A Dirty Business (Kings of New York #1)(10)

“Oh gawd, shut up.” A stair creaked upstairs. She was coming from the bathroom. “What are you doing here at this hour?”

I did a full scan as she came around the stairs corner, tugging her robe closed in front of her. Chelsea Montell was a spitfire sixty-four-year-old. Dark hair that had only a few grays in it and a naturally beautiful face that had aged well so she looked in her older forties instead. She was rail thin. What calories didn’t fill her body, her spirit did instead. A crass mouth at times, a penchant for cursing like a trucker, she really enjoyed her booze. I got a strong whiff and guessed that she’d stuffed a bottle of vodka away before coming down here.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Mom.” She made a face, the makeup from last night still caked all over her, but she wasn’t looking me in the eye. Her free hand was holding tight to the railing. “I was just ‘Ma’ a second ago. Now I’m ‘Mom.’ What happened to the ‘Ma’ greeting?” She came to the bottom step and paused a second to get her bearings. Her body was unsteady before she turned, still not looking at me, and headed for the kitchen.

I went around through the living room and the dining room and used the second entrance to the kitchen. She was just making her way past the fridge. I put her coffee on the middle island. “I got you Marco’s.”

She raised her head a little, making a show of taking a whiff. A genuine smile pulled at her mouth, but she didn’t look at me. Still focusing on the steps in front of her. “Smells delicious, honey. Thank you.”

Honey. I was a “honey” now that I got Marco’s for her.

I coughed, clearing my throat. “Is the bathroom still not working down here?” I didn’t wait, heading for the stairs. “I’ll be right back.”

“Wait. No!”

I ignored her, hurrying up the stairs. “Hold on, Mom! I’ve got the flow. You have any old tampons up here?”

She yelled something back, but I went into her bathroom and shut the door.

Then I went to town, but she always hid the booze in the same places. It just changed rooms. This time, I opened the bathroom closet door and took a breath before reaching back behind the pile of towels reserved for guests. My hand found something round and solid, and I pulled it out.

Vodka. I’d been right.

It was a new bottle too.

I reached back, seeing if there was more. There wasn’t, not in this room, and she wouldn’t let me check the other rooms. She’d be hammering up at me, so I unscrewed it, poured 80 percent of it down the toilet, flushed, and refilled it with water from the tap. I wiped it off, screwed the cap on, and put it back.

I hated this, whatever this was. A game? What we both knew, what we’d had so many fights over, all the insults, the ultimatums, the tears. All of it reduced to this game now where we both knew, but we both didn’t speak up. Losing Dad, and then Isaac, had taken its toll on both of us.

I said a prayer under my breath that she wouldn’t realize the vodka was watered down for a while. Was I even right to do what I just did? I had no idea, but it was what it was.

I hurried back down the stairs and smiled. “False emergency. I found one in my purse.”

She was at the end of the stairs, suspicion on her face. One of her hands was propped on her waist, and she’d forgotten her robe wasn’t tied closed. There was a small opening now, and I saw she was dressed in black leggings and a sweater that she usually reserved for bingo down the block. She hadn’t changed clothes.

She’d slept in those clothes. Or passed out in those clothes.

I blinked, pretending I didn’t see them, and sailed past her to the kitchen. After grabbing my coffee, I went back out and stepped to her. “I gotta go, Mom. Love you. Let me know when you want me to bring dinner, yeah?”

She didn’t say a word but moved in when I kissed her on the cheek.

I moved back, going for the door. “Love you again.”

The door closed behind me, and I took a breath, one, before resolving that I needed to get those steps fixed.





CHAPTER TEN


TRACE


Uncle Steph was the head of our family’s business, and when Uncle Steph called to have you come by, you did what he said. I’d put the call through to my assistant to have all my meetings rescheduled for the day, and instead of heading toward my office on Wall Street, I was being driven back to Red Hook.

We were halfway there when my phone began buzzing.

Ashton calling.

I hit accept. “Hey.”

“You’re heading to your uncle?”

I had texted him earlier. “Yeah.”

“You want me to come?”

“No. Uncle Steph only calls for a few reasons, and I’m guessing this has something to do with my father.”

“Let me know when you’re done.”

“I will.”

Ashton’s family and my family worked together at times and at other times were very separate. I had a feeling this meeting was a very separate thing, but I’d have to see. We were pulling up to my uncle’s house when I got a text.

Blocked Number: Here’s more information on her. Check out the mom situation.

I sighed but put my phone away. I’d have to look into that after the meeting. We pulled into the driveway and went to the back, and there were some of our family’s men waiting for me.