Page 52 of The Sweetest Cruelty: Hudson (A Sawyer Brothers Story #1)

HUDSON

I slung the KNKG duffel over my shoulder and pushed my earbuds in—anything to drown out Micha’s shitty taste in music.

As I came to the bottom of the stairs, I stopped. Lowering my head, I strained to hear. My tunes had yet to kick in, and I could hear Ma talking to someone in the hallway. The voice was low and deep, and I couldn’t identify it at first.

Yanking my earbuds out, I pushed them into my pocket and dropped down another two steps. The gym bag slid from my shoulder to my chest.

“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t important.”

I balled my hands into fists, telling myself to calm down.

It didn’t take me long to identify the voice of Principal Dick.

The thought of him in my house instantly got my back up, and I ground my teeth together hard.

Sure, things had moved on with Molly to a deeper place, but that still didn’t mean I had to like her old man.

As far as I was concerned, they were two different people and nothing alike.

He had spent his time in my life, knocking me down when Molly had only ever tried to lift me.

In all truth, it would only be the second home visit in all the years I had known him.

The first was to check why I hadn’t been to school in over two weeks.

Usually, one of the lower-key school officials carried out such checks, but nope.

I got the head honcho. It was the first time I received a letter from my father.

What could I say? I wasn’t myself at the time.

Hence the need for a time-out. My therapist had gone through the proper channels when she’d suggested I be home-schooled for two weeks, but Principal Dick just had to stick his nose in where it didn’t belong.

I had hated Miller’s last visit as he’d come to talk about all the exams I’d missed.

The man had looked at me with such disappointment that it had pushed my buttons.

That was the first time I realized that I cared what the fucker thought of me.

And I’d been rebelling against that fact ever since.

It didn’t make any difference what I did.

Miller had never liked me, and so what? The feeling was mutual, irrespective of the fact I gave two shits about his opinions .

They must have been just around the corner, by the kitchen door.

I felt irritated that Miller stood between me and my daily protein shake.

I had intended to hit the weight room before school, but I doubted that would happen now, unless he said what he needed to say and then fucked off quickly.

Knowing Miller, the guy usually liked to drag things out and always strived for the last word.

That made two of us, which was why our discussions lasted so long.

Even in all the years we had known each other.

We had never been in an agree-to-disagree compromise situation.

That’s what happens when stubborn meets stubborner.

Principal Miller had always managed to piss me off more than any other member of school staff.

I wasn’t stupid. I knew my issue with authority was the catalyst for that.

So, sue me, I acted up around alpha male types who tried to act like the boss and tell me what to do.

I accepted my therapist’s analysis that they reminded me too much of my father.

I wasn’t ignorant of my aversion towards authority figures; I’d been having that conversation with Dr. Friedkin for years.

That still didn’t help me navigate my way through it, though.

“Is this an official visit, Richard?” I heard Ma say in a firm voice.

She was protective of her pack. Even where the principal of the school was concerned.

My mother knew we’d never seen eye to eye and that the jerk-off had been on my case for years.

Ma had been called to the principal’s office several times over the last few years.

Leaning forward, I heard Richard Miller reply. “No, Bethany. It’s not.” Dick using her given name ticked me off even more. Since when did they become tight enough for first names? “It’s a personal matter,” he added softly.

So, his visit had nothing to do with school? OK.

“So, if it isn’t official, my son doesn’t have to see you if he doesn’t want to?” Ma was letting him know she wouldn’t be dictated to in her own house. Whenever Ma called me her son, it sent a wave of warmth through me. It made me feel like I belonged there.

“That’s right. But I only need five minutes of his time.”

“So why don’t you catch him at school?”

My gut twisted as I continued to eavesdrop. “As I said. This isn’t about school, and that wouldn’t be an appropriate place to talk. It won’t take long.”

Clearing my throat and straightening my shoulders, I strolled down the last few steps.

As I rounded the corner, I saw him, in all his annoying glory.

“It’s fine, Ma,” I said, dropping my gym bag on the floor next to the front door.

The sea of shoes there told me my other brothers had yet to leave for school.

