Page 80 of Dark, Forbidden, & Taboo

He follows me into the bedroom and reaches for my arm, turning me to face him, and takes the bag out of my other hand, tossing it to the side.

“Did you two get along while I was gone?” he asks, as he lowers his lips to my neck and kisses it gently.

“We did,” I tell him honestly as I do my best to allow him to continue to plant kisses against my skin. Something I once craved, the touch of the man I once loved so deeply, is revolting to me now but I have to maintain my calm.

It’s the only way this will work.

“Good.” He murmurs his approval against my lips as he slides a hand up the back of my shirt and undoes the clasp of my bra with the flick of his fingers.

I giggle as I place one hand on his chest to push him away and then tuck my hands underneath my shirt to hook the clasp back in place.

“I made you brunch. You can have dessert after.”

Holden grunts but nods as he follows me out of our bedroom and down the hall. He stops at Eastin’s door and knocks loudly.

“I’m home!” he calls through the door. “Get out here; your mother made brunch.”

I do my best not to cringe at him calling me Eastin’s mother because in the past couple of days, our bond became stronger than the piece of paper that deems me such. We’ve become strong willed through each other’s need for revenge.

Mine being the slow death that Holden more than likely hoped he’d be able to complete soon, and his for the death of his real mother.

As soon as Holden settles into his chair at the head of the dining room table, Eastin walks into the room. He grunts a greeting at his father as he sits down in the first chair he comes across and reaches for a plate.

“Holden first,” I chide him kindly as he blows out his breath and rolls his eyes.

“Eastin, is there a problem?” his father asks in a stern tone.

“Nope. I’m used to you leaving and then coming back whenever you want,” he replies evenly.

“Sweetheart,” I say, turning to face him. “Your father has had a long trip. Can you give it a rest for a day please?”

“Sure,Mom,” he replies, placing sarcasm and emphasis on the last word.

“I’m sorry about that, Greer,” Holden says to me miserably, “I promise that he’ll come around eventually.”

“It’s okay,” I assure him as I set a fixed plate in front of him. “Oh, honey?” I say turning toward Eastin, “Can you please grab the pitcher from the fridge?”

He lets out a loud sigh as he scrapes his chair back and leaves the room. A few moments later, he returns with the pitcher and his laptop, setting both carefully on the table.

“What’s that doing out here, son?”

Eastin shrugs as he presses the power button, then moves his finger around on the mousepad, bringing up the password protected home screen.

“Just wanted something to do while we eat. The silence is a fucking bummer sometimes.”

“Do you mind?” Holden asks, glancing up at me. I shake my head and he reaches for my hand, kissing the top of it gently before giving it a squeeze. I walk over to the center of the table, fix Eastin a plate, then one for myself. Once I’ve sat down, I steal a glance at Eastin who clears his throat to hide the smirk on his lips.

“My favorite!” Holden exclaims happily as he begins to dig into his brioche. I smile up at him before I turn my attention toward my breakfast tart and use the fork to cut off a piece.

“So did you get a lot done while you were gone?” I ask after I’ve swallowed my bite.

“Yeah, it was really good, you know? And I promise that’s my last trip for a while. I got a lot done so I won’t need to leave for a while.”

Eastin snickers as he takes a bite of his tart and I shush him as kindly as I can, while maintaining the brightness to my visage. Truth be told, my body is starting to ache more today than it did a few days ago but it’s because we’ve been trying different things to flush my system of whatever poison his father has been injecting into it.

After doing some research, Eastin deduced that it has to be liquid salt and because of that, we’ve thrown away almost every last food item and cannister that contains high levels of salt.

“If we get rid of his stash, he can’t do it anymore and you’ll start to get better soon.”

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