Page 48 of Stone
“Hank stepped in milk he spilled this morning and took it off. I picked it up and put it in my pocket because you never know when someone needs to be kept quiet,” Cannon said, grinning.
“I appreciate that suggestion. Let’s take this to Jared’s bedroom,” Stone decided, grabbing Jared’s arm to drag him out of the chair and push him toward the stairs. Naomi had described how Jared made her stand when he corrected her.
Once they were in the bedroom, Stone stopped.
“Take off your pants,” Stone commanded.
Jared shook his head, reaching to grab the sock out of his mouth.
“Leave it, or I’ll put something else in there that’s worse,” Stone warned.
When Jared didn’t move fast enough, Locks brought over scissors to cut Jared’s pants off.
“Underwear too?” Locks offered, snapping the scissors.
“No, I definitely have already seen too much of this guy. I don’t want to see any more wrinkly ball sacks,” Stone groaned.
Once his pants were off, Stone pushed him toward the bed.
“Assume the position you demanded Naomi be in—now!”
Jared turned toward the bed, leaning to put his palms on it, his butt in the air. His thighs were perfectly placed for Stone to use the switch.
Stone took the switch and let all the anger he’d felt at what Naomi went through bubble up and fuel his swings. He kept enough control to give him the same straight stripes Jared had given Naomi. When he was done, he handed it to Locks.
“Your turn,” Stone breathed, stepping aside to wipe the sweat from his brow.
His phone beeped, and he glanced at his messages. The girls were shopping in Wichita and asking about buying stuff for the house. He should have thought to send them with his credit card. He told them to buy whatever they wanted, and he’d reimburse them, including if they had furniture they wanted.
Stone looked back over at Jared. Locks had stopped. Jared’s thighs were bright red from all the strikes of the switch. Some of the strikes were hard enough to break the skin. As far as Stone was concerned, this still wasn’t enough for everything Jared had done to Naomi, but it was what they were doing today.
Stone walked close as Locks and Cannon made Jared turn around and sit on the bed. Jared whined through his tears at the pain of sitting.
“Now, listen carefully. You don’t ever tell anyone this was us because if you do, I’ll be back, and so will a lot more of my friends. If I have to come back because you’ve bothered Naomi or the girls or tried to get any of us in trouble, then understand that only one of us will be leaving this house alive. Do you understand?” Stone lowered his voice to a deadly whisper.
Jared nodded.
“Are you going to keep your mouth shut?” Stone demanded.
“Yes, just please let me live,” Jared pleaded.
Stone nodded, “I will, for now. Don’t make me regret being lenient.”
At Jared’s nod, Stone made his way downstairs and out to the SUV with Locks and Cannon. Once Locks had them on the road out of town, Stone couldn’t keep quiet.
“Thank you for having my back,” Stone shared, looking between his brothers.
“It’s what brotherhood’s all about,” Cannon affirmed.
“You’re welcome. Thank you for letting me get a little payback for my niece. Now, we need to figure out something fitting for my brother,” Locks reminded them.
Stone didn’t want to have to think about that right now. He wanted to get home so when Naomi and the girls returned, he could wrap them in his arms and know they were safe and his.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Naomi stood in front of the mirror, checking her makeup one more time. She wanted today to be perfect. Regan, Beck, and Taylor were in the dresses they’d picked to complement her white pantsuit. Regan was in a blue dress, Beck was in pale yellow, and Taylor was in lilac. She’d let the girls pick the flowers, and they’d chosen daisies.
Naomi still couldn’t believe that Stone was able to get Jared to sign his rights away. As part of their wedding ceremony, Stone was pledging to her girls, too. They were waiting for Jared’s parental rights to be severed, and then they’d complete the steps for Stone to adopt the girls.
