Broken Vows (Domestic Discipline Romance)

by Mariella Starr

  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 ea
sier 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.

  "Dad," Josh jumped to his feet to hug his father.

  "I'll see you later, Henry," Jenny said, closing the door.

  "What are you doing here?" Josh asked. "You never leave Washington when Congress is in session."

  "Sit down, son!" Henry Grayson said gruffly, motioning to the two chairs in front of Josh's desk.

  Josh recognized his father's tone of voice. Despite being thirty-three, disobeying it was not an option.

  "I got a phone call from Denise Marsden a couple days ago. I don't mind telling you, son, I never liked that woman, not one bit. I also don't like it when my son hides things from me and it takes someone like her to tell me he is in trouble!"

  "Dad," Josh interrupted.

  "Don't Dad me," Henry bellowed. "I already know. I am a man of power and influence, son. If you don't think I can pick up the phone and find out what is going on, you don't know me very well. I want to know how you let your finances get this much out of control. After that, I want to know how in the hell you lost your position of authority in your home and marriage! I raised you to be the man in your household!"

  "I'm handling it."

  "Not very well, son." Henry lowered his voice and put his hand on his son's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Now, start talking and explaining."

  "Dad, this has nothing to do with you," Josh protested.

  Henry Grayson reared up in his chair. "Since when doesn't a father have a right to know? You are wrong son. What affects one of us, affects all of us. If your momma finds out what is happening, she will blame me for not keeping better tabs on you. You and I know that woman can make my life a misery! So open your mouth and start spewing."

  Josh spilled it all. "I'm a failure, Dad. I never thought it could happen to me. I was the one who landed on his feet, no matter what."

  "You are not a failure," Henry Grayson denied. "None of my children are failures! Your only failings were not asking for help when you needed it. Cross those college loans off your list and give me the paperwork. I put every one of my children through college except you, only because you would not take the money from me. That was a failure of mine, for not kicking you in the ass and making you take the money. You not managing your marriage caused the rest. The ultimate responsibility lands squarely on you and Jenny, but mostly on you. It's a husband's job to be the head of his household. I admit this mess with our current economy has not helped, either.

  "The first thing to do is destroy every damn one of your credit cards. God knows how much of your mother-in-law's closet is filled with expensive junk you are paying for."

  "There is a lot of truth to your suspicions," Josh admitted. "I have already destroyed the cards."

  "You need a new start, son," Henry said firmly. He handed over an envelope and pointed a meaningful finger at Josh in warning. "Do not get that prideful look in your eye! You are taking this and I will not listen to any backtalk. I helped all my children get a start in life, except for one prideful son… you. Tyrell and Hank, Jr. did not start those fancy law firms without my help. Vanessa did not get through fourteen years of medical school, residencies, and fellowships without my financial assistance. I am proud of all my children, including you."

  "I know you see yourself as different from the rest of the family, son. Hell, you would be colorblind if you didn't. Being different and being separate, though, are two different things. Social services were a bit desperate when they put you in our home as a foster kid. Putting a white boy in a black family was highly unusual in those days, it still may be. I don't know. They only meant it as emergency housing until they could come up with a permanent placement with what they called a suitable family. All I know, son, is it was not a mistake. Your Momma took one look at you and told me, 'Henry, this child needs us,' and that was that. We took you in and fought social services to keep you. We fought with you, disciplined you and learned to love you, despite you being a hardhead. You are our son, the same as the others. We take pride in pointing at you and saying, 'There goes our son.'

  Henry grinned. "It also tickles us, because we like to shake people up and give them something to think about.

  "You don't have to worry about this business with Pugh and Barkley, either. I already have Tyrell looking into it. Since he reviewed your contract before you signed it, there should be no problem, except maybe for them. We are a family, son, and we are here for you. Straighten out all this financial business and be done with it. Start over with a clean slate. More important, set your marriage straight. I want you to get back to basics. A man cannot be a man if he is not the head of his home and family.

  "One more thing, I won't tell your momma about this business. There is no sense in getting her stirred up. We can tell her later after it is all over and only a bad memory. Now, put the envelope on the desk and worry about it later. I want to play with my grandbabies."

  Chapter 2

  Henry Grayson played with his grandchildren. The Congressman rolled on the floor with his baby grandson, cradled his granddaughter on his lap and read her one story, and then another, and another. Emmie loved hearing her grandfather's loud booming voice.

  Later, after Emmie fell asleep, Henry talked to his son and daughter-in-law about the diagnoses they were getting from the psychologist about why Emmie had stopped talking.

  "You keep at it, she will start t
alking when she is ready," Henry said with concern and love in his voice. "Vanessa is already researching it because it's what she does when she is worried. If you don't start seeing an improvement, we'll bring in the big gun doctors. Remember, son, don't tell your mother I was here. She thinks I am having a good time at a Congressional roast tonight.

  "There are a few in Congress who I would like to roast, but it would be over a barbecue spit, not a fancy party. This little matter is between us. You stay in touch now. Send me those college loan papers, as in tomorrow. If I have to ask for them again, you'll have an ass kicking coming your way. It's the least I can do. Jenny, you treat this boy of mine right. If he is not treating you right, you call me, I will set him straight!"

  They watched Josh's father walk out to a long black limousine, only then realizing his driver had been waiting for him the entire time.

  "Why does your father act as if Camilla were some kind of shrew? Your mother is the sweetest woman I know," Jenny asked.

  "It's his way of not telling her about unpleasant business," Josh explained with a smile. "Momma probably already knows. She has her own way of staying on top of things."

  "Is he paying off your college loans?"

  "Mine and yours. He said that combined, they don't come close to what he spent on each of his other children. Dad has this thing about treating his kids equally. He also gave me a check to straighten out our finances, I don't know how much, yet. That is typical of him too. He didn't want me to know until after he left."

  "Paying off our college loans will be a tremendous help," Jenny said. "Josh, I have been thinking an awful lot about the mess we are in, and how much of it is my fault. I swear I will cut back on expenses and return to living on a budget. We did it before when we were saving for the down payment."

  "We didn't have a choice before. Actually, we don't have a choice now. It is going to be tight and will probably get worse for a while. You also didn't have to deal with your mother before."

  "I have to learn to deal with her now," Jenny promised. "We should sell this house and pay off the bills as quickly as possible. More important, we need to pay my mother back and break the hold she has on us. If I have to go back to work, I will. I don't like who I have become in the last several years."