusted his girl. “She’s a baby, not the Anit-Christ. You can wipe the stricken looks off your faces.”

Ted blew out a breath. “Shit.”

“Hey, now.” Rene glared. “Language.”  He threw a curt nod down to his girl.

“Sorry.”

David was amazed at how big she’d gotten since the last time he saw her. He headed right for her, and when she noticed she smiled so wide her pacifier dropped out of her mouth. He’d barely gotten to Rene’s side when she fell forward toward him. He didn’t even ask permission. He took her right from her dad’s arms and held her up. “How’s my little pumpkin?”

“Pumpkin? She’s not a pumpkin,” Ted cooed in the goofiest voice David had ever heard. “She’s a Princess.”

When he was standing right beside them, Ted laughed and David looked down. Little Bea had extended her leg and tried to curl her toes on Ted’s arm. Only the skin was so tight she couldn’t. “A flirt, too.”

“You’re crowding her,” Ethan said. He shouldered his way through the three of them and swiftly took Bea from David arms. “You see? She’s scared.”

She didn’t look scared. In fact she was tugging so tightly on Ethan’s hair at the moment, trying to stick some of it in her mouth, that his friend’s eyes were watering. David bet Bea was the only female to ever do that to him.

“I want to hold her.”

All eyes were on Ted until Rene sighed. “It annoys the hell out of me that she’s so calm around you guys. She cried when the cashier at the grocery store talked with her and that guy was five-foot tall and a hundred and ten soaking wet. And here she is faced with a pack of grinning giants and she’s smiling.”

“She’s got good taste,” Ethan said, handing her back to her father.

“What, don’t I get a turn?”

Rene gathered his daughter in and beamed when she laid her cheek on his shoulder and let out a happy sigh. “Later,” he said to Ted as he swayed back and forth. But then his smile faltered as looked around. “Where’s Kavanagh?”

Ethan put one hand on Rene’s shoulder and brushed his other one against Bea’s curls. “Don’t worry. As you suggested, I had a talk with him about the babysitter.”

 Rene nodded and spoke softly. “Good. The dial on the poor bugger’s pecker is set to ‘covet thy neighbor’s wife’.”

David scowled. “I thought she was getting a divorce.”

“Inks not dry on those papers, so we’ll see. Makes Laren vulnerable right now. Better to be safe.”

“Excuse me. Rene?”

A woman David had never seen before was standing in the open doorway.

“Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time for Bea’s nap.”

“Right. Guys? This is Laren. She’s helping Alex and I with the little one this weekend.” Rene went to her and handed over his sleepy daughter. After Laren left he said, “Nice visiting with you boys, but I have to go.”

David was about to call him a pussy when one of the spa staffers arrived at the door. Out of breath and red faced. “Excuse my interrupting but there’s a woman in the meditation room who’s not very happy.”

Ted took a deep breath and then grinned. “You can be more specific, kid. I’m not going to hold it against you.”

The young guy didn’t miss a beat. “Should I tell her you’ll return shortly?”

Ted’s grin turned up in smile. “Not if you like the set of balls you got in those pants. My girl likes to bust them. Best let me handle her. Gentlemen.” Ted nodded to no one in particular before he left. Walking with his hand on the young staffer’s shoulder. David’s guess? He was educating the poor kid on the finer points of handling a woman’s ire.

Rene asked, “Will I see you guys at dinner?”

“I don’t know about E—”

“I’ll be there.”

“Not sure about us. Lacy and I are probably going to head back to my place before then.”

After Rene left, Ethan tossed his keys up in the air a couple of times and then stopped. “Are you good?”

“Yeah. There’s no need for you and T to tag team me. I’ll get my shit together. No worries.”

“Cool.” Ethan turned to leave and David went to sit back down at the desk, but then thought better of it. 

“Wait, I’ll walk you out. I need to find Lacy. Maybe we can get things rolling a little early.” He was tired of studying the bullshit legalese that Alistair packed into each contract. A little alone time with his girl in a tapas room was what he needed.

“Oh, is she back?”

The smile slid off his face and he stopped. E better be fucking with him. “Back from where?”

“Richard said she went out for a walk.”

“Lacy? Lacy went out?”

“That’s what he said. Are you all right?”

No, he wasn’t all right. And turns out, T was spot on when he’d said David would know when the timing was right. After this…this slap in the face of his asking her not go out, he knew for sure it was time he dealt with his main issue with her. Trust. He was fully prepared to step up to that spanking horse now. Very prepared. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

“I’m fine. I’ll go check with Richard and see if she’s returned. Send Colin my best, would you?”

“Sure.”

Of course Lacy hadn’t made it back yet, so David sat in the lobby waiting for her and when four o’clock came and went, he seethed. Four fifteen, he fumed. Four thirty, he was ready spank her right there and to hell with who watched. But then it was four forty-five and the sweat broke out on his skin. Terrible thoughts. Horrible thoughts started to surface. What if something happened to her? What if she were in trouble? What if she needed him and he wasn’t there?

