Chapter Sixteen
Just before midnight, Seth packed up for a last-minute stakeout.
Dressed in an oversized T-shirt and nothing else, Heavenly kissed him goodnight. “Be careful out there.”
“I will, angel. Get some sleep.”
After he’d gone, Beck hustled Heavenly upstairs and settled her into bed with a heating pad and pain relievers for her menstrual cramps, then eased in beside her. “Better?”
She curled up with a pillow and a soft moan. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out this month. I was hoping we’d been successful.”
At conceiving? He’d been hoping, too. He was disappointed that she’d started her period, but the doctor in him wasn’t surprised. Conception wasn’t a given. Most people didn’t succeed the first time.
“We have plenty of time, little girl.” He tilted her chin up to him and winked. “Besides, they say practice makes perfect.”
“That’s the fun part.” She smiled sleepily.
“With you? Always.” He kissed her again, then held her tight.
Within minutes, she was breathing deeply in his arms.
Careful not to wake her, Beck eased out of bed and slipped downstairs. Since he didn’t want to leave the party mess for Heavenly to deal with in the morning, especially after she busted her ass preparing all the food, he headed down to finish cleaning up the kitchen.
He was drying the last of the platters when strange sounds drifted up from the floor below. Were Hudson and Casen still playing video games? Casen was spending the night, but they were supposed to be settling in and turning down the volume, damn it.
But when a distinctly feminine moan, followed by masculine grunts, floated up the stairs, Beck froze. The sounds of sex weren’t coming from Call of Duty.
Jaw tightening, he tossed down the dish towel and glanced up toward his bedroom. The last thing he needed was for the boys’ porn viewing to wake Heavenly.
As he headed down the stairs, the sounds grew clearer, louder, and more concerning. Jesus, he really hoped Hudson and Casen weren’t downstairs jacking off together to some streaming site. That conversation would be awkward as fuck—and one he’d rather leave for Seth.
When he reached Hudson’s door, he gripped the knob and paused, ear pressed to the wood.
“That was amazing,” a female sighed breathlessly from inside the room. “When can we do it again?”
Beck froze. That voice wasn’t a recording, a porn site, or the TV. She was live.
The boys had a girl in the room.
Fuck.
But it sounded like they already had.
“Anytime you want, gorgeous,” Casen replied. “I gotta admit, that was fucking hot.”
Hudson’s voice followed, thick with satisfaction. “Yeah, way hotter than I thought it would be. No wonder my dad is into this shit.”
Beck’s stomach dropped to his feet. He cursed under his breath, wishing like hell Seth was here to handle this clusterfuck. Who was this girl? When had she gotten here? And what the hell had these kids been thinking?
Mentally, Beck counted to ten, sucked in a deep breath, and opened the door.
The scene that greeted him was exactly what he’d feared.
In the shadowy room, relieved only by the spill of light from the bathroom, he could make out three figures on Hudson’s bed, tangled in his sheets. Sandwiched between two teenage boys was a pretty, petite blonde panting in post-orgasmic satisfaction.
Purposely averting his gaze, Beck cleared his throat. “You three done?”
Hudson jerked away from her, then leapt to his feet in panic. The girl yelped and yanked the sheet around her while hiding her face in Casen’s chest beneath.
“Oh, my god! Dude, get out!” Hudson screamed as he grabbed his shorts off the floor and covered himself.
Beck clenched his jaw. “This is my house.”
Hudson disposed of his condom and yanked on his shorts with angry jerks before he stomped toward Beck. They stood toe-to-toe, fury rolling off the teen. Beck prayed the kid wasn’t stupid enough to take a swing at him. He’d hate trying to explain to Seth why he’d KO’d his son.
He caught a flurry of movement in his periphery—Casen and the girl untangling from the sheet.
He ignored them, keeping his gaze fixed on the defiance blazing in Hudson’s eyes.
“You’re in a shitload of trouble. But I’ll come back to you.
What’s your name, young lady?” He refused to even glance her way.
“B-Brielle.”
“How did you get here?”
“I drove,” she whispered, sounding somewhere between embarrassed and terrified.
“After you get dressed, you can drop Casen off at his house on your way home.”
Hudson planted himself more firmly in Beck’s path. “My friends aren’t going anywhere. They’re spending the night.”
Beck scoffed. “You and Casen can snuggle up and read bedtime stories some other time, but Brielle is not staying so you three can have another fuckfest. Not in my house.”
Hudson’s chin jutted out. “It’s half my dad’s house, too.”
