Someone's In BIG Trouble!

London called Laney up from the study, holding the magazine between two fingers like contraband. The girl's eyes cut to it instantly and she went stiff. London still thought it belonged to her stepbrother. "That little shit is hiding from me, isn't he? He'll scrub floors until his knees bleed. No phone, no car, no nothing. When I catch him—" Laney's face burned. Each new threat made the lie heavier. Her brother didn't deserve London's anger, not for something that was hers. She swallowed, wet her lips. "It's not his," she said. Her voice cracked on the last word. "The magazine is mine." London stared. "Yours." Laney nodded. The words spilled now, a confession half-coherently delivered. She'd kept the magazine hidden because it showed women touching each other, because she worried her stepmother would see that want in her and never look at her the same again. London's expression softened at the first part, hardened at the second. "I don't care who you fuck, Laney. I care that you broke the rules. Pants down. Over the desk." The wood felt cold under her hips. London stood behind her, hand firm, counting each slap out loud.