Page 81 of Dark, Forbidden, & Taboo

After some small talk between myself and Holden, Eastin nudges me with his foot under the table and I know it’s time.

“Hey Dad?” he begins conversationally. “Can I ask you something?”

I get to my feet and walk over to where my husband is expectantly waiting for his son’s question and fill his glass with the mimosa. He kisses the top of my hand again, smiling kindly at me before turning his attention back to Eastin.

“What’s on your mind, son?”

“What do you think high levels of salt does to the human body?”

I have to hide the smirk on my face as I sit down. His tone is so innocent and the look of genuine curiosity sits on his face perfectly.

“Fuck if I know,” Holden replies with a shrug. “Why?”

“Well, I don’t know if you noticed that Greer’s been sick,” he says as he goes back to fiddling with his laptop. “Anyway, based on how shitty she’s been looking, I hopped online and foundsome info. It seems that she’s been getting high doses of salt in her diet. Any idea how?”

We both turn our full attention to Holden. I tell myself that if he’s honest, I’ll call this entire thing off because then, he’s admitted his fault and deserves a second chance. Not with me though—he can go back to whatever whore’s bed he crawled out of and we can call it a day.

“I don’t make the meals around here, Eastin,” he tells him with a shrug. “But if that’s the case, then we’ll get you in to see a doctor as soon as possible,” he finishes, turning his eyes toward me.

“Okay, well I guess that’s the end of that then?” Eastin presses as he brings up a video on his laptop. He moves the pointer to hover over theplayoption, waiting for his father to continue the ruse before he shows him what he knows will break his heart.

“Until we get to a doctor, yes,” Holden confirms with a nod as he sets his glass down and goes back to his brioche.

“Show him,” I tell Eastin, my tone becoming hard.

Holden glances up at us, an eyebrow raised curiously as his son takes another bite of his tart, presses play, then turns the laptop to face his father.

“What the fuck is this?” Holden asks, craning his neck to get a better look at the screen.

“You wanted us to get along, didn’t you?” Eastin asks with a smirk on his face.

Chapter

Eleven

The last time I saw a grown man cry was my father at my wedding. Even though he had signed the necessary paperwork, he told me that he couldn’t see any good coming of the union between me and Holden.

For the last ten months, I finally started to understand what he meant. I saw love in a place where there was none to be hadand ended up sacrificing my youth to a false god that took it away with eagerness and thought of no one other than himself.

“That took longer than I thought it would,” I tell Eastin as we drag Holden’s unconscious body out of the dining room toward the basement door. The pitcher of mimosas was drugged with a sedative that was prescribed to Eastin to help him sleep. And since he rarely takes it, we had plenty left to crush and mix into the drink.

“I thought the shock of watching us fuck each other would have sped it up,” he replies with a laugh and I shake my head good-naturedly.

We decided before Holden came home that giving him a taste of his own medicine should include watching the two people he claimed to love inhisbed, ravaging each other like wild animals.

And while Eastin is only the second man I’ve ever been with, I like to think that I was able to satisfy him.

“How do we get him down there?” I grunt as Eastin pushes the door open and we set Holden down.

“Like this,” he says, turning his father’s body to line it up with the staircase, then giving him a rough shove.

We stand at the top of the stairs watching him tumble down to the bottom and I put my hands on my hips. “With any luck, he’s broken his fucking neck.”

“Nah, that would be too easy,” Eastin says as he makes his way down the stairs with me following close behind him. “Alright, you go get those chains and I’ll drag him over.”

I nod and move quickly. Holden had once told me in passing that he was thinking of constructing a gym on the property so that we could both spend time there.

In my relatively exhausted state, I know now that it would just have been to run me ragged into the ground until I collapsed and died.

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