TAINTED (book II)

XVII

Carla entered through the front door with pockets filled with money and a conscience filled with immorality. She took the time to take off her coat and heels, wondering why the house had gone eerily quiet. It was only eight in the evening, there was no way the kids had already gone to bed this early.

Carla found Adrien sitting at the kitchen table, not facing her. All the lights were off except for the one in the cooker hood. Adrien was aimlessly poking his fork into an apple pie while nursing a beer in his other hand.

"Where are the kids?" she questioned as she rounded the table. She took a seat and reached for her own piece of pie. The sweet taste of cinnamon tingled her taste buds. "Mhm, this is good. Did Jade bake this?"

"She did," Adrien answered with a drawl. "I helped. She's a natural. I wonder who she got it from – 'cause I know for a fact that we can't even make boiled eggs even if our lives depended on it."

"Speak for yourself," Carla snorted. "How's Noah? Has his fever gone down?"

"I don't know."

"You didn't check? If he doesn't get better in the morning, we're gonna have to make a doctor's appointment."

"Already done," Adrien muttered around the rim of his beer.

"You took him?" Carla's voice laced with surprise but she was mostly impressed. She stuffed her mouth with another bite of apple pie. "So what did the doctor say? He probably just told you to keep him hydrated and to let him rest for a few days. Did they give you a prescription for painkillers? I think we ran out of ibuprofen but I have something that'll do the same thing. Not sure if it's suitable for kids but I'll just cut the pills in half."

Adrien merely hummed, staring off into space.

Carla eyed him before kicking his leg under the table. Adrien barely reacted, he just blinked and lifted the beer back to his lips.

"What's up with you?" she studied him closely. She spotted four other empty beer bottles on the counter and a few in the sink. "Are you drunk?"

Adrien chuckled, his lips cracked into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I didn't take Noah to see a doctor. His brother did."

"His brother? Which one? Jordan? It was Jordan wasn't it?" Carla rambled, running both hands through her hair, briefly locking her hands behind her head. "He came into my house – he saw you, didn't he?"

"Not Jordan. Tristan," he corrected monotonously. "And yes, he saw me."

Carla paused as she took it all in. Every possible scenario flashed in front of her eyes. She always suspected that her sons knew Adrien was back. There was a reason she never told them, there was a reason why she tried to keep the boys and Adrien away from each other. But as she scrutinized Adrien, looking for signs of cuts and bruises, all she saw was a drunk man wallowing in his own misery.

And that's when it dawned on her. "He took the kids."

Adrien's shoulders sagged as he poked at the pie. "Jade didn't even get to taste her apple pie. She was so excited, you should have seen her Carla. Her entire face lit up when she came up with the idea. She said it was Noah's favorite and that he would feel so much better."

"They can't do that," she gritted out, angrily picking at her red nail polish. "They can't just barge into my fucking home and take them whenever they please."

"I found a picture of Noah when he was a toddler, never knew he used to have curls just like Jade. It reminded me of my mother, she used to have these wild blonde curls. Do you remember? I wonder if Jade got it from her grandmother. Noah seemed to have grown out of it now, starting to look just like me. He really needs a haircut by the way."