Why wouldn’t he want to be with Sterling, anyway? Sterling was kind, and successful, and handsome. Sterling had already proved that he was invested in Adrian and their child, and that he was willing to provide. Andthesex…
Adrianblushed.
The sex was pretty wonderful. Sterling’s knot feltgood, and the way he knew how to work hismouth?
“You’re doing this on purpose.” Adrian groaned. He clawed at his eyes, then dropped his arms to either side and tried to do away with thoughts of what could be. No matter what he wanted, he had to be there for Gabriel. What Sterling wanted didn’t matter—nothing could happenbetweenthem.
Adrian had already been selfish, and his selfishness had led to Gabriel’s disappearance. Now that Gabriel was back, Adrian refused to make the same mistakeagain.
A cry from the hallway pulled Adrian from histhoughts.
“—at areyou…?Ah!”
Adrian sat bolt upright. His phone toppled from his chest and landed amongst the sheets. The voice he’d heard in the distance—the muffled sounds of distress—had come fromGabriel.
He was on his feet and down the hall before he had time to beafraid.
It wasn’t hard to find the source of the commotion. A little farther down the hall, Gabriel cowered against the closed door to his room while their mother crowded his space. Adrian didn’t get the feeling that she’d been particularly aggressive yet, but seeing her encroach on Gabriel didn’t sit well with him. Adrian knew all too well what she was capable of when she was in one of hermoods.
“Mom?” Gabriel asked, deflated. “Mom,please…”
“Whereareyou?” She reached out and cupped a hand under his jaw, tugging Gabriel’s chin upward with a little too much force. Even on the move, Adrian saw himwince.
The worldwentred.
No one was going to touch Gabriellikethat.
Noone.
“Whereareyou, Gabriel? Where?” Her voice rose in volume until she was screeching. Adrian barely heard it—the rushing of his heart and the pounding of his footsteps drowned out most other sounds. “You’re nothere. This isn’t you. Whoareyou?Whatareyou?”
There was only fear in Gabriel’s eyes—glassy, panicked fear that froze his body and stole his words. Adrian knew how to escape his mother’s temper, but Gabriel? Gabriel had been away for too long. He didn’t know when to run and hide, and even if he tried to learn, Adrian had a feeling that after everything that had happened, his knees would lock and his body would shut down before he couldgetaway.
It wasn’t safe forhimhere.
Adrian didn’t care about what happened to him, but Gabriel? He refused to seehimhurt.
“Mom!” Adrian’s voice rang through the hall, broken only by the stilted way he drewbreath. “Stop!”
His mother’s hand fell from Gabriel’s chin, and she turned her head to look in his direction. Her irises were gone, the blue-gray nothing more than slender rings around too-wide darkpupils.
Adrian knew better than to touch her. He’d learned over the years that the best course of action was to give her as much space as he could in the hopes that he didn’t trigger her to act in violent ways. Most of the time, the benzos made her sleepy and docile, but when the opposite happened, Adrian had learned all he could do was hide and wait for her anger to run itscourse.
But that wasn’t an option anymore. Not withGabrielhome.
He had no choice but to grab her by the shoulder and spin her around. Gabriel would not suffer for Adrian’s shortcomings. He wouldn’tallowit.
“Gabriel?” She squinted, and he watched as her face contorted with confusion. “You’renot…”
“I’m not Gabriel.” Adrian spoke sternly, commanding respect. He tugged her away from the door, hoping that she’d be too distracted by him to remember Gabriel was behind her. “My name is Adrian, Mom.Adrian. Yourfirstbornson.”
“Youtookhim from me.” The accusation was venomous. She narrowed her eyes into hateful slits and grabbed Adrian’s shirt. Her fists gripped him tight. “You made him leave, and then when he came back, he wasdifferent. Youstolehim.”
“You need to calm down.” Adrian met Gabriel’s eyes and silently urged him to get out, but Gabriel remained plastered against the door. “If you have a problem with me, we can talk about it when you’re in your right mind, okay? But we can’t have a productive conversation right now. You’re not readyforit.”
“Really?” Her fists pulled, tugging the neck of Adrian’s shirt forward until it bit into the back of his neck. He clenched his jaw and endured. “You think I’m not ready? Well, let me tell you something,Adrian—I wasn’t ready when you took Gabriel from me, either. I wasn’t ready when you came home without him. I wasn’t ready for anyofthis!”
“You’re causing a scene, Mom.” Adrian spoke through gritted teeth, his voice darker than before. It took all of his willpower not to fight back. “You need to go lie down. You’re not yourselfrightnow.”
