Alessia (Casella Cousins #4) - Kathryn Shay Page 0,5
down the application. At the end, he saw official withdrawal, dated a week ago.
For a minute, Derek got mad. These people were monsters.
That’s why you’re here, Grant had told him. To fight for those who don’t have anybody to help.
Well, they had him now. He’d help this kid. He’d go to the boarding house to check on him. Then he’d get ready for his date, the woman who could be partly responsible for Stuart’s capture.
* * *
He awoke. God, he was sore all over. Where was he? Had he gotten beat up on the street again? He could only open one eye. Even then, the room was fuzzy. He could tell the place was small, with no windows, and he was lying on a mattress with a sickening smell. But he couldn’t move much. Had he gotten drunk? This is what the after effects felt like.
The door to the room opened. In walked a big man carrying a bag. He wore a black mask, crossed to Stuart and loomed over him. “You’re gonna need to improve your appearance, but not yet.” He took a syringe out of the bag. What the hell? He stuck the needle in Stuart’s arm and the prick was painful.
As the world began to spin, the guy added. “Now, let’s get you used to what’s in store for your future.”
The man took out something long and thin. Roughly he turned Stuart over. Yanked down his pants. And whipped him. “Ow, owww…”
“Yeah, you gotta learn to control that howling.”
Finally, the beating stopped. Then he heard the jingling of a belt buckle. Jesus, the guy dropped his pants and climbed on top of Stuart, yanked him up to his knees.
What came next was the most horrific thing anyone ever did to him in his life.
* * *
“I’m not gonna stay with Grandma and Grandpa.”
Alessia turned from the bed, where a suitcase sat next to a pile of clothes she was packing for the weekend. “I’m sorry you don’t want to go to their house. And that’s okay because it’s what you feel. But you have to do it.”
Her shaggy-hair, dark-eyed son stared back at her with mutiny on his face. Tall and lanky like Billy, sometimes he could be stubborn like his dad. “I’m twelve. I can stay alone. Twelve-year-old kids babysit, Mom.”
“Parents leave their kids with someone that age for only a few hours. This is a whole weekend, honey.”
“So?”
“You’re too young to be alone Friday night through Sunday. What if you fell and got hurt? Burned yourself cooking, or God forbid, someone broke in?”
He shrugged.
A pang of sympathy for her son shot through Alessia. Adolescence was hard for him. It was worsened by the fact that he had no father. God, she wished Billy was here to help him navigate these murky waters. But Billy wasn’t here so it was up to her.
“Come on downstairs, we’ll talk.”
Once in the living room, he dropped onto the sofa. She sat on the coffee table in front of him. She took his hand and he tried to pull it back, but she wouldn’t let go. “Talk to me, Pete.”
“I don’t wanna be in their house. It smells like old people.”
“Honey, your grandparents are only sixty.”
He straightened, his tension obvious.
“What else?”
“It’s boring. They watch TV, we eat, they go to bed. Mattie and Mikey won’t even be there.”
Her twins had been invited to stay over a friend’s house. Alessia and the mother were well-acquainted and she wanted the boys for the weekend.
“Maybe your grandparents will let you bring a friend. Jason’s here all the time. I’ll bet he’d like to come.”
Pete’s face lightened. She got a glimpse of her little boy again. “Really?”
“I’ll call and ask them. Meanwhile, why don’t you check with Jason? If he can’t come today, maybe his mom can bring him tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Alessia went into the kitchen, took her cell from her pocket, and punched in the Benatti’s number. “Hello, dear.”
“Hi, Mom. Would it be all right if Pete brought a friend?”
“Oh, dear. Two teenage boys?”
“I’ll exact promises from them that they’ll behave. It’ll probably be easier for you if he has someone there to occupy his time. And I love the boy he’d bring.”
Her mother-in-law excused herself to ask Billy’s dad for permission. When she came back on, she said, “Yes, that would be all right.”
“Thanks, Mom. See you soon.”
When she re-entered the room, Pete stood up from the couch. His young face was animated. “Jason said yes. He can come today. He can be ready