TRUE CONTROL 4.2
TRUE SERIES
BY
WILLOW MADISON
©2015 WILLOW C MADISON
All rights reserved.
No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Madison, Willow
True Beginnings (True Series, Book Four . Two)
Cover Design by David Colon
This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in the book should be interpreted as the author’s advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.
Chapter 1 HIM
“Did you find her?” My brother is in the hallway before I can even open the door all the way.
I only shake my head at Jake. Too shocked, too numb to trust speaking right now. I feel hot tears in my throat, behind my eyes. I blink and try to breathe. This can’t be happening.
I hear Jeff talking behind me, but everything sounds far away right now. I move further into my living room, but don’t sit. Just look around. It was only a few hours ago I came home and found Lucy gone.
“I called a friend at the Missing Persons Unit. He’s going to come over. We found Lucy’s purse and cell phone in the garbage near her doctor’s office. He’s checking on this first.” Jeff fills in what little we do know.
“Can’t the police look for her now?!” Jake puts words to my own anger.
“She’s an adult. Unless there’s reason to believe something happened to her…” Jeff is frustrated too. I can tell he’s barely holding his own temper in check. I almost hit him when he told me we just have to wait here for his friend to show up. I blame myself for not having him drive Lucy this afternoon. If only…
“Obviously something happened…she wouldn’t just disappear like this!” My thoughts exactly. But on the ride back here, Jeff explained how the police operate when something like this happens. It’s going to take all my influence to get any sort of investigation going quickly.
“I called an investigator we use at the firm. I’m not waiting for the police to start looking for Lucy, Jake.” I pat him on his shoulder and move into the kitchen. He nods his head and takes a seat at the table. I come back with three glasses and a bottle of scotch. I don’t sit, but Jeff does.
We drink quietly, each staring at nothing.
I keep thinking about lunch today. The last time I saw Lucy. She wasn’t feeling well. I’d hoped it was morning sickness. We’ve only been trying a few months now, but it could’ve been.
Jake picks up the list of chores I left on the table for Lucy this morning. She didn’t get to many of them. I’d warned her when I left after lunch to get everything done before we had to leave for the concert tonight or she’d have a hard time sitting through it. I smile thinking of this. I wish I could go back in time…
Jake’s voice interrupts my thoughts, “She was having a hard time with this, ya know?”
I frown, “What?”
“With your lists. Your demands. She was having a hard time adjusting.” Jake puts the list back down and takes another sip.
I only stare in disbelief at him. Where does he get off telling me what Lucy thought about anything?! “What makes you say that?”
“She told me.” His jaw is set, but his eyes look…what? Guilty?
“She told you that? When?”
He takes a deep breath and puts his glass down. He sits back and faces me fully. “Today. This morning, when I saw her.”
I only blink for a second. Jeff reacts though, the ex-cop in him quick with questions. “You saw Lucy today? Where?”
Jake doesn’t take his eyes off of me, but he answers Jeff in a calm voice, “Here. Around 10:30.”
“You came here to see me?” I’m leaning against the wall now, just staring at my brother. He knows I wouldn’t have been here. He knows that our firm has a set office meeting every Friday. Dad doesn’t let anyone skip it.
“No. To see Lucy.” I’m not surprised by his answer. But I am pissed.
I move to stand over him. Jeff gets up and tries to stand between us a little. But Jake just stays in the same spot, with the same calm look and voice. “Why would you come here to see Lucy, Jake? What about?”
“I check up on her. See how she’s doing…”
I laugh, one harsh grunt really. “Why would you do that, little brother?”
Jake is still calm, but his jaw clenches again and he reaches for the scotch. His hand white, squeezing around the glass. A mirror to my own. “Because I care about Lucy. She’s my sister after all.” His grin almost gets him knocked out. Jeff grabs my arm as I twitch with the desire to hit him. I want to hit something in my anger and frustration. Sitting here, talking about Lucy, while she’s God knows where!
Jake pours more scotch for himself, no longer looking at me.
I shake Jeff’s hand off my arm and turn to sit on the sofa. He sits back down next to Jake, still between us though.
Jake speaks up again, “You may as well know, Max. I’ve been seeing Lucy every Friday…since that night we picked her up at that Italian place…” He knows he can speak freely in front of Jeff. But he’s not saying that was the night I beat Lucy pretty badly for letting another man touch her while she was out with her friends.
“So you’ve been coming to my house, to see my wife…for five fucking months, behind my back?!” I can’t believe what I’m hearing!
“Yes.”
I can see Jeff tense, ready to jump up if I do. I take a breath and a sip. I need to stay calm. Police may be knocking on the door any second. Hell, Lucy could come walking through the door any second. I’ll have plenty of time to sort out what all this means then.
I need to think through anything that I do right now. Punching my brother would not be a good move. But it would feel good. I grin at this thought.
Jake frowns at the change in my look. I sit back. “So what did you and Lucy do on your little visits?”
“Talked.”
“About what?”
“You mostly. Your marriage. Your demands.” He sounds angry again.
