Chapter 10 #3
“He’ll do as he’s told,” Mom shrugged, ice filling my veins. “You can get to know each other. Put your bags in the corner, he can make room in his closet tomorrow.”
“What the fuck have you concocted now?” I bit out, reaching for my sweats from the floor and standing up to shove them on.
“Get back in bed. Saffron will be staying with you while you get to know each other. The wedding date is set for December, so you have plenty of time,” Mom stated, the anger and anxiety returning from earlier.
I was relieved to see that Saffron appeared to be uncomfortable too. She’d had no idea that this was being dropped on me like a bomb.
“I’m not interested. I’m seeing someone,” I snapped, stalking towards my closet for a shirt.
“I forbid you to see that girl, Lukas. You know how I feel about her. I heard she’s fucking that gangster from the Bloody Psychos, so she’s not being loyal to you.”
“I know they’re fucking. We all just had phone sex over video. She’s with him right now,” I said, making her gasp and clutch her necklace.
“Lukas James!”
“What? This isn’t the fifties. Poly relationships exist. I love her, and I don’t really give a shit who else she loves, as long as she still loves me too,” I spat, grabbing my wallet and keys from my bedside drawer, slipping my phone into my pocket too.
“You wonder why I fucking hate you. You literally brought a stranger to our home and expected her to just sleep in my bed so we can fall in love and get married? Are you delusional?”
“I do it because I want better for you than that Heights whore!” she shouted, marching towards me and jabbing a finger into my chest. “You’re an ungrateful little boy.
I give you everything, and this is how you repay me?
You’re not leaving this house, Lukas. Forget about it.
Saffron can sleep in the other room until you—”
“You’re not fucking listening to me!” I screamed, jerking back when she slapped me.
“You will not leave this house. Understood?”
I stared at her, my fists clenching, and I almost fucking punched her. I’d never been that angry with her before, but it was like a switch was flipped.
“I’m done,” I said in defeat, trying to step around her but she blocked me.
“You’re done? You have nothing if you leave. All those businesses you have shares in are my businesses. I’ll kick you from them so fast. You have no home, that car is mine, and all your credit cards are mine.”
“I do have a home,” I said with a scoff, shaking my head slightly.
“This has never been my home, it’s just the prison you keep me in.
Those businesses? I don’t give a fuck about them.
Take them. I have shit that you can’t touch, and even if I didn’t?
I’d be happy to live in a cardboard box and flip burgers if it meant getting away from you.
Someone said it would be fun, and I’m starting to think they’re right.
Try and take my car, but it was put in my name when I turned eighteen. ”
“You don’t have a bank account of your own,” she said smugly, her face falling slightly when I gave her a dirty look.
“If you think I didn’t set one up for myself to put money into over the years, you’re really stupid.
I have money of my own that you can’t touch, so here.
” I pulled out my wallet and slid all my credit cards out, flicking them at her chest. “Go on, take them. I don’t want or need your money. Get the fuck out of my way.”
She glared at me, having nothing else to say, so I stepped around her and walked out the door, hearing someone following me.
I spun around at the bottom of the stairs, finding Saffron behind me with her bags.
“Sorry, I thought you knew,” she said with a shrug, glancing back up the stairs as something crashed. “I think I dodged a bullet.”
“Sorry you got caught up in her bullshit. She’s psycho,” I answered, not wanting to offer her a ride, but not wanting to leave her here either. “Can I call you a car?”
“I have one,” she said as she waved me off, motioning to the door. “Go. I’ll leave after you.”
I nodded, glancing around the room but realizing there was nothing here I wanted. I could replace my clothes, and the few important things that belonged to my father were already at Jensen’s, or Mom would’ve destroyed them years ago.
Mom started stomping down the stairs, so I took the house key off my keychain and tossed it on the floor, heading outside into the cold night air to my car.
I locked my doors once I was inside, just in case she tried to drag me back out, and I could see her screaming at me from the doorstep as I drove off.
My heart was hammering in my chest so hard I wanted to throw up, and tears of relief filled my eyes the further away from the house I got.
