She sat with her arms crossed in front of her chest, fuming all the way to Treepoint. Shade could put up with her anger, though. At least she wasn’t being as lifeless as a fucking doll.
When he came to a stop in front of her house, Lily’s hand immediately flew to the door handle. Sliding out of the truck, she gave him a hateful glance.
“Enjoy your Friday night!” Slamming the door, she walked toward the house, her ass bouncing angrily up the walkway.
Shade jerked the truck door open and quietly came up behind the furious woman. When she unlocked the door, he propelled her forward with a hand on her arm before shutting the door behind them.
“What are you doing?” Lily tried to jerk away from him, dropping her backpack on the floor.
“Doing something I’ve warned you repeatedly about,” Shade said grimly, jerking her to the couch where he took a seat then yanked her over his lap.
“What?”
Shade firmly smacked her ass.
She tried to throw herself off his lap, but he placed a hand on her back, preventing her from getting away from her punishment. Then she kicked her legs, which earned her another smack across her bottom and caused her dress to slide up her thighs.
“You can’t do this!” Lily screamed at him.
“Watch me.”
His hand swatted her butt several more times until Lily stopped struggling and lay limply across his thighs, defeated. When he was done, he lifted her to sit next to him on the couch, gripping her jaw in his hand.
“Do not ever talk to me that way again. Do not slam doors to show your anger and throw me a fucking look like the one you did, or I will smack your ass with no dress and panties in the way. Do you understand me?” he demanded firmly.
Lily tried to turn her face away, her lashes hiding her eyes. “I understand.”
“How do you fucking address me?”
“I understand, Sir.”
As his hand released her jaw, Shade got to his feet, going out the door without another word. He wasn’t angry with her, but he wasn’t going to allow her to treat him disrespectfully, either. She could be as angry as she wanted, hit him, or throw something at him, but to be deliberately hateful when he knew she didn’t have it in her was another matter.
He climbed back into the truck, wanting to go back inside and hold her. It didn’t sit well with him to punish her and then not stay. However, Lily needed to return to normalcy, and she wouldn’t be able to do that with him there.
Sighing, he pulled out of the driveway then went to the club for the first time in two weeks. It was a Friday night, and the members were probably already partying. The last thing he wanted to see when he walked in the door was the brothers getting laid and drunk, the very thing which had caused his mess in the first place.
“Fucking fantastic.”
Chapter 48
Shade irritably answered his cell phone. “Yeah?”
“Where are you?” He recognized that particular tone in Lucky’s voice.
“I’m at the factory, getting caught up with paperwork. Why?”
“Someone just tried to deliberately run Lily down with a car.”
“Where?” he asked sharply.
“On the main road. She was crossing to get to her street, and it was parked in front of the hardware store. It sped out, only missing her by a few inches.”
Shade was already locking the door to the factory. Once it was secure, he strode toward his bike. “You don’t know who it was?”
“Never seen the car before, and the license plate had tape covering it.”
“Shit.” Shade started the motor.
“Where’s she at now?”
“Home. I watched her go inside. Shade, I don’t like the vibe I’m getting,” Lucky warned.
“Understood.”
No one had better instincts than Lucky. If he said it wasn’t an accident, Shade believed him. Who could possibly want to hurt her, though?
A few minutes later, he looked around the area where Lucky had said he had seen the car parked. He walked to the hardware store and seeing the emergency number on the glass in front, Shade called the owner, checking to see if he had seen anything. Whoever had been in the car hadn’t taken into account that, in small towns, people looked for things to talk about. The car hadn’t gone unnoticed; he had a description.
He decided to check on Lily before going to have a talk with Knox. He rode his bike the short distance to her house, looking up and down the street for anyone who could be keeping watch from the front. He would check the back before he left. When he didn’t see any signs, Shade knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
“Shade.”
She flung the door open. “Next time, come to the front door first. You scared me half to death.”
“What are you talking about?” Shade asked, coming through the doorway.
“Weren’t you just at the back door?”
Someone had tried to break in when she was awake. Whoever it was, they weren’t afraid, and the chilling thought made him angry. They weren’t out to hurt or frighten Lily; they were out to kill her.