“I see…and you think…what? I was too hard on her and that’s why she’s gone?”
“Maybe.” He takes a big drink, glancing at Jeff. “I know you were too hard on her. Especially that night.”
“That’s not your call to make.” We’ve had this conversation before. He never said anything about talking to Lucy, but he’s tried to get me to ease up on her a few times.
“I saw her two days later, Max. She could hardly move. She couldn’t sit.” His voice rises with anger, but I don’t react.
“She got what she deserved.”
“She wouldn’t tell me what you did to her…wouldn’t let me see. But she didn’t deserve that!”
“Again…not your call, Jake. She’s my wife. My property.”
“Do you hear yourself?! She’s your wife…that doesn’t give you the right to hurt her like that.”
“Yes. It does.” I can tell that he wants to hit me. His hands keep clenching and unclenching on his knees. He thinks we’re so different. I know we’re not. “I saw how you looked at her that night, Jake. You think you would’ve done any different?”
It’s like I slapped him. “I…I wouldn’t have hurt her like that…”
“No? You looked pretty pissed off too…another man touching Lucy...” He tries to put his face back to neutral, bu
t I see that I’ve touched a nerve. “You think I haven’t noticed the way you look at her? The way you always find a reason to be near her? You think I’m stupid, little brother?” He only shakes his head. “You think you would’ve just gone home that night…and what? Had a nice chat with Lucy about her behavior? You would’ve only scolded her for acting like a whore?”
“She’s not a whore.”
“No. And she’ll never act like one again either.” This feels good. Talking about Lucy. My Lucy. I can almost imagine that she’s in the bedroom crying after a good beating for whatever she’s been up to today. “You would’ve done exactly the same as I did. You would’ve punished her.” He shakes his head again. “That night, you would’ve taken a belt to her too.” He still only shakes his head, but I see the doubt in his eyes. He wants to think he’s so far removed from how Dad raised us. That he’s not just like me, just like Dad. He is.
“You won’t be coming here again. You won’t be seeing Lucy alone ever again. You understand me?” He doesn’t answer. Just clenches his jaw. “Answer me, boy?”
He laughs. My same harsh grunt. “You’re not Dad, Max. I don’t have to do what you say.”
I jump up. Jake jumps up. Jeff jumps up. I’ve never been so close to hitting my brother. I can’t stop seeing red and wanting to hit him. “Go. Get out before I do something…I don’t want to do.”
I’ve always protected Jake. Watched over him as kids, took his beatings from Mom when I could. Tried to do the same with Ron in the beginning. I never imagined a time when I would be the one who wanted to hit him. I was wrong.
He interfered with my marriage. He messed up. And I can’t stand the sight of him in my home. Not now. With Lucy missing.
Chapter 1 HER
The floor is starting to hurt my butt. I think this is the…seventeenth time I’ve said this to myself in the last…glance at my watch…hour.
Oh God. It’s been hours since I left the house. Since I threw my phone and purse away. Where are you?! Please get home!
I’m in so much trouble. I’m in so much trouble. And that would be the hundredth time…thousandth time?...I’ve had that thought.
I messed up. And now I’m trapped. I haven’t cursed in so long. I take a deep breath and whisper to myself, “Shit.” That felt good. Wanna go for broke? “SHIT!” I giggle loudly.
“Lucy?!” Oh thank God!
“Jake?! I’m up here!” I wrap my hands around the multiple metal bands and shake the cage. I can hear him running up the stairs. He’s out of breath by the time he gets to the top floor. The look on his face is so funny, I giggle despite everything.
“What the hell are you doing here?!” He looks at the elevator doors and me like he doesn’t recognize either one.
“I came here to see you…to talk to you.” I pull my hands back from the bars. “I got stuck.”
“No shit. The elevator hasn’t worked for more than two seconds for the last month.” He tries to pull the cage door open but it won’t budge. The elevator made it almost to the top and then stopped about a foot too low. The door opened, but the old inner cage door wouldn’t.
“I know that now…”
“Try pressing the button up.”
I glare at him, “Tried that about five hundred times already. I’ve pressed every button.” But I grin. Now that he’s here, I feel better. Calmer. He’ll help me to figure out what to do just as soon as he gets me out of here. “The alarm doesn’t work either, by the way.”
He shakes his head. “Hang on. Let me see what I have that might work.” He walks away and opens the door to his apartment.
Jake bought this warehouse building a few months ago. He plans to make the two bottom floors his new architectural offices, rent the third floor and have the top floor as his new home. Eventually. Right now, the only floor somewhat useable is this top floor of semi-converted loft space. I was able to get in because I knew he used his birthday as the code for the door. I didn’t know that I’d be stuck in here all afternoon waiting for him.
Oh God. I’m in so much trouble.
He returns with a crowbar and a giant wrench looking thing. “Stand back.” I move to the corner. He shoves the crowbar into the small space between the cage and the edge of the elevator frame. Watching him strain and work, I’m reminded how much he looks like Max. Same gorgeous green eyes and strong muscles.
