Page 28 of His Secret Betrayal
I don’t actually know for sure he’s ever put his hands on Evelyn before today, but he’s well-known around town for his mean streak.
“Luke, enough,” Evelyn hisses, her small hand wrapping around my bicep. I wince, shaking it off when sharp nails dig into my skin.
“I don’t know who you think you are,boy,” Stoney taunts me, taking a step forward, “but this is between me and your mother. You need to stay out of private conversations. Now, go to your room, pat yourself on the back, and tell yourself how special you are for standing up to the big, bad wolf who yelled at your mommy.”
When his lips pull into an overly-dramatic pout for extra effect, I see red. My blood heats as I step forward, jabbing a finger into his chest while my other hand clenches into a fist. Spittle flies from my mouth as my tone turns into something dark, something that festers and rages, and wants tohurt.I’m too focused on my blinding rage to care about consequences right now.
“If you ever touch Evelyn again, I’ll knock out the rest of your ugly, rotten teeth and maybe, while I’m at it, I’ll tell the cops how much you struggle to keep your hands off innocent women. I imagine it would be hard to get your next fix inside a jail cell, Stoney.”
Unfortunately, I don’t see his fist until it’s too late.
Luke
“He’s a nosey punk, and he’s gonna get what’s coming to him one day!” Stoney’s voice, cracking with rage and indignation, carries all the way from outside our apartment door to where I’m currently standing inside our dingy bathroom with a cold compress pressed to my aching, throbbing cheek. The red skin is swollen and puffy, with the faint hue of a bruise already forming.
“I’ll deal with him,” Evelyn assures him.
Not…leave him alone.
Not…he’s my son.
Not…I love him.
Maybe one day, in the future, when pills no longer rule her life, those are the sort of things she’ll say. If I ever manage to save up the money to send her to rehab.
The front door slams, and Evelyn mutters to herself as she stomps down the hallway. I brace myself as the sounds grow closer, my muscles tensing. Sure enough, the bathroom door flies open. It bounces into the wall, the doorknob slamming against a small, circular dent that seems to get bigger every other week.
“Good thing I’m not taking a piss,” I mutter dryly.
Evelyn’s eyes flash with anger as she seethes. “Why didn’t you let me handle that? Youruineverything.”
I flinch as her hate-filled words chip away at my armor.
It’s the drug addiction talking, I remind myself.
“I couldn’t just stand there and watch him put his hands on you,” I say. Nausea churns in my stomach.
“The situation was under control until you stepped in with your knight-in-shining-armor bullshit!”
The manic look on her face makes my pulse kick into overdrive, and I subconsciously take a step back.
“You are so useless,” she spits.
I draw in a shaky breath. “You don’t mean that.” The words are a sucker punch to the gut, my hands beginning to shake as her lips twist into a cruel smirk. “What do you even see in that guy? What makes him so special that he puts his hands on me, and youstillstand up for him?” I’m not proud of the way my lips wobble, or the hint of desperation laced into my tone. It makes my cheeks heat with shame.
“He gives me what I need,” she says simply, her tone frosty. “And all I have to do is sleep with him when he comes calling.”
My eyebrows furrow, then her silent implication clicks, and I nearly choke. “You put up with him so he’ll give you drugs,” I say numbly.
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t be dramatic, Luke. You don’t know what it’s like. Ineedthem.”
“And I need you!” I shout, a shot of white-hot anger curling in my stomach as my fist slams onto the bathroom counter. “I need you alive and not overdosing until you’re dead in a ditch somewhere!”
She makes a disgruntled sound, her lips curling in disgust before spinning on her heel without another word. My heart slams against my ribcage as I follow her down the hallway toward her bedroom, more words bubbling up my throat and spilling out.
“If you need money, I’ll give it to you. You don’t have to fuck him for it!”
She screams, whirling around so fast I nearly slam into her. A crack rings out in the small space as her palm connects with my cheek, my skin burning from the slap.
