Making a left, he drove up the side road that led him through the affluent area of town. The houses grew larger and farther apart as he continued down the street. Drake made a left onto the last driveway, seeing a red sports car sitting there. His lips tightened when he saw his ex-wife sitting behind the wheel.
Drake parked his car next to hers.
“Why is she here?” Jace groaned. “I called and told her you were picking us up. I have homework. I can’t deal with her tonight.”
“Go inside. She’s not here to see you.”
The boys climbed out of the car. Jace flung his hand up in a wave toward his mother as his only acknowledgment of her before going into the house with Cal. Drake knew he wasn’t going to be as lucky.
Getting out of the car, he made sure to press the lock button. Stephanie had gone through his car several times when she wanted to snoop into his life. He then walked toward his front door without giving her a glance.
“Drake! We need to talk.” Stephanie jumped out of her car.
“We have nothing to talk about. Jace has homework.”
“Drake, please, can’t I at least come in? We need to talk.”
Despite knowing the manipulative bitch she was, how she could look all soft and sweet still surprised him.
“We have nothing to say. The last time I let you in to talk about Jace, it took me a week to get you out.” The manipulative bitch had pretended to trip over an extension cord and sprain her ankle. She had spent the week in his spare bedroom, until he had thrown her ass out.
“I’m not here to talk about Jace. I want to talk about the new woman you’ve been seeing.”
“It’s none of your business.”
Stephanie ran a shaky hand through her dyed platinum-blonde hair. “I heard you’re seeing that slut from The Last Riders. Is it true?”
“Her name is Bliss, and you’re the last person who should be calling another woman a slut.”
“I don’t want her around my son.”
“Why?” With each woman he dated, she had a different reason for him to stop seeing them. It was usually worse when she was between men. And Jace had told him after his last visit to her house that her husband of two years had moved out, which meant she was between men at that moment.
“Because she’s a slut, and Jace is at an impressionable age. I don’t plan on my son getting his sexual education from a woman like that.”
“You’re really fucked-up, you know that?” He would rather have Bliss tell him honestly about her sexual past than a woman like Stephanie, who would still attempt to pretend she was a virgin if everyone in town didn’t know Jace was her son and she had been married numerous times.
“Don’t talk like that to me! I have the right to control who is or isn’t allowed around my son!”
“You didn’t give a damn about bringing in every asshole in Treepoint and fucking them behind my back when he was a kid.”
“I told you it was only one time.”
“Stephanie, you don’t have to lie anymore. We’re not married. I quit caring how many men had fucked you when I walked in and saw Jared fucking you doggy-style while my kid was eating a bowl of cereal in the kitchen!”
Stephanie had probably been with as many men as Bliss, but she considered herself above her. She was lying even to herself. Bliss, on the other hand, was blunt about what she wanted from him, making no effort to lie about the men in her past. She painted the darkest picture of herself and made no apologies about it. He could still see her defiant face when she had told him about having sex with all of The Last Riders. Truth he could respect; it was lies that destroyed.
His ex-wife took a step forward, pressing her breasts against him. “Please, Drake, I’ve never gotten over you. I made a terrible mistake—”
“Yes, you did. You made another if you think I would ever give you another chance. I’ve told you to keep your nose out of my business. Bliss is no concern of yours. Don’t make me regret giving you visitation with Jace.”
“He’s almost eighteen. It will be up to him how often he sees me.”
“Yes, it will,” Drake agreed, knowing Stephanie would be lucky to see Jace once a year when the decision was left up to him.
“I didn’t come by to start an argument. If you change your mind, just call me. I’m willing to take you any way I can get you, Drake.”
“I won’t be calling. I’m giving you a heads-up now. I like Bliss, and I plan on seeing more of her. I don’t want you to give her any shit. If you do, you’ll be dealing with me, and you know how I’ll deal with you, don’t you?”