The metal groans, Jake groans, teeth gritting with effort. Finally, the cage door grinds and scrapes open a little, then springs open further. Jake almost falls back with the release of pressure on the crowbar. I jump up and out with Jake grabbing me in his arms.
“I can’t believe you’re here. You’re safe.” He doesn’t let go. I can feel his heart beating hard under his light jacket.
“Of course I’m safe, silly.”
His look changes quickly. The stern, angry look I’m used to seeing from Max. I’ve only seen this a few times on Jake. I shrink as his hands grip my arms tighter. He shakes me with each word, “What were you thinking?! Coming here?!”
“I needed to see you again…”
“Max is worried sick looking for you.” Oh God, please don’t remind me. His look darkens even more. “He has the police coming to your house right now, Lucy.”
“Oh, God.”
“Yeah…Oh, God, is right. Get in here.” He pulls me into his apartment and slams the door behind us. “Explain yourself.” How like Max he sounds!
I haven’t been in his apartment since the first weekend he moved in. He threw a small housewarming party for himself. I met his friends and staff. Max and I stayed to help him clean up. I smile remembering how drunk they both were, laughing like kids late into the night.
Looking around, he’s done a lot with the big open space since then. A lot of new furniture and walls. It’s almost a home now.
I turn to look at him and I’m shocked at how angry he looks. The Traeger men have a special look when they get angry. A deep, thoughtful, brooding frown. Eyes shaded, jaw clenched, shoulders rounded like cats ready to spring, whole body tense. I’ve only seen it on Jake once. I shudder the way I always do when I see Max this way.
“I said, explain yourself, girl.”
“You said this morning that you were coming home after lunch. To work on this place.” He only nods, look unchanged. “So...so I came here to see you.” I swallow. “I skipped my doctor’s appointment. I rang from downstairs, but figured either the buzzer didn’t work or you were up here making too much noise to hear me, so I let myself in.”
“You shouldn’t be here…” But he stops himself, running his long fingers through his dark waves. He breathes out heavily, but the look only softens a little. “I’m going to have to call Max.” He turns to get his cell phone out of his bag, on the counter where he left it.
“Wait! Please…”
He stops, but doesn’t turn around. “What happened today? With your purse and phone? Max said he found it in a garbage bin?” He finally does turn around again to look at me. I shudder once more at the anger I see.
Chapter 2 HIM
Jeff is still on the phone with his friend, Detective Killaney. He told me in between answering and asking questions that Killaney has bagged the purse and phone and will take it to the station before coming here. Good. It’s a start at least.
My investigator already said that the cab driver who dropped Lucy off near her doctor’s office didn’t have any information. Neither did the security guard at the front desk of the office building.
I walk into our bedroom. I’ve left everything just the way it was when I got home earlier. Jeff said not to touch anything unnecessarily. But I walk into the closet. No dry cleaning. Lucy didn’t even finish this chore. She probably intended to pick up my suit for tonight on her way home from the doctor.
Fuck. My Lucy. Lost. I can’t take this.
This feeling of helplessness. Powerlessness. I’ve never known this feeling.
Even when I was a kid and Mom was at her worst…I always felt li
ke I had some control over my life. I was a tough kid. I stayed because of Jake…hell, even because of Mom. She needed me, to take care of her. Until Ron came along.
He took care of all of us.
I pick up my cell and dial his number. Dad may be needed to get any investigation fast tracked. I’m sick waiting for him to pick up though. How do I tell the man who taught me everything I know about being a man, taking control, staying in control…that I’ve completely lost it?!
Fuck!
Chapter 2 HER
Uh oh. Max went downtown looking for me? I am in more trouble than I thought…“I threw it away.”
Jake blinks and raises his eyebrows with a grunted laugh. “Why would you do something so stupid?!”
I get defensive at this. “Because I know Max tracks my phone!”
“So what?”
“So he’d know that I came here…” Now who’s being stupid?!
He rubs his chin. A move I’ve seen him do whenever he’s thinking, but doesn’t want to say what. “Just say it.”
“What?” He frowns at me, his look still a blend of irritation and anger.
“You have something on your mind…just say it.”
He drops his hands, “What are you doing here, Lucy?”
I swallow. It was hours ago when I came to talk to him. I realized what a bad move it was after the first half hour stuck in the elevator. I’ve made a big mess today. And I can’t see any way out of it now.
I didn’t really think it through. I didn’t give myself a chance to think. I impulsively threw my purse and phone away right in front of Dr. Patel’s building. And then I walked quickly away. No cab. No bus. I walked to Jake’s. That was almost ten blocks. My feet were killing me in the little sandals I wore. My legs cold in the dress against the early spring wind.
And then getting here. No Jake. And an elevator that acted like a prison.
Yeah…pretty stupid.
I put my hands over my face and let out a little cry. I’m scared now.
Jake wraps me in his arms, holding my head and shoulders with his strong hands. He held me like this that first time he came to see me on that Friday…that seems like so long ago.
True Control 4.2: A Dark Romance (True Series Book 5) Page 1
