Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Kreed
I pinched the bridge of my nose and set down my phone with more calm than I actually felt.
Bonnie was a fucking piece of work, really.
Most days, I regretted marrying her. If it hadn’t been that her son, Hudson, needed stability, I never would’ve given the wretched woman the time of day.
Especially as I stared down at my latest credit card statement—the credit card I’d given her, which was all the money she had access to—and saw she’d managed to spend fifty thousand fucking dollars in the span of a goddamn month.
I looked over the billing statement once more—hotels, a whole fucking cruise, casinos, bars, restaurants, Coach, Louis Vuitton…
The list was fucking endless. Just a bunch of needless spending all because she could.
I didn’t keep track of her. The more she was out of my hair and out of this damn house, the better for my mental health and Hudson’s wellbeing, when he was actually home and not away at college.
Hudson… Fuck. I hadn’t seen or heard from him since that night he’d caught me getting myself off with a fucking vibrator up my ass.
Not since he’d barged into the room I technically shared with his mother and finished getting me off.
Even now, at the mere thought of it, my cock thickened and hardened, making me growl in annoyance.
It was wrong. So fucking wrong. Didn’t matter that his mother and I had never actually fucked or that she was a mostly absent partner in our marriage. She was still his mother. He was still my fucking stepson. And worst, Hudson was nineteen fucking years younger than me.
Off limits. Forbidden. Goddamn taboo. And I didn’t dabble in any of that.
The front door opened, and I looked up. The sound of keys rattling reached my ears, and I grimaced.
Of course, Bonnie chose now to show up. She’d been gone for almost an entire month but leave it to her to want to ruin a quiet, peaceful Thanksgiving week.
Maybe she should have gone on another one of her extravagant, expensive cruises instead of coming home.
That would’ve been preferable, even if it meant she racked up more debt on my credit card.
“Oh, you’re not at work?” she asked as she stepped into the kitchen.
She’d just gotten her hair done, as it was more blown-out than she usually wore it.
And since her light-brown roots weren’t showing, I assumed she’d gotten her hair dyed again while she was at it.
I took her in, realizing for the umpteenth time Hudson really didn’t look anything like her.
Bonnie was short and slim, whereas her son was tall and had the build of a quarterback, even if he’d never had interest in playing football.
Bonnie’s features were almost delicate, whereas Hudson’s were more defined and angular, giving him a bit of a harsh yet beautifully handsome look to his face.
But the two of them did have one thing in common.
That look in their eyes—cold, detached.
Calculating.
I understood why Hudson was like that. Living with Bonnie all his life and dealing with her bullshit would turn any kid into someone cold. But Bonnie? She was just pure fucking evil.
“Want to explain this?” I asked, turning the bill toward her.
She glanced at it then shrugged. “What? It was a busy month for me, Kreed.” She walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. “Some months have more expenses than others.”
I scowled. “These are not fucking expenses, Bonnie. This is splurging. All of this is unnecessary.” I shook my head in disbelief. “You really used my fucking credit card at a goddamn casino?”
She huffed. “It’s not like you give me access to any cash, Kreed.”
“For fucking good reasons, too,” I bit back, jabbing a finger onto the fifty-thousand-dollar amount written in big, black letters on the bill. “You spend money like a toddler. You don’t know shit about responsibility.”
She swung around to face me, fire burning in her eyes. “Don’t you fucking tell me I don’t know shit about responsibility, Kreed. I raised Hudson on my own for sixteen—”
“Oh, don’t even,” I snarled, growing angry, as well. “You barely raised that boy, Bonnie. That kid raised himself. He was brought up by neighbors and babysitters while you went out and partied your entire fucking life away.”
She threw her water at me, and I ducked just in time to avoid being smacked in the face with it. But a smack still sounded in the air, and we both turned to look at the entrance to the kitchen, where Hudson and his best friend, Corvus, stood.
Hudson had a nasty red mark blooming on his cheek, and water drenched part of his face and some of his shirt. The water bottle slowly rolled away from his feet.
Fuck. Not now. He hadn’t shown his face in months. I’d been so confident he wouldn’t come home for Thanksgiving, especially since he usually only appeared for summer break. Yet there he was, standing in all his glory, his wide shoulders taking up the doorway as he stared at his mother.
“Well…” he drawled, his voice low and deep. Something dangerous threaded that single word, making a shiver run down my spine. “Can’t say that’s a first. So happy to see me you couldn’t hold onto the water bottle, Mom?”
She sneered at him as if he was nothing more than a bug and not the son she’d given birth to. “Oh, fuck you, Hudson.”
He scrunched up his nose. “That’s incest and fucking gross. So, no thanks. I’ll pass.”
My words were stuck in my throat. I couldn’t think of a fucking thing to say.
And when he finally turned those striking green eyes on me, I damn near choked on my breath.
A slow smirk curved his lips. But he didn’t say a word.
He just turned on his heel and left. Corvus looked between us, gave Bonnie one long, slow perusal, then turned and followed after Hudson, leaving me and Bonnie alone once more.
“You can eat shit,” Bonnie hissed at me before she stormed out of the room. A moment later, I heard the front door slam behind her.
I dropped into a chair at the breakfast table, my heart in my throat.
Fuck.