Page 2 of His Princess

I took pleasure in the way his eyes burned with anger. Good. He’d lived under our—my—roof for too long without consequences. Bethany had let him chase all his whims because he was her son, but he wasn’t mine, at least, not by blood. On paper, he was my stepson, but he was a late teen by the time Bethany and I had met. He meant nothing to me.

“She’s gone now, so what are you going to do, Princess?”

I’d never called him a princess before today, but the moment the nickname slipped into my mind, it felt appropriate. Quin was a spoiled princess in every way.

Until now.

His chest heaved and his glare deepened. He tried to jerk his chin from my hold, but he didn’t stand a chance. My grip was too tight and rough, and I could already see the redness that grew from the grasp of my fingers.

“I’ll find her,” he whispered furiously.

I grunted out another chuckle. “And where would she go? Think about that real hard. She has no family except you, and she decided to leave you here.” I finally released him, and he stumbled backward away from me. “Check for yourself. Her stuff is gone. You were left here with me because she didn’t want you.”

He shook his head, touching a hand to his chest and the glittery blue top he wore. “You’re full of it.”

I waved my hand. “Go check.”

His nostrils flared as he spun around on his shiny black boots. He stormed out of the den, and I let my amusement get the better of me. I grabbed my tumbler and followed him. The den was close to the stairs, and I shadowed him as he took two steps at a time to get to the second floor.

He went to my bedroom first, and I stopped at the threshold as he strode inside and yanked open the doors to the walk-in closet. I’d already checked that when I’d gotten home, and Bethany’s side was mostly empty, all her favorite designer shoes and clothes gone, along with her Valentino bags.

When he exited, his face was drawn in hurt, but he ignored me as he marched across the room to the attached bathroom. All Bethany’s lotions, potions, and makeup were gone, too, and her black Versace robe wasn’t there, either.

“Well?” I called out, snickering when I heard something clatter to the tiles.

He shoved his way out of the bathroom and past me, knocking my shoulder as he went. I followed him as he headed toward Bethany’s craft room, a place where she sewed and painted in her spare time, which was every hour of the day because she was a stay-at-home wife.

My work paid for the massive house we lived in and all the expensive possessions she’d liked to buy. I’d never expected her to leave me because she loved the lifestyle too much, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d found herself a new man to leech from. Bethany hadn’t come from money, but she’d always been beautiful and had always been able to seduce her way into getting what she wanted.

Everyone has talents, and hers was right between her legs.

Like the closet and bathroom in my bedroom, her belongings from the craft room were gone, and the space felt incredibly bare. She’d taken her easels but had left the sewing machine and material she’d bought.

Quin stood in the middle of the naked area, his gaze slowly wandering around until he turned toward me. His mouth curled downward, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Why would she leave without me?”

If I’d been a softer man, I might’ve felt sorry for him, but I didn’t. I shook my head. “Like I said, Princess, she must’ve had enough of paying your way.”

He bared his teeth at me, a wild animal. “She never paid for anything in her life.”

I couldn’t help but agree with that one. I took a sip of my whiskey and stared at him carefully. “Hmm, what are we going to do about you? I won’t have you living here now that your mom’s gone.”

His eyes widened and his naturally strawberry-pink lips popped open. “I can’t.... I’m still in college. I have nowhere else to go. I didn’t get a dorm room.”

I shrugged and downed the rest of the alcohol, letting the liquid burn its way to my stomach. Perfect. The warmth of the whiskey settled in my middle and the comfort that came from the familiar sensation had me loose enough that I let my gaze slide down his body again, taking in the sharp angles and forgiving lines. He truly was beautiful, and with some soft makeup, he could almost be a woman. “That’s not my problem. You’re not my responsibility.”

His mouth closed again and his eyes darkened. He crossed his arms and peered around the room carefully. “Mom will come back. She’ll be mad at you if you toss me out.”

I threw my head back and laughed. “She’s not coming back, Princess. She’s gone. We haven’t been happy for a while now. Your whore of a mother cheated on me.”

“She wouldn’t,” he snarled, those teeth bared toward me again. He reminded me of a yappy Chihuahua, angry and protective, and he was more responsive than Bethany had ever been. She’d never quite mastered the art of being a mother, and while she’d spoiled Quin, she’d treated him more as a best friend than a son. I didn’t think he knew how a mother should act.

“She did,” I drawled in response. I stepped into the room and placed the empty tumbler on a table near the door, then took a slow lap around the bare space. Even when she’d been in here, when she wasn’t dancing around half naked downstairs, she’d drunk the hours away while she’d painted. She’d had her music loud as she’d bellowed songs. She’d always been off tune, and when I’d first married her, I’d thought it was cute.

The feeling had lasted right up until I’d seen another man inside her.

Her hatred for me, however, had grown within six months of our marriage. She’d always said I’d expected too much from her.

“You want me to be a housewife. Barefoot and fucking pregnant and doing all the chores. You expect dinner on the table when you come home. This isn’t the fucking fifties, Colt!”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com