Broken Vows (Domestic Discipline Romance) (3 page)

Jenny swallowed as a ripple of fear washed over her. She knew he meant it. Josh would never abandon his children as his mother had done to him. He would not leave them. He would fight for them. She knew him and had always admired his commitment to their children. She gazed into his eyes where she saw dread and fear. He expected her to choose her mother over him, but she wouldn't. No, she would not!

"Where will we go and how will we live?"

Josh stepped over, drew her into his arms, and held onto her tightly. They were both shaking. "I don't know yet, but we will survive, if we stick together. I know we can."

* * *

Josh received several threatening calls from Mr. Pugh and his attorney. They claimed his designs and drawings belonged to the company, while at the same time belatedly offering to pay him the standard fee for them. He guessed their lawyer had pulled his credit record and thought he could bully Josh. He knew many things could intimidate him, but them screwing him out of his work was not one.

He was through with Pugh and Barkley Design. He was through with people pushing him around. If he landed in court, at least he had two brothers, two sisters-in-law, and a father who were attorneys.

Josh knew he could settle their financial problems with a single phone call to his father. He was not willing to take that step yet, though. Circumstances had battered his pride to the point where he did not think he had much pride left. Still, he was not willing to take the final humiliating step.

He was playing a game of
Mermaid
with Emmie, finding all the lost treasures on the computer screen. It hurt him every time she looked at him with her large trusting eyes and smiled, yet she would not speak. She had Jenny's blue eyes, beautiful and now haunting.

The knock on the outside door to the garage office surprised him. Very few people knew he was living in his office. He and Jenny had agreed not to spread the word about their difficulties. He put Emmie down in his chair and answered the door to an old friend.

"Brice! I haven't heard from you in a while! Come in, have a seat. Hold on a second." He bent down and kissed Emmie on the forehead. "Honey, we can finish the game later. Go play with Mommy or Adam, I will come down later after I talk to my friend."

While Emmie left through the connecting door to the house, Josh went over to his old college friend and pulled him into a manly hug. "What brings you to Connecticut?"

"Business, I was already in the area so I thought I would look in on you," Brice Haroldson answered. "We are going to do it. After all these years, we are doing it. Bill Gabriel, Matt Johnson, and me, we have decided to open a firm together. You were in on our plans back in college, so we decided we couldn't leave you out even if you are an Easterner."

Josh shook his head and laughed. "Did you fight it out on where this mythical business would be located or did you flip a coin? My vote never counted much against the three of you. Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, who won?"

"None of them, we decided on Montrose, Colorado. The location is close to all the ski areas and is where the big money is located. Everyone wants a mansion overlooking a mountain lake and close to the slopes. It will probably take us another six months to jumpstart into a real business, but we wanted you in on the ground floor if you are interested. By next spring, we should be taking on clients."

They talked business, old friends, and college days. Josh admitted he did not have the funds needed to invest in a start-up business. Brice didn't push it. He did look disappointed and promised to send Josh their business plan, in case Josh changed his mind. Brice admitted all three of them were going into debt to make their dream happen. They were on a
do or die
mission and were going for it. Several hours later, Brice said he had to leave if he was to catch his plane. Josh took him into the house to see Jenny and the kids for a few minutes before he left.

"What a blast from the past," Jenny said smiling. "They seem to be doing well and are successful."

"Thanks for reminding me I am a failure," Josh said bitterly.

"I didn't mean it like that," Jenny exclaimed, but her husband was already going upstairs to return to his office.

Josh came back when it was Emmie's bedtime, read her a story, played with Adam, and apologized to Jen.

"I was snarky earlier and I am sorry. I didn't mean to take my bad mood out on you."

"It has been a couple of weeks. I'm worried. Mom knows."

Josh closed his eyes. "Jenny!"

"I swear I did not tell her," Jenny protested. "It's going around the country club that Mr. Pugh is suing you. She was asking questions today. I told her it was our business, not hers. You can imagine how well that went over."

"Do not tell her anything!" Josh warned.

"I promised I wouldn't and I won't." Josh gave her a steady look until she had to turn away. She had broken promises to him before.

"I still have some freelance work," Josh said. "My final paycheck came today. Were there any bills in the mail?"

Jenny shook her head no, but her eyes widened in concern. Her husband did not go to the stairs as she had expected, but instead went over to a small desk and pulled open several drawers.

"What are you looking for," she asked.

"Pens, every pen I pick up is out of ink or…" Josh's words trailed off as he removed envelopes from a drawer. He gave her a furious look, slid the flaps open, and took out the statements.

"God damn it, Jen!" he exploded.

"I…."

"Damn it to hell! I paid these cards off only two months ago. I sold my watch, the Rolex I won in the Skyline Architecture Competition. I paid off these damn credit cards and canceled them!" Suddenly, Josh turned and stalked into the kitchen where he grabbed her purse and took out her wallet.

"You don't have a right…"

"Fuck my rights," Josh snarled as he pulled out credit cards and systematically removed every plastic card from her wallet and threw them down on the kitchen counter. "You went behind my back and ordered new cards!"

"I needed them," Jenny snapped.

Josh snatched the credit card statement and read it. "You needed something you couldn't live without from
Bloomingdales
? You needed something from
Macy's
, and
Bed, Bath and Beyond
and a half a dozen other places. This house is full of stuff we don't need or use. How much of this crap is in your mother's house?" He yanked a pair of kitchen shears from a drawer and began cutting up all her cards.