His heart pounded and he wiped his sweat-drenched palms on his pants. He remembered this. The worrying. The not knowing. The fear of being left.

Before he changed his mind he got up and had just reached the front doors when he spotted her jogging through the gates. He thanked Andrew for opening the doors and didn’t break his stride as descended the steps and headed straight for her.

Chapter Twenty

Lacy sat in the passenger seat of the car for the whole ride back to David’s house in complete and utter silence. She didn’t even get the chance to explain to him why she’d been so late. That hadn’t been part of her plan, but he didn’t want to listen to how she got caught on the other side of that drawbridge. How with each minute that ticked by, as the sailboats with their extended masts went under the open portal, she worried. But then, there’d been no more boats and still the bridge didn’t come down. She was almost ready to swim to the other side when the engineer from town finally showed up and fixed it. Even though she’d run the whole way back to the resort once she crossed, it was too late. David had marched down the steps and gone right to her. He’d asked her if she was okay and when she said, yes, he’d nodded and told her no more talking. They were going home.

That had been nearly two hours ago. When it was light out. It wasn’t anymore, but the long drive was lit up and so was his house. She’d been dying to ask him about her things. Their things, because he’d packed too, but she didn’t. Couldn’t. There was an air of absolute authority that poured off him like waves of summer heat beating against the pavement.

Beating
. Yeah, that word had her sweating like she did on those hot summer days. She remembered Alex speaking to her about how Rene handled things with her when she’d shut him out of her life. How he’d put a crop to her butt and made her prepare herself for her own punishment. How he’d made her count off the strokes as they landed. Would David do that too? Wasn’t he more like Rene than Ted or Ethan? Didn’t they establish that this afternoon?

Was it only this afternoon? It felt as if days had gone by.

“Stay in the car until I come around and open the door for you.”

Well, that quietly uttered sentence made her feel like complete crap. It would have been better if he’d told her to get out. She watched him walk around the front of the car. So fucking handsome. So determined. So impossibly collected that a shiver of fear wound its way through her. Intensifying when he opened her door and offered her his hand.

She let him help her out of the car and when she was standing next to him, she spoke very softly. Almost pleading. “I’d like to explain why I was late.”

Oh god, he wouldn’t look at her. He stood there, looking over her head at some vantage point he
could
stomach, something other than her.

You knew this was going to happen. Just like it did before…

“Your explanation, when I ask for it, will start before you made the misstep of being late.”

When he looked down she wanted to wince. His gaze flayed her. How could a man be so mad, and yet so calm all at once. “Go inside. To your room. I’ll be up in thirty minutes. There will be a measure of discipline handed down as well as a punishment.”

She nodded and then took two steps before she stopped and turned around. “Can you tell me what kind of punishment I’m in for?”

“I could, but I won’t. Go.”

Lacy turned and rushed up the steps. The front door was unlocked and by the time she got inside and halfway up the next set of stairs she was lambasting herself. She should have known. She should have been prepared. The bad always happened. Even when it was premeditated and self-inflicted, it came at her worse. Why, why, why didn’t she ever remember this?

It all started right after her thirteenth birthday. She’d never forget that time in her life. Thirteen. She hated birthdays. She hated the bad. She hated herself right now. How could she have been so stupid? She walked too far today. There was no reason she needed to go over that bridge. She should have hid in the bushes and counted off the seconds until 4:00 to return. Her plan was to breeze in at 4:01 and let him scold her. And now look.

She went right into the bathroom and stripped off her clothes. She wasn’t going to mess around. She was going to shower, brush her teeth—she eyed the bathroom counter and swore. “Dammit.” Her bag with her tooth brush was at the resort. Wonderful.

Once she cranked on the water and got in under the spray she tried not to think about the bad, but right now she couldn’t help it. Images kept popping into her head. The time she took the short cut through Heldan Field to get to the school dance and wound up contracting poison ivy. Bad enough, but worse, she gave it to half of the eighth grade class. The time she was supposed to pick up her parent’s anniversary cake at the bakers, but forgot. Bad enough, but worse, her grandmother had gone to get it instead. Only on the way there she wound up getting into a car accident and spent the next seven weeks in the hospital. Then there was the day she had to tell her father all the money she’d made at her summer job and had planned to use as spending money for her first semester at college was gone. Bad enough, but worse, she had tell him the guy he never approved of stole it from her.

She knew why these things were haunting her now. It was bad enough she’d willing left the resort today after David had asked her not to, but worse, because she’d also made him wait by getting stuck on the other side of that bridge.

When she turned off the water and grabbed a towel to dry herself, she finally had to admit it. She’d kept the bad at bay for years now simply by not dialing in. Before it had been easy to skate though life, but not anymore.

Time to pay the piper.

 She used the towel to dry off the bits of hair that had gotten wet. She’d taken a shower this morning so she didn’t wash her hair tonight, but after her mile-long run back to the resort, she wanted to rinse off before she got spanked. What was he going to use? A crop, or a belt, or the paddle, or his hand? She knew what she was hoping it’d be.