Page 5 of His Dark Discipline

“What is it?” I ask.

“It’s Lily,” she replies. Again, my chest goes tight.

“What about Lily?”

“She needs your help, Damon. There’s this boy—”

“A boy!?” I roar. “What boy? Lily is seeing boys now?”

Tormenting images fill my mind, and I clench my fist into a ball, my nails digging into the scar on my palm.

“She’s eighteen, Damon. What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to control her!” I snap. “You’re her mother!”

“Me control an eighteen-year-old boy?” Marla laughs. “Ever since you left she’s been up to all kinds of things!”

My blood is boiling as I try to ignore the implications of what she’s saying.

Boys. Their grubby little hands all over my angel. None of them deserve her.

“Tell me about this boy,” I growl.

The drive back to my old house is a drive I swore I would never make.

Stay away from her…

Those were the words I began reciting the night I left the house. Her purity…I had to preserve it. Being around her…I would only rub off on her. My demons would become hers. My toxins would seep into her, corrupt her. My sins would haunt her.

I had to leave.

But after what Marla told me on the phone, I have to go back.

Apparently since my departure, Lily has been going on dating apps and talking to boys. She even went out with some of them, and I can’t stop thinking about what may happen. The thought of some other male being her first almost makes me nauseous.

According to Marla, nothing has happened. Yet.

But one boy, Thatcher, has been coming by the house late at night. Marla caught him trying to sneak in the back and tossed him out on his ass. The son of a bitch is lucky I no longer live there.

Marla doesn’t like him, and I trust her judgment. If she says he’s a bad guy; he’s a bad guy. And I’m on my way over there now to make sure he never goes near my angel again.

Pulling up to the old house is like stepping back in time. The last six months have felt like six years to me. Being away from Lily has been torture, and no matter what happens tonight, I can’t let myself see her. Last time I did, I lost all control. And I can’t allow that to happen again.

I see the bastard’s car – a red Mustang that his parents bought him – parked in the shadows up the street. Thinks he’s being slick but has no idea I have security cameras down there too.

I can see him…spiked blond hair and a pink Polo shirt like it’s fifteen years ago. Little fucker has no idea who’s watching him right now.

I could go down there right now and break his face. Tell him to stay the hell away from Lily. But I don’t. Instead, I watch him like a wolf among the shadows. He has his phone out. Texting. Is it Lily? Or just another girl he’s working on?

What is she thinking? This is what happens when a girl doesn’t have a strong man in her life. Her real father was a deadbeat. Marla left him when Lily was 11 and didn’t have another husband until I came along. And now I’m not there for her either.

I can’t be. The consequences are just too great.

The little prick gets out of his car, grinning like he just won the lottery, and stuffs his phone into his pocket.

Are there nudes on there? If Lily was sexting him…

I get out of my car, close my door quietly behind me, and follow him onto my property.

---