"Not that one, it's the ATM card!" Jenny protested.

With several slices, the ATM card was also shredded. "You will never need any of these again," Josh yelled. "I am selling off everything I own of value in an attempt to pay our bills, and my wife is going behind my back racking up more charges. As of right now, you are out of the buying business. It is strictly cash and carry. It is pretty damn sad when I can't trust my wife!"

"I'm sorry," Jenny cried. "Mom needed…"

Josh's arm swept across the counter sending the ragged cut pieces of plastic flying across the floor. "Your mother's
quarterly
allowance is twice what our family of four has been living on for the past year! If that narcissistic bitch can't live within her means, to hell with her. God damn it, Jenny, you are not that stupid!"

"What am I supposed to do?" Jenny exclaimed. "She's my mother!"

Josh's eyes were furious and dangerous. "I am your husband and I am telling you, I will not put up with any more of this. No more deceit, Jenny! What I want to do is blister your damn ass!"

Josh stormed up the stairs and she heard the door to his office slam.

* * *

Jenny swept up the pieces of plastic, put her wallet back together, and tucked it away in her purse. She knew she had been in the wrong, but she was so tired of the constant battle between pleasing her husband or her mother.

She tried to read, to watch television, but her eyes kept straying to the top of the stairs and trailing off in the direction of his office. She would rather have yelling than silence from Josh. She was glad their children were asleep. Once asleep, they rarely woke during the night.

She finally gave up the pretense and went to their bedroom… her room now. It was too large for two people, now with only one person, it felt cavernous and solitary. The room, like the bed, was too large and too empty. She understood Josh's dislike for the bed. He was a man who liked to touch and hold her close. In the early days of marriage, they had shared a single bed without complaint. In the last few years, the vast, empty expanse of bed became a daily reminder they were drifting apart and failing. He stayed on his side. She stayed on hers.

* * *

Josh furiously tossed the credit card bills on his desk. Something had to give. He was almost at his breaking point and he could not reach Jen anymore. She didn't hear him, couldn't seem to hear anyone beyond the voice of her bitch of a mother. He fumed, and he paced, and at last he came to a decision. He decided enough was enough.

Jenny was curled in a ball, too upset to do anything except wallow in her misery. Suddenly, the bedroom door opened and Josh stood there. He closed the door and flipped on the stereo to loud music. "What?"

"I changed my mind," Josh said tightly, picking up a hairbrush as he walked past the dresser.

Her eyes widened and she was halfway across the king-sized bed before he caught her foot. He dragged her back and tossed her over his lap. He pulled down her panties and smacked the brush hard across her bottom.

"Josh! We don't do this anymore!" Jenny wailed, trying to squirm off his lap.

"Yes we do," he growled. "Love, respect, and
obedience
. You agreed to those vows, and you agreed to this. Hands on the floor!"

Jenny resisted his command, so he applied the hard wooden surface on her backside in several breath-taking wallops.

"Hands on the floor or I do the entire spanking with the brush," Josh warned, backing up his threat with several more punishing smacks.

Jenny flattened her palms against the carpet burying her face and tears in a thick pillow he dropped on the floor. It had been a long, long time since Josh had spanked her this hard. It had been way back when they were first setting up the rules of their marriage that had to be followed.

Josh placed the hairbrush on the bed and went to work with his hand. Those smacks were not much easier to endure. He knew exactly what he was doing. This moment had been building for months, maybe years. Jenny had earned this spanking.

Maybe she had forgotten the foundation they had set for their marriage, but he had not. They had begun their marriage based on honesty. She had not been an honest person when he first met her. However, she soon learned honesty exactly this way, over his knee. If she had forgotten how he felt about lies and deception, he was going to remind her and reteach those lessons.

He was not walking away from his family, his children, and his beliefs without a fight. He was taking back his family.

Jenny was now sobbing into the pillow.

When her entire bottom was a flaming red, he picked up the brush again.

"Are you listening to me?" Josh demanded. He saw her nod her head. "This is our reality, Jen. I am the Head of this House. I will not take any more. No more lies. No more deceit. If it takes discipline to make you understand, I will provide it. This additional punishment is for the damage you have caused by lying to me."

He deliberately landed several hard, stinging smacks to the underside of her buttocks, exactly on her sit spots. She would feel this for the rest of the night. She would feel it in the morning when she tried to sit.

He gave her one final whack, her entire bottom was flaming red and she was sobbing uncontrollably. Her tears were hard to ignore, but they would not deter him. Not this time! He pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she swayed against him, powerless to fight anymore. Then, he let her go. This was another rule they had established a long time ago. Discipline could not be followed by sex. There had to be a cooling off period.

"No more, Jenny," Josh said firmly. "We do things my way now."

* * *

More threatening phone calls came in the next week from Pugh's attorney. Josh expected a court summons any time.

He and Jenny were walking on eggshells around each other. She was still angry because he had spanked her. He also had closed out their joint checking account. Which action had upset Jen more, Josh didn't know or care. He opened a new bank account in his name only. Maybe it was wrong, but he knew of no other course of action to keep her from spending what they didn't have. They were running out of money fast, his freelancing and side jobs wouldn't begin to pay for the overpriced mortgage they had hanging over them.

Josh was buried in bills, most of them not of his making. At least half were a result of his mother-in-law and her influence over his wife. He was balancing, rebalancing, and trying to figure a way through the mess. When there was a knock on the inside door, he expected Jenny. He did not expect to see her leading his father into his office.