I imagined Micah may not make it. I’d fucked his face up pretty good.

I didn’t usually go for knocking the piss out of my brothers.

But did I feel any guilt about hurting Micah?

Nope. He had it coming. I blocked the image of my fist connecting with his pretty-boy nose from my mind.

That didn’t mean I wanted to relive it either.

Dude was lucky his black ass hid bruises better.

I still had to come up with a plan to pay his fricking debt back before those higher in the pecking order decided to visit us.

I could deal with ten Xanders, but who knew what those above him looked like?

Two and a half large doesn’t sound like a big deal, but…

You don’t owe drug dealers, not even a dime.

It sends the wrong message to their clientele that they don’t mind debts.

IOUs were a foreign word in those types of circles.

You didn’t get away with owing them shit, not without a few bones being broken.

Ma and Dick’s heads had snapped towards mine as I sauntered over.

I narrowed my eyes at Miller before turning towards my mother. Ma had her arms crossed in a defensive stance as they faced me. She gave me a meaningful look. “Are you sure Hudson?”

I cast my eyes over Principal Miller’s six-foot-plus frame, dwarfing my mother with his bulk. Irrespective of his pompous suit, I knew the man could handle himself. “Yeah,” I replied with a dark look. My eyes never left Molly’s father’s.

And then it hit me. He’s there for her. Did he know I was in her room last night? So, what if he did? It’s not like anything happened.

I had been sexually suggestive towards her, but Molly’s room had felt too girly for sex.

That still hadn’t stopped me thinking about defiling her in front of all her stuffed animals.

What was it with girls and that shit? Even Harper’s room was littered with rabbits and unicorns, and she wasn’t girly at all.

If we had fucked, I reckon Molly’s cat would have watched too.

With those large, penetrative green eyes, he certainly had that pervert vibe about him.

I blinked away those thoughts, realising that no one was speaking.

After that moment of silence, Ma dropped her hands, saying. “Well, I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.” The look she gave Miller could have melted glass.

Once she had left, I moved to stand in front of him. I didn’t gesture to the living space as I knew what he had come to say.

“I guess you’re not here to drive me to school,” I smirked on an exhale.

I so couldn’t be dealing with this shit.

My ribs and face were still aching from fighting the night before.

Plus, I hadn’t had much sleep. Too many sexually depraved dreams about this man’s daughter in her paw print PJs. Oh, the irony.

“No, not quite. What did you do to your face?” he questioned with a flick of his head. I noticed he’d started to go grey at the temples. The stress of attempting to rule Harbor Heights, no doubt.

My throat flexed on a hard swallow before I said. “I tripped.”

“Sure, you did,” Miller replied, his nostrils flaring. I fought back the urge to punch him in the nuts.

After a minute or so, I asked. “Well then. What can I do for you, Mr. Miller?”

And for once in his life, he got straight to the point.

“What’s your relationship with my daughter?” The words seemed to echo around the space. He must have known I’d seen Molly last night. A hint of panic rose in my throat.

“Excuse me?” I replied, stalling for time.

He wasn’t impressed., “Molly. You’re relationship with her.”

Shrugging, I shoved my hands into the pockets of my school pants. “Who says I have one?”

Miller’s mouth curled, and he shot me a ‘nice try’ expression. “The fact that I saw you leaving my house in the early hours of this morning.”

Busted. The reason he was there didn’t just dawn on me, it hit me smack bang in the ball sack.

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh.” I could tell from the twist of his features that he found that fact unpalpable. I wondered if he’d spoken to Molly before he came to my house. That thought didn’t sit well with me.

I was done being pushed around by jerks like Miller. Molly must have inherited her personality from her mother as she was nothing like this dipshit. “You were saying,” he said.

I rocked back on my heels. I was aware of Ma behind us in the kitchen, in hearing distance. “I wasn’t saying a damn thing. I dropped by. Doesn’t mean anything is going on. Maybe I just called by to say hey.”

“Really? So, you usually visit girls in the middle of the night, just to say hey? On second thoughts. Don’t answer that.”