“Your dad would say the exact same thing,” Beck shot back.
As Casen led Brielle toward the door—both thankfully dressed—he sent Hudson an apologetic grimace. “It’s cool, man. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Brielle paused at the threshold, glancing at Beck with wide, worried eyes. “Please don’t tell my mom about this.”
But before Beck could answer, the pair raced out the door and up the stairs, slamming the front door behind them.
Then…silence. Beck knew it wouldn’t last, not while Hudson pinged with anger.
“You’re such a fucking hypocrite,” the kid snarled. “You and my dad do the exact same thing with Heavenly.”
“We’re adults. You’re sixteen, not mature enough for what you just did.” Beck’s voice turned icy cold. “You think we share her just because the sex is hot? Newsflash, dude. That’s not why at all.”
“Then why?”
Beck snorted. “The emotional connection. And the fact you even have to ask proves you don’t grasp the concept of a real relationship.”
“I don’t have to listen to you. You’re not my dad.”
“I’m not.” Beck nodded with a calmness he didn’t feel. “But I’m as invested in your well-being as any biological child your dad or I will have someday with Heavenly. Like it or not, we’re a family now.”
Hudson rolled his eyes. “What do you know about family? You ran away from home and married a hooker.”
Beck dropped his voice to a dangerous quiet. “You think you’re tough, kid?”
“Tougher than you, old man,” Hudson sneered.
“You think so? By the time I was your age, I’d already killed someone.”
Hudson scowled. “Bullshit?”
“God’s truth. You never asked why I ran away from home. Let me tell you—”
“Because mommy and daddy didn’t give you enough love.”
“You’re right.” Beck sent him a brittle smile. “They didn’t. So, when I was your age, I slit my father’s throat. And a few months ago, I watched my mother bleed out in front of me. I had the medical skills to save her, but I didn’t. I just watched her die because she deserved it.”
Hudson’s face went white. “You’re lying.”
A humorless chuckle rumbled the back of Beck’s throat as he pulled out his phone and tapped a news article.
“This details the day my family came to kill me at Liam’s lodge.
Your dad’s tactical knowledge helped save nearly everyone’s lives.
” He scrolled to another page. “And this is about Jericho leading the FBI raid on the compound where my mother and middle brother’s followers lived.
You met my younger brother, Zach? They murdered his wife and eleven-year-old daughter, too. ”
Hudson took the phone with shaking hands and scanned the articles. His face turned even paler as his teenage bravado crumbled and reality set in.
Eventually, he swallowed and handed the phone back, not quite meeting Beck’s eyes. “Shit.”
“Do I finally have your attention?” Beck asked, pocketing his phone.
Hudson nodded, not saying a word.
“Good. Let’s talk about what you just did with Brielle and Casen.” Beck leaned against the doorframe, studying the teenager. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
Hudson shifted uncomfortably. “Casen asked questions about the three of you after you guys announced your engagement. I told him that you guys were all…together.”
“Okay. For your sake, I hope you told him not to blab that to everyone at school.”
“Of course I did. I’m not an idiot. You think I want the other kids whispering shit behind my back?”
“Smart. Go on.”
“Casen kept talking about it. I could tell he liked the idea. Next thing I know, he called Brielle and asked if she wanted to come over.”
“So, she did and then you two…what? Stripped off your clothes and hopped into bed?”
“No,” he bit out. “We played video games for a while. Casen started kissing her, and he told her that I thought she was pretty. Then I admitted that watching them was hot. Casen asked Brielle if she wanted me to kiss her. She blushed, but she said yes. So…I kissed her. And…we just went from there.”
“So what now?” Beck asked, brow arched. “You going to be the third in their relationship?”
“No… Maybe. I don’t know. Since you barged in, we didn’t really have a chance to talk about what’s next.”
“If you three are smart, you’ll be one and done. None of you are emotionally mature enough to handle this.”
Hudson mulishly pressed his lips together. “Are you going to tell my dad?”
“Yes.”
“Why? What’s the big deal? He knows I have a sex life.”
“Because we don’t keep secrets in this family. Your father needs to know what the hell you’re up to.”
Hudson’s face flushed with anger. “You can’t—”
“I can, and I will.” Beck straightened and pushed away from the doorjamb. “Listen, you may not have had a father before, but now you have two. And if Seth needs backup handling discipline and reminding you that you’re still a minor, I’m happy to help.”
The teenager opened his mouth to argue, but something—probably Beck’s expression—stopped him.