Page 18 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

“I’ll take the truck and scour the road back to the station,” Kaden said, grabbing the keys from the kitchen table. “Keith, take a team and check the south perimeter, Kevin, you do the north. Whoever finds her first, give me a call immediately.”

“Her luggage is still in the room, Kaden. Are you sure she didn’t just go for a walk?”

“Did anyone see her leave the house, Keith?” he countered angrily.

“No. Sue was fetching eggs from the chicken shed, so there was no one in the house for a while,” Kevin said, his eyes scanning the area near the barn.

“I explicitly told her not to leave the house. She’s not here, anywhere in the yard, or in the barn. I told you about the life-threatening mess she’s in. We have to find her. Let’s go.”

“Oomph!” Sage’s gasp married with his grunt when he stomped out of the door and walked right into her as she came jogging around the corner. “Oww!” she moaned as she landed hard on her buttocks. Before Kaden could react, she was back on her feet, furiously brushing the grass off her jeans. Eyes flashing, she stormed past him into the house. “Next time, watch where the hell you’re going. I thought you’re supposed to protect me, not break my damn coccyx!”

Her furious stride toward the stairs was cut short by a raging bull when all of a sudden Kaden barred the way. Anger seethed from him.

“Where have you been?”

“I went for a run. I had to get rid of some pent-up energy.”

“You went—” He exhaled slowly in an attempt to calm his anger,— “For a run?”

“Yes, you know, the age old lifting your knees and moving forward, faster and faster until you’re actually… running,” she whispered the last word as she looked around dramatically. “Oh, shoot. Is that a banned word around here?”

“Oh, she is really asking for it,” Keith snickered from behind.

“No, little brother, she’s actually begging for it,” Kevin interjected. The two of them were leaning against the door watching their brother face off against the redheaded spitfire.

“I remember very clearly instructing you not to leave the house, not even to walk in the garden without telling me. Do you at all remember me saying something to that effect?” Kaden ignored the goading of his brothers and returned to glare at the source of his anger. He had always shown a mastery of emotional control but the fear that had swamped his mind when he went looking and then not immediately finding her, burned white hot inside him. In that brief moment of panic, what struck home was that she might in fact be the woman who could and surely would become what Anna once was. Not only as his Babygirl but in his heart. He didn’t know her, not yet, but in a very short period of time, she had triggered the Daddy inside him. For the first time in eight years, he found a woman he wished to cherish, to be her unyielding, unmovable anchor in any storm she faced in life.

It was an unexpected revelation but one he embraced. He was forty-five, and the yearning to love and be loved had intensified over the past few years. A wife and kids—that was what he needed in his life. It hadn’t been meant to be with Anna, and because she had been the one for him, he had kept his heart locked off from any other possibilities.

That this little brat managed to undermine the walls around his heart, shook him to the core. Unfortunately, for her, it also unleashed the fierce protector in him.

“I remember but come on, Kaden.” Sage looked around at faces staring back at her. “We’re in the back of beyond out here—all of us warriors with years of combat experience.” She turned back to face Kaden. “So, what's the big deal?”

“The big deal, Miss Lewis,—” he said, with a firm voice,—“is that out there in the bush, you’re an easy target. You walk around with a bright red one on your back, or did you perhaps conveniently forget about that too?”

“No, but no one knows I’m here.”

“How can you be so certain of that? You don’t even know who in the Bureau is in bed with the Congressman and whoever the hell else is involved. Anyone out there could be your enemy at this point, Sage. Do you hear me?”

“Loud and clear!” She took a step back. “Now you listen to me. I’m not a child and refuse to be treated like one. If you’re so bent on keeping me safe, assign me a damn bodyguard. Other than that, one thing I will not do is hide in fear inside this house 24/7. Do you understand me?”

“Done. From now on, you will be guarded around the clock. But hear me well, Sage. If you deliberately evade your guards, you will regret your impulsive behavior.” A low grunt preempted a lengthy protest ready to explode from her lips. “For now, because you deliberately ignored my instructions, you will take some time to examine your childish performance.”

“Sure. No problem. Hey,” she protested as he guided her past the kitchen table that set her mouth watering at the savory aromas filling the room. “I thought it was lunch time,”

“It is for us. But because you decided to play the petulant Babygirl, it’ll be corner time.”

“Corner time?” Sage snickered at the vision coming to her mind. His darkening eyes warned her to tread carefully. The smile froze on her lips. “You can’t be serious.”

“I never joke about punishment, Sage. The sooner you realize that the better.”

“I am not going to stand in the corner like some delinquent teenager!” Sage retreated cautiously from the angry bull in front of her. Daddy or not, standing in the corner was just ridiculous.

“You ignored an instruction; one very specific to ensuring your safety. I can’t protect you and care for you if you decide to say, fuck it, and go run off to God-knows-where. So, because you did do exactly that, you will suffer the consequences.”

“My uncle asked you to protect me. You don’t need to care for me. I’m not a little girl.”

“You’re wrong, Babygirl. It’s a package deal and your uncle has nothing to do with it. You’re now my responsibility to protect, care for, and keep safe.”

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