Page 70 of Dark, Forbidden, & Taboo

He still tells me that he loves me, but I don’t feel like I used to.

Not about him, not about us.

And just when I thought I finally had enough, he surprises me by bringing someone new into our home.

Someone I’ve never met and ignites something inside of me that I haven’t felt for so long.

But he knows things that I never thought possible. He’s born from a monster and presents himself as such, however, I see past his façade and know that there’s something very different about him.

Angels can be bred from devils—I know that now.

I only hope that we can find a way to save each other before I take my last breath.

Chapter

One

Isit at the end of the dinner table picking at my food.

I don’t usually enjoy silence when in the company of others, but I know that I have to take time to get used to this.

“Dinner is great, honey!”

I raise my eyes toward the head of the table and force a slight smile onto my face. My husband, Holden Baylor, is looking at me with the high praise that can only come from his dark blueeyes. He’s older than me by twenty years and easily managed to sweep me off my feet with his charming smile, deadpan sense of humor, and sparkling personality.

“Thank you,” I reply quietly before I go back to picking at my dinner.

“Isn’t it nice to have a homecooked meal again, Eastin?”

I cut my eyes to the right side of the table.

Eastin Baylor showed up on our doorstep seven days, four hours, and twenty-six minutes ago—seconds steadily climbing toward the next minute. He looks a lot like his father. He has the same dark blue eyes, but where his father has black, with stripes of grey starting to streak through his hair, his is the color of midnight, and I have yet to see him smile.

Eastin shrugs without looking at either of us and Holden sighs. I turn my eyes toward him and then back down at my plate after he gives me an apologetic look.

“Can I be excused?” he finally asks in his stoic tone.

“After you’ve finished your dinner,” Holden replies cheerfully.

I shake my head as I get to my feet, plate in hand, then reach over and grab his. “He’s done,” I say to no one in particular as I leave the dining room and head for the kitchen.

“He just hasto get used to you,” Holden tells me as he slips his arms around my waist. I chuckle as I dry the last dish then place it in the rack. “Greer, I promise things will get better, okay?”

“It’s fine.”

He lets out a heavy sigh as he pulls his arms away, then leans against the counter.

“He really is a good kid. He’ll come around eventually and you guys will get along great.”

I close my eyes for a moment as I grip the mouth of the sink and take a deep breath. It’s not that I don’t want Eastin here—he’s Holden’s son, and by marriage, mine as well. What bothers me is that ever since we learned that I couldn’t have children, I had resigned myself to being a useless shell of a woman and now I have to figure out motherhood with a young man that didn’t even come from me.

It’s a paradox that I haven’t quite figured out yet, nor have I decided if I want to.

“Want some good news?” Holden asks, desperation seeping into his forced happiness.

I open my eyes and glance over at him, “I’d love some.”

“The two of you will have no choice but to get to know each other for the next three days. I have to go out of town on business and I won’t be back until Tuesday.”

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