Page 104 of Toxic Temptation
“And let me guess—you‘need’ alone time with your latest toy, so you foist off the boy on this fuckinghui s’gory.”
Vesper starts to speak, but I step in front of her again and tuck her behind me. “Waylen, take Luka upstairs for his math lesson, please.”
“Of course.” For once, Waylen doesn’t argue. He takes Luka’s hand and they disappear up the stairs.
As soon as they’re gone, Yana whirls on me. “You’re turning him against me!” she shrieks, waving a manicured nail in my face.
“Why would I need to intervene? You’re doing that just fine on your own.”
“You bastard!” She rocks forward, fists rising.
Before I can react, Vesper jumps between us, grabbing Yana’s hand and shoving her stumbling backward.
“Are you insane?” Vesper hisses in my sister-in-law’s face. “Kovan is taking care of your son. He deserves respect. You ought to be kissing his feet in gratitude.”
Yana focuses on Vesper. I don’t like the way she pauses or licks her lips. “Well, well. It talks.”
Vesper doesn’t look cowed in the least. She turns up her nose at Yana. “Leave the high school bullshit for the girls thirty years younger than you, yeah? We’re both adults who both want what’s best for Luka. Let’s have a real conversation. Think you can manage that?”
Yana looks like she’s been hit by a truck. She’s used to escalation. Dramatics. She’s used to fist fights and flying tables. She’s used to screaming matches in Bergdorf Goodman’s and confrontations on private jets.
Being confronted with calm, unfazed maturity is foreign territory.
As expected, she does not handle it well.
“‘Conversation’? What would I say to a cheap, gold-digging whore who?—”
“That’s enough,” I snarl, my low tone cutting her high-pitched squeal in half. “You will not speak to her like that.”
An irate laugh bursts from her ruby red lips. “Oh, that’s good, Kovan. Very good. I almost believe you care about this trailer park tramp.”
“Do you even care what you’re doing to your son?” Vesper’s voice shakes with controlled fury. “You saw his face. He was terrified. Children shouldn’t be scared of their parents.”
“What do you know about being a parent?”
“I had a great one. So I know more than you think. I’m not sure Luka can say the same.”
“You fucking bitch!”
“I’m not the one who stormed in here looking for a fight. You want your son back? Start acting like a grown-up. Better yet, start acting like his mother.”
Yana’s face turns purple. Two veins in her forehead become visibly blue, throbbing like they might burst.
“How dare you?—”
“Yana, calm down,” I interrupt. “I brought Luka to your place at the agreed time. We waited thirty minutes. You were a no-show. That’s on you.”
She doesn’t hear me or doesn’t care. “I won’t let you steal my son, you son of a bitch! I’m his mother, you hear me?! His fucking mother!”
I hold up a hand and point toward the door. “You need to leave. Now.”
“I’ll leave when I’m good and ready.” Her eyes zip to Vesper. “Why does this bitch get more time with my son than I do?”
To my surprise, Vesper steps forward, shoulders squared like a boxer. “Call me a bitch one more time, you fucking junkie.”
“I’ll call you worse, you cunt. I will destroy you!”
Vesper snorts. “How? You barely come up to my waist.”
