“Read it to us.” Colt’s voice is as hard as his gaze. “I want to know exactly what she said.”
Gunther does as he’s asked, reading the email verbatim. And with every word, the knot in my stomach tightens even further.
“So, what do you boys want me to do? I can keep the email locked down for sure so the assistant never sees it. But your girl might get suspicious if she doesn’t get a response.”
“True.” Frowning thoughtfully, Colt leans back in his chair. “So I vote we give her what she wants. Spoof the assistant’s email, have ‘Vanessa’ assure her she’s sending the troops but it will take her a few days to organize. Bram?”
“Yeah. The longer we can drag this out, the better. I want to give her plenty of opportunities to change her mind before I decide on her punishment.”
A grunt of agreement comes through the phone speaker. “You got it. I’ll get to work on that email for her now.”
“Thanks, Gunther.” Ending the call, Colt looks up at me again. “What are you going to do?”
“Nothing, at least for right now. I need some time to think. Cool off a bit.” Get some of this rage and hurt out of my system before I decide how to handle my naughty babygirl.
“Yeah, I get that. You want to punish her, not break her.”
“Exactly.”
Colt nods slowly. “We’re going to have to tell the others.”
“Fuck.” Raking a hand through my hair, I try to think past the fury churning in my stomach. “Let’s give her a few days to come clean, first. There’s no actual danger here, and I want to give her a chance to do the right thing before we have to tell them.”
“They’re going to be pissed.”
“Then let them be fucking pissed. I’ll deal with it.” With those thoughts running through my mind, I push up out of my chair.
“Where are you going?”
“Outside to see if Dane needs help with anything. Need to work off some of this anger.”
“Got it. Want me to keep an eye on Josie?”
“Yeah. Oh, and make sure she drinks at least one more bottle of water. She hasn’t peed since this morning.”
“Will do.”
“Thanks, Colt.”
Trusting him to take care of my babygirl, I head outside in search of our middle brother. Dane’s more than happy for the help, and for a while we work side by side, hauling and splitting the wood we’ll need when another inevitable cold snap comes through, and to take into town to sell for that same purpose. The physical labor helps to drain the anger, and I’m soon left with nothing but the hurt.
It’s not that I didn’t expect there to be some bumps along the way, especially since I did basically kidnap her and hold her hostage here. But I thought we were building something. I thought, underneath it all, she was starting to realize shewantedto be here with me. To be where she belongs.
Instead, she’s prepared to have not just me, but my entire family thrown in prison.
Lifting my ax, I slam it down into a piece of wood that gives with a loudcrack, splitting clean in two. A loud gasp draws my attention to the back porch, where my Josie is watching me with a mixture of awe and hunger in her eyes.
My own hunger rises up, clawing at my chest as I toss the ax aside. Striding for the back door, I scoop my babygirl up in my arms and head toward the stairs.
One way or another, I’m going to prove to Josephine Thorne that she belongs tome. And that I’m not letting her go without a fucking fight.
CHAPTER 23
JOSIE
I’m so fucking screwed.
All afternoon, I’ve been sitting with this gnawing, twisting feeling in my gut, trying to decide if I did the right thing by emailing Vanessa to come and rescue me. And just when I’d finally managed to convince myself that yes, it was a necessary evil, I stumble upon my Daddy with his shirt unbuttoned and his hair all disheveled, swinging an ax like a real fucking lumberjack.
