Page 73 of York

“No. I’ve been no-contact with everyone since then. My grandfather who beat the shit out of me… and the parents who saw it and didn’t stop it.” I paused, sucking in a deep breath. “Back at the apartment… I knew what was coming by the whooshing sound of his belt being whipped off. I’d heard that so many times before.”

“That’s fucked up, babe,” he said, exhaling hard.

“Yeah. I, uh, we haven’t discussed this yet,” I said, looking over at him. “But if you ever raise a hand to my daughter, I will cover you in sugar and set you on fire.”

“Sugar, huh?”

“Sugar melts, caramelizes, and turns into a sticky fuel that spreads…”

“Do I want to know how you know that?”

“Saw a news story once where a mom found out her boyfriend was abusing her daughter. It’s how she took out her vengeance.”

“Justified.”

“Yep.”

“I would never hit Denali, so the sugar can stay in the kitchen.”

“I didn’t imagine you would, but I wanted to be clear.”

“How do you discipline her?”

“I mean, as a whole, I haven’t needed to much. She’s such a good kid. And she’s mostly past the tantrum stage. I find you can avoid most issues if you’re clear with her from the jump. So, if you tell her before you go in the store how you expect her to behave a certain way, and that we are only there for such-and-such, she almost always behaves.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“There’s usually a conversation. Which works a solid ninety percent of the time. If it’s not working on the rare occasion, if we’re in public, I remove her from the situation. If we’re at home, I like natural consequences.”

“If she won’t wear a coat, she has to be cold.”

“Exactly. Or logical consequences.”

“If you break it for mess it up, you have to fix it or clean it up.”

“Yep. I think she’s only needed like three time-outs in her life, and it’s been a long time. I haven’t needed to take a privilege away yet. I have a feeling that might come in the tween years. But for right now, she responds to all the other stuff.”

“Good to know. She’s been good every time I’ve been with her. Though she can con me into giving her candy or junk food pretty easily.”

“She can have candy and junky foods. I don’t want to villainize foods. So long as it’s only twenty percent of the diet, I think it’s fine.”

“Also good to know. I want to be on the same page now that you’re here.”

I couldn’t stop the “for now” from escaping my lips.

“No, not for now. You’re staying here.”

“I can’t stay if it continues not to be safe. We can’t live here forever.”

York sighed. “No, you’re right. What matters is safety, even if that isn’t here. That said, I think you’re safer with me and the club to watch over you than you would be alone.”

He didn’t have to say it: Look what happened the last three times I was alone.

“I don’t understand how it happened again when the apartment is in your name. The bills are in your name. I have no digital footprint. I changed the name of my ‘business’ and my phone…”

“I know you said you were no-contact with your family, but do you have friends who know where you are?”

“No.”