Page 17 of His Secret Betrayal (Cedarwood Valley Duology #2)

Luke

“ H e’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? You ruin everything.”

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 you still stand 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. I need them.”

“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.

“You. Hit. Me.” Shock freezes me in place as I hold a palm to my cheek, both sides of my face now smarting as I gape at her.

Another chip to my armor.

No, not a chip.

An irreparable crack.

“I am not a prostitute,” she hisses.

“I didn’t mean—”

The door slams in front of my face, and I stare blankly at it.

I wish I could call Jax. He’s come to my rescue before, and he always knows what to do.

I wish I could go back to last night and lose myself in Alek’s touch again.

I wish I were anywhere but here.

“I could drive you to the hospital,” I murmur. It’s Sunday and instead of resting up so I can be energized for my second week at my new job, I’m lingering in the doorway as Evelyn retches over the toilet bowl.

Withdrawals.

“Kevin was going to help me out until you ran him off yesterday,” she says over her shoulder, sending me a dark, accusatory glare.

My temples pound with a dull, throbbing headache.

Ever since yesterday’s fiasco, I’ve been a ball of nerves.

My shoulders are knotted with tension, and the worry over what Evelyn would do if she got desperate enough for her next hit had me awake all night.

I wish I didn’t hate the taste of coffee, because I could use a pick me up right about now.

I sigh when Evelyn turns her attention back to the toilet bowl, followed by the sound of more retching. Her small frame shivers, a light sheen of sweat coating her hairline.

“You can’t even help your own mother out,” she hisses.

I flinch. “I told you I would take you to the doctor, or get you some nausea meds, or—”

“That isn’t going to help me!” She groans before wiping a palm along her forehead.

Frustration wells up inside me just as my cell phone begins ringing. Exhaling a long breath, I pull it out of my pocket. When Caleb’s name flashes across the screen, I hit the reject button. I’m not in the mood to shoot the shit right now .

“After everything I’ve done for you, you won’t even do this one thing for me.” Her voice cracks as her eyes water, and my own throat constricts.

“Maybe if we talk to Jax, he could spot us some cash for rehab,” I say, trying not to sound like I’m begging.

“Jax wouldn’t understand! He was a bratty kid, and he never loved me! I thought you cared, but maybe you’re just like him! Your dad never wanted to help me either.”

The sound of a ringing cell phone bounces between the walls again , and the endless chirping grates on my nerves so much that the walls start to close in on me. The entire room spins around me as I jam my hand into my pocket and look at the screen.

Jax.

“Luke, baby, I’m your mother. Just give me a little money, just enough for a few pills. I feel like I’m dying .”

Stumbling out of the bathroom, I gag as bile rises up my throat. Unshed tears make my vision hazy as I blindly make my way toward my bedroom. My chest tightens when I struggle to draw in a full breath.

Doing something I swore I would never do, I reach for my wallet and pull out a handful of bills. Then I walk back to the bathroom on autopilot and toss them onto her lap. I walk out without uttering another word, closing my bedroom door behind me, even though I don’t remember walking back.

Sagging against the door, I slide down until I’m sitting on the floor. I squeeze my eyes shut when my cell phone pings, with a text message this time. For a moment, I consider throwing it across the room but think better of it. I pull it back out and stare blearily at the screen.

Jax: Hey buddy, haven’t heard from you in a few days. Everything okay?

Allowing my head to thump against the door, I laugh. The sound is totally devoid of any real humor.

He would hate me if he knew how I’ve betrayed him by keeping this secret. And I wouldn’t blame him.

I’m a shitty brother, a worthless son, a crappy friend, and, if my last relationship is anything to go by, a lousy boyfriend.

During the final rocky, tumultuous days of my last relationship, I had confided my worries to Evelyn.

As the last threads holding Maddison and me together slipped through my fingers, I had convinced myself Evelyn would be warm and receptive to my woes.

That she would know what I should do. Instead, I let her convince me that if my own girlfriend of four years didn’t want me, I must be a worthless partner.

Then my drunk ass had convinced myself that kissing another woman was a good idea—because then, at least I would know someone wanted me.

I had seen the anger and dismay on Jax’s face when he found out.

It had made my stomach constrict, like a wave of acid sloshing around my insides.

And yet, his disapproval could never come close to the utter disappointment I felt in myself.

The dirt on the bottom of my shoe had been more worthy of Maddison than I was.

Alek’s face flashes through my mind, and I laugh humorlessly again.

I’m a mess.

If he’s a smart man, he’ll see I’m too much trouble and stay far away from me.

My own mother hasn’t wanted me around for the majority of my life, and even now, she barely tolerates my presence. Why should Alek be any different?