I glanced at my dash to see it was close to midnight now, and I hated the thought of waking anyone up, but I knew I could show up at all hours of the night if I needed to.
I drove straight to Caden’s house, knowing Tyler was dealing with some personal shit and needed Jensen to himself for the night. Besides, I needed a mom that actually gave a shit, and Josie would always be that person for me.
I parked out front and headed straight inside once I put the code in, surprised to find Josie still awake as she sipped a glass of wine in the kitchen.
“Lukas?” she asked, sensing something was wrong, understanding filling her face as those tears I’d been fighting started to fall. “Come here, honey. I’ve got you.”
I felt like a little boy as I went to her and hugged her tightly, feeling stupid for crying, but relieved that I could without judgement.
“Can I stay here for a while?” I choked out, her arms tightening around me even more.
“Of course. You know this is your home too. You want to talk about it?”
I told her all of it while she made me a hot chocolate, everything down to my last suicide attempt, and I was emotionally drained by the time I was done.
“My sweet baby, I wish you’d told me earlier, I would’ve helped you,” she said softly, cupping my cheek. “Do you want me to book—”
“I don’t want a shrink,” I said quickly. “I’m okay when I’m not at home.”
“Don’t let her drag you back, okay? You stay here forever if you have to. You know you’re one of my boys. Go and get some sleep. Stay home tomorrow and rest. I’ll get Caden to stay home too if you want so you have some company. I don’t know when Rory will be back.”
“I was on the phone with them for hours tonight. They’re leaving early in the morning. They found out all they needed to.” I didn’t want to tell her everything, that was up to Rory.
“They found her mom?” she asked with surprise, and I sighed.
“No. She’ll probably tell you about it.”
“Okay, well I’ll talk to her tomorrow. For now, you go to bed. Wake me if you need me. No matter the time,” she said seriously, waiting for me to nod before taking my empty cup and shooing me towards the stairs.
I stopped at my door and turned to look at Caden’s, hesitating before walking towards it and opening it. He was asleep on his stomach, an arm hanging off the bed.
I knew he was fine with me being in here, so I shut the door and stripped down to my boxers, carefully making my way towards the other side of the bed.
He stirred, seeming to pause for a second before the lamp switched on and he glanced over at me.
“Hey. You good?” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
“Sorry. I just needed—”
“Get in. Unless you really want to talk now, we can talk about it in the morning,” he yawned, waiting for me to get in before switching the lamp off and rolling over to face me.
We were silent for a few minutes, and I was starting to think he’d fallen asleep when he spoke again.
“Do you need a hug? How bad is it this time?”
“I threw my credit cards and house key at Mom. I’ll be staying here a while,” I answered, and he shuffled closer, not hesitating to drag me against him with a sigh.
“Damn, dude. Good for you.”
“You don’t have to cuddle me, you know?” I chuckled dryly, but he just scoffed.
“I do it for Ty, so I can do it for you. Besides, I’m kind of missing Rory, so you’ll do.”
That made me huff out a laugh, my body relaxing. “You’re not worried about me trying to make a move on you?”
“You can try, but I won’t be swayed by your charm, Lukey. There’s only enough room in my heart for Rory. Sorry to break it to you.”
“She’s going to need you when she gets home,” I said softly.
“Why? Did she find something? You spoke to her?”
“Uh, yeah. We video called for a few hours tonight. Had really good phone sex too.”
“Ugh, I hate you. You guys should’ve added me to the call. A phone orgy is totally a good idea,” he grumbled.
“You know how her mom had that boyfriend that knocked her up in Rosevale? Long story short, the guy still lives there. Rory can explain it tomorrow, but he told her that Marla couldn’t take Rory with her when she left Max because Rory isn’t her kid.”
“How’s Rory?” he asked carefully, making me sigh.
“As expected. Skeet’s got her, and I’m pretty sure he’s fucking her into a coma as we speak.”
“I’m not surprised. We’ll sit down with her tomorrow and see what we can do to help, and you can fill me in on your mom. Deal?”
“Deal. Thanks, Caden,” I mumbled, yawning.
Between Caden’s warmth and my emotional crash, it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.