No specific word would describe her well enough. She was an absolute shit-stain of a human being.
He lifted one shoulder like it didn’t matter to him either way. “I hate her, but she’s hot. I can deal. And honestly, a hole is a hole.”
I laughed again and hit the indicator to turn right into the neighborhood where I’d lived for the last two years of my high school career. “Wrap it up, dude. I don’t want a little brother or sister, and fuck knows what my mom is carrying.”
He snorted. “Yet you want to fuck her husband?”
I shrugged.
“I’m gonna be real with you,” I told him as I eased over the first speed bump just right so I wouldn’t scrape the bottom of my car. “I don’t think they’ve ever slept together. Otherwise, I wouldn’t always catch him getting himself off with toys.” That night hadn’t been the first time I’d watched him. He always waited until my mom was gone on one of her trips or binges, then he’d stretch his hole and fuck himself with a dildo or vibrator while watching porn and jacking his dick.
“Wonder why he married her,” he muttered.
I turned left onto the street where we lived. Corvus voiced the thought I had all the time, and I still hadn’t come to an answer that made any logical sense.
“Fuck if I know, and I don’t particularly care,” I confessed. “Kreed gave me stability I’ve never had.” Even if I was a sadistic son of a bitch, I was grateful to him for that.
Corvus shook his head, an amused smile playing on his lips. “Yet, you’re about to destroy his life.”
I shrugged one shoulder and eased into the driveway. “That’s what I do best, bro.”
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.”
