Stacey's pov
Mike spoke so coldly and seemed so detached, I knew without a shadow of a doubt he was not only extremely angry but disappointed as well. Without any further warning, he whipped his new belt harshly across my bare backside, causing me to let out a painful cry as I buried my face into his sheets.
"You stole, Stacey." He slapped his belt down again. "You lied." He continued to belt the same spot overlapping each stroke. "You broke the law. You could go to prison for selling schedule IV medications. Did you ever think of that, Stacey?" I gripped as much of his sheets as I could ball up into my clenched fists, hissing in pain with each excruciating stroke. Mike hadn't been exaggerating when he said he was going to belt me harder than he ever had before.
He started concentrating on the sensitive skin at the crease of my bottom.
"You compromised people's safety by giving them meds that weren't prescribed for them. Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? What if one of those kids had an allergic reaction or overdosed? Did you ever even consider that?" Mike continued belting me relentlessly. "You would have been liable for that. We would have been liable for that. Dr. Curtis, this Center, and the Foundation would have been liable. You could have faced criminal and civil charges. Hell, you could still get arrested and face large fines if any of this gets traced back to you." My skin was on fire as each stroke from that wicked leather beast reignited the searing pain on my defenseless behind.
"You jeopardized your cousin's health and well-being." Mike whipped his belt across the middle of my thighs so hard I screeched in pain. "How could you do that to her, Stacey?" He belted my thighs again and again. I had to muffle my cries by biting down on his comforter. "You know how difficult it is for her to manage her anxiety, which can be crippling at times, and then you go and take away the very medication prescribed to treat it."
I didn't think it was possible but Mike spanked my buttocks even more harshly.
"What the hell were you thinking?" He focused solely on my sit spots now so I pounded my fists on his bed and twisted my body out of the line of fire. Mike grabbed me around the waist to immobilize me and began belting me so hard and fast, the pain literally took my breath away. I gasped for air as I struggled to push my upper body off the bed and tried to thrash out of his iron grip.
"Starting to feel anxious now, Stacey? Are you beginning to panic?" Mike didn't let up on the speed or intensity of each slap that connected so painfully with my beet red swollen ass. "Now you have some idea how your cousin feels when she has a panic attack, except for her the feeling is even more intense and terrifying."
I went limp and sobbed, burying my head into his pillow when I heard Mike reiterate how awful Julie's anxiety could make her feel. Knowing that what I did could have made it so much worse for my cousin, really hit home. I couldn't believe I risked her health to make money for my selfish gain.
"I'm sorry, Mike. I'm so sorry," I cried out, begging for mercy, but Mike continued to lay that thick leather belt into me. "I never wanted to hurt anyone, please believe me, Mike."
"Count these last ten, Stacey, and brace yourself, they're going to be the hardest yet. If you hadn't come forward and confessed, you'd be facing the last twenty right now." Signaling an end to this punishment, Mike finally took pity on me, or so I thought. He proceeded to deliver ten extremely harsh strokes to my already bruised buttocks as I struggled to find my voice in order to keep the count.
After I managed to eek out, "Ten sir," Mike placed his belt on his bed and leaned down to rub my back while whispering in my ear, "I'll give you fifteen minutes to apologize to your cousin and gather all the purchases you made with the money from selling Julie's medication so we can drop them off at the women and children's shelter. Do not forget anything and do not keep me waiting, Stacey Marie." He firmly slapped the center of my bottom with his hand before walking out of the room.
Julie's pov
When Stacey entered our room, I looked up from the book I'd been trying unsuccessfully to read since Mike and Shane left. I was having a difficult time concentrating with all that had happened so I found myself re-reading the same page over and over again as I hadn't really processed any of the words.
"Hey." Stacey looked at me as if she wasn't sure what to say.
"What do you want?" I asked, even though I wasn't really interested in her answer.
"I just came to say I'm sorry," Stacey mumbled looking down at her hands, as she nervously wrung them while she fidgeted, transferring her weight from one foot to the other.
It was a little disconcerting, no pathetic really, to see my usually cocky and bold cousin looking and sounding so meek and trepidatious.
"Whatever," I replied, turning my attention back to my book.
"Julie, please," Stacey's voice cracked, as she started to tear-up which garnered my attention but not my sympathy.
"WHAT, STACEY?" I asked angrily, annoyed by her playing the victim. I knew by her red puffy eyes and the difficulty she had just walking the few steps into our room that Mike punished her severely but goddammit, she deserved it.
"I really didn't think you'd even miss the pills. I didn't know..." she tried to explain but I cut her off.
"YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT, STACEY? YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT SOMETIMES I'M SO TERRIFIED OF SHANE PUNISHING ME THAT I CAN'T BREATHE. THAT WHEN I'M OVER HIS LAP IT CAN FEEL LIKE I'M LITERALLY SUFFOCATING. IS THAT WHAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW, OR WAS IT THAT TAKING THE MEDICATION I NEED WHEN I'M SUFFERING FROM AN EXTREME PANIC ATTACK AND SELLING IT TO STRANGERS FOR A PROFIT WOULD BE A BAD IDEA? WAS THAT WHAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW?" I screamed at her.
"I guess I didn't realize how bad your anxiety was. If I had known, I never would've..." Stacey let her voice trail off.
"Yeah, you never would've..." I clutched my book tightly as my anger bubbled to the surface. "YOU'RE MY FUCKING COUSIN, STACEY. HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?" Seeing the wounded look on Stacey's face caused me to lower my voice a little. "You of all people should know the shit I've been through. Out of everyone, I never would've thought you, my own blood relative I've practically known since birth, would be the one to betray me to make a fuckin' dollar." Knowing that probably hurt, I focused on my book so I wouldn't have to see the pained look on her face.
"All I can say is I'm sorry." I continued to pretend to read so Stacey dejectedly said, "I just need to get some things and then I have to go with Mike so I won't be in your way."
Ignoring my cousin's tears, I callously said, "Get your shit and get the fuck outta here."
After Stacey grabbed her clothes and left, I broke down and cried.
Shane's pov
Mike brought Stacey to my room once they returned from dropping her contraband off at the shelter.
"I'll be next door if you need me, Shane," he said, closing my door on his way out.
"Come here." I motioned Stacey over to stand in front of me so I could pull her pants and underwear down to assess the damage Mike and his belt did to her bum.
"Shane!" Stacey whined and tried to pull out of my grasp when I reached for her waistband.
I slapped her jean clad bottom causing her to whimper.
"Uh-uh," I admonished her, shaking my head from side to side. "You lost the privilege of modesty when you decided to lie, steal, and break the law, missy." Turning her back to me, I unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, yanking them along with her underwear down below her hips. Seeing how red, sore and inflamed her buttocks were along with the welts on her thighs, I knew I didn't have the heart to spank her, although part of me felt she deserved it for what she did.
"Lucky for you, Mike's belt did a thorough job impressing the seriousness of your misbehavior upon your behind so I won't spank you any further." I rubbed and patted Stacey's naughty bottom, feeling the heat it radiated onto my palm. After pulling her underwear and pants back up, I took the opportunity to deliver one more spank as a warning. "Don't think for one minute though, Stacey, that I won't spank you if I hear any trace of attitude or disrespect come out of your mouth. Am I clear?"
Still sniffling, Stacey quickly replied, "Yes sir."
"Help me understand what your thought process was here, Stacey. What could have possibly gone through your mind to make you think any of this was even remotely okay, let alone a good idea?" I'm truly perplexed as to how our eldest ever conjured up this idea to begin with.
"I don't..." Stacey began, but I interrupted her.
"So help me God, Stacey, if you say I don't know, I will pull you over my knee and spank you into next week. Trust me when I say you don't want to experience that on top of the belting you just received from Mike, so think before you answer," I threatened, narrowing my eyes and drawing my mouth into a thin tight lipped scowl.
Stacey hesitated as she tried to think of an alternate response so I waited, albeit rather impatiently. "I obviously didn't think any of this through, Shane, or I never would've done it." She looked up cautiously, her eyes filled with fear. "I guess I didn't realize at the time how selfish I was being. You know I would never intentionally try to hurt my cousin, right?"
I could tell Stacey was serious in her query but I wasn't going to let her off the hook so easily.
"I would certainly hope not, luv, but then again, I never thought I'd be standing here having a discussion with you about why you stole a controlled substance to sell illegally for profit either. So..." I shrugged and held my palms up, indicating I wasn't sure.
"Shane, you and Mike have to know..." Stacey's eyes brimmed with tears, "You have to believe I'd never purposely..." She was unable to finish her sentence, perhaps too afraid to face the possibility of receiving an answer she didn't want to hear or maybe simply because she was too upset.
"What I do know is that Mike and I are so disappointed in your behaviour. You're grounded to your room for three weeks. It would have been four but I took a week off since you came clean up front." I sighed loudly before continuing, "If you want to do anything other than breathe, use the bathroom, or go to school, you will seek permission from me. If I catch you doing anything without asking me first, I will not hesitate to put you in your place, Stacey Marie." Pulling her against my hip, I roughly spanked her bottom three times to let her know I meant business. "Now hand over your phone, you won't be needing it for some time."
Stacey quickly complied, placing her phone in my hand, not wanting to risk further punishment.
"I really am sorry, Shane. I'm gonna make this up to all of you, I promise," she said sincerely, as she rubbed her sore bum.
"It's easy to say the words, Stacey, but your actions will have to speak much louder in order for you to be heard."
"I know, Shane." Stacey began to cry again so I pulled her into my arms. "I know," she repeated sadly, now locked in my embrace.