Oh, he knew I smoked, except he never cared. But Brad Coulter didn’t want me to set a bad example in front of his business partners; his image had always been more important than my health.
“You don’t smoke in my house,” he hissed in my face, taking a threatening step toward me. There was a time when my father was taller and bigger than me. He used to be intimidating, and his words were law in our house. But that time was long gone.
Now, I was bigger… taller… meaner.
He didn’t scare me.
Now, he just pissed me off more often than not.
“I’ve been smoking since I was thirteen. Never knew we had a rule. You didn’t seem to care before, father.”
His lips curled up in disgust, and I felt it. I fucking felt it – his anger, his disappointment, his revulsion. My hands clenched into fists, and I exhaled through my nose. At a young age, I had quickly learned how to mask my emotions until I became a solid wall of nothingness. You’d cut me open, and you’d find something hollow inside.
“I constantly question if you really are my son.”
When I was seven years old, my heart had frozen in my chest. But his words, to this day, could still burn me like acid in my veins. My father held an arrow in his hand, the tip of it aflame, and it was aimed right at my chest – my goddamn heart was his target.
“Nah. I’m definitely your son. You’re an asshole, I’m an asshole. It runs in our blood.”
His blue eyes – the same as mine, darkened and his face was vicious.
“Brad.” My mother’s soft voice interrupted us. “They’re waiting. Let’s go. Maddox, go back to your room. This deal is important to your father.”
I heard her unspoken words. Please, for Christ’s sake, don’t ruin it.
He took a step back, his jaw hard and twitching. Without sparing me another glance, he walked away. I saw the look in my mother’s eyes, her parted lips, and I waited for her to say something. But there was nothing left to say, so she walked away, too.
And so, I’d been dismissed. I saw my parents after three weeks, and without even a greeting, I had been brushed off and forgotten. Yet again.
Just like ten years ago…
When I had needed them the most. I was left behind, locked away in the dark… forgotten.
“Maddox,” she purred in my ear again. I blinked, the past going out of focus, and I crashed landed in the present.
I had called Colton after the ‘fight’ with my father. He didn’t have to ask me questions, he knew what I needed. So, here we were. Crashing Leighton’s party, knowing full well we were about to piss off a whole bunch of people.
Yeah, that was exactly what I needed.
A good fight, a good fuck.
Marley – wait, no – Madison rubbed her hands over my chest and shoulders. “You’re so big and strong. So hard, in all the right places.”
She was so eager to please me, so eager to be just another girl on my list.
My fingers tangled in her hair, twisting the thick blonde strands around my fist. My knuckles dug into her scalp, and she winced, before quickly hiding it with a fake-ass smile. Without care, I pushed her on the ground. She collapsed to her knees with a low whine, her wide eyes blinking up at me, unfocused, confused, and with way too many expectations.
Her pink lips parted, waiting, and I figured why-the-fuck-not. With one hand, I unbuckled my jeans. “Let’s put your deepthroating skills to good use, shall we?”
Her face lit up, and she scooted closer between my thighs. Maybe she wouldn’t be such a bad lay after all. At least she was willing to suck dick. Some bitches thought they were too pretty and fancy to be on their knees.
A loud snarl came from outside, making all of us pause. There was more shouting, and through my hazy mind, I realized Colton was no longer in the same room. Brayden and Cole looked at each other, too, confused.
“Isn’t he from Berkshire?” The whispers started to get louder.
Brayden and Cole shot off the couch at the same time as me. Miss-Fake-Tits shrieked as she fell back hard on her ass. “What the hell?”
No fucks were given.
I buckled up my jeans before marching outside, Brayden and Cole following closely behind. Ah shit.
Colton was standing in the middle of the front lawn, smiling like a goddamn maniac, while he