Page 43 of Irish

“It’s been ten minutes.”

“Nuh uh.” She shook her head. It had been way more than ten minutes.

“Princess, would Daddy lie to you?”

“No.” How quickly she answered the question surprised her. “But maybe you looked at your watch wrong.”

“I didn’t look at my watch wrong.” He reassured her. Taking her by the hand, they walked through the house and into his room. “Arms up.”

“How come?” She asked, suddenly suspicious. Was she about to get another spanking? She reached back and rubbed her butt. It wasn’t sore anymore. So, the books were wrong about that. She definitely didn’t feel her spankings for a long time.

As if he could read her mind, he chuckled. “The soreness is already gone?”

She shook her head no, but when he raised his eyebrows, thought better than to lie to him and changed it to yes. “Yep. But that don’t mean I want another spanking.”

“Did you earn another spanking?” he asked her gently. She thought about it. Had she? She wasn’t especially nice to Trinity tonight, so maybe.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t very nice to my friend.”

“You weren’t. Hands up, princess.” This time, she obeyed. She trusted whatever he was going to do, she earned. She lifted her hands, and he pulled her dress up and over her head. Deftly, he unsnapped her bra and dropped it on top of the dress. Reaching for her hips, he made quick work removing her underwear and bra. Taking her by the hand he led her into the bathroom.

The clawfoot tub was filled to the top with bubbles. Two rubber duckies were floating inside. “In you go. Hold on to Daddy so you don’t slip.”

She was confused. Why was he rewarding her when she’d been naughty? She took his outstretched hand and let him guide her into the warm bath. Settling down into the bubbles, she sighed contently. He pulled over a stool and sat beside the tub.

“What I saw tonight was you reacting from a place of trauma. You’ve gone through a lot and while I’m proud of you for having sought out counseling, I think it would be best if you continue to see someone. If you are comfortable with Paisley or Veronica, I’m sure they can fit you in. If you want someone not connected to us, I can help you find a good match.” Irish dipped a washcloth into the warm water and squirted some lavender scented baby bath on it.

“Do you think I’m crazy?” Makenzie asked in a small voice.

“No, sweetheart. I think you’ve survived something traumatic and now, you react based on traumatic stress. I have a PTSD diagnosis associated with the combat I experienced, and because of that, I see a counselor. One thing I learned pretty early on is people who have experienced traumatic stress have an increase of cortisol. The traumatic memory imprints on the brain and the next time you go through something similar, that memory takes over and survival is the priority. So, how you reacted tonight wasn’t how you would have reacted if you’d never gone through trauma. Learning to cope in these situations when you are triggered will help you and those around you.” He ran the cloth over her shoulders and down her back as he spoke.

“Why didn’t she want to tell me? Did I do something bad to cause her to get spanked? Did I scare her, so she didn’t trust me enough to tell me?” Makenzie asked.

“Baby, Trinity didn’t tell you because her Daddy told her she couldn’t. And she didn’t get spanked because of you, she got spanked for her own actions. You know how your account was hacked?”

“No. I have no idea what you are talking about,” Makenzie said, rolling her eyes. “Duh! How could I forget?”

“Watch the attitude, princess. This is your only warning. I know you are stressed out, but we are going to have a niceconversation or you are going to bed with a sore butt that I promise you will feel tomorrow.”

“Yes, Daddy.” She sensed the seriousness in his tone, he’d had enough. She sighed and leaned back against the back of the tub while Irish continued to rub the washcloth over her body.

“Good girl. Well, they didn’t just post screenshots of your conversations with your LittleLife friends, they also posted videos and pictures of you that you did for your ex.”

No.

No.

This couldn’t be happening.

“Your face isn’t in any of them, but your voice is. Some of them were more graphic than others.”

“What’s that have to do with Trinity?” She whispered. Trinity saw them. She saw videos of Makenzie doing God knows what.

“Trinity got defensive of you and engaged in a word battle with the hacker. She demanded he take them down. She went on a bit of an online rampage, attacking all the people calling you names. In the process, when she told them she knows you personally and talked to you today, they were able to figure out what town you are in, because Trinity has her location on her profile.”

“No! What if he finds me! What if he comes here and?—”

“Take a breath, baby girl. Daddy has you. No one is coming here. You are absolutely safe. You have me and you have an entire club full of protective uncles who aren’t going to let anyone hurt a hair on your head.”

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