My Cruel Salvation (Fallen Saint # 3) - J. Kenner Page 0,3

with tears. “She was nice. When you were a baby, she used to pay me to help her. I liked her. She told me to call her Cat. And she was so pretty.” She stroked his hair. “You look like her, you know.”

He scowled, even though he liked hearing that. “I’m not pretty.”

She laughed. “You’re going to be a fine man. Inside and out. You promise me that, okay? For her. You have to be good for her. To make her proud. She loved you so much.”

“My dad doesn’t.”

Her brow furrowed, her eyes darting toward the opening to the kitchen on the far side of the room. No one was in the house then, and they’d see if someone came in through the front door. But if someone came in from the back, they wouldn’t see.

He felt suddenly cold. His father could be in there right now—he could have come in silently through the door from the yard into the kitchen—and Alex had said that out loud. What if his father heard and—

“He does,” Aurelia said. “He … he loves you in his own way.” She nodded, like she was trying to make herself believe it. “But—but you don’t want to make him mad, okay? Promise me you won’t make him mad. He stops—”

She bit her lower lip, then let go of him so that she could hug herself.

“He stops loving you when you make him mad,” Alex said defiantly. Why shouldn’t he say it? It was true.

She blinked, then nodded. “Yes.” The word was a whisper. “But don’t ever say that to anyone but me.”

He felt small then, and alone. He wanted her arm back around him. “I know. I won’t.”

“Good.”

He heard the relief in her voice. He hesitated, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking the question. “It’s not really love, is it?”

Her throat moved as she swallowed. “No. It’s not. And you’re too smart for your own good.”

He smiled because he knew that’s what she wanted. But he didn’t feel smart. If he were smart, he would know how to make her not be scared. He’d know how to not be scared himself. He sat up straighter as an idea occurred to him. “Don’t tell me anything else about my momma,” he said.

“Why not?”

“Because it might make him mad. And people get dead when he gets mad.”

“Alex … you should know about her.”

He nodded slowly. “Okay. But if he finds out, I’ll protect you. I was too little to protect her, but I can protect you. I will. I promise.”

He saw fresh tears in her eyes as she smiled. “You’re a good boy, and you’re going to grow into a good man.” Her voice caught as she continued. “You’re going to be just like your daddy. Strong and powerful and—”

“You fucking bitch.”

Alex froze. He hadn’t seen his father step in through the kitchen doorway. Aurelia must have, though. That was why she’d said that. But it didn’t help. With his father, nothing ever helped.

“You telling that boy about the kind of man he’s going to be? You think because you spread your legs for me that gives you the right to talk to my son like you know who he is?”

“I—no, Daniel. We were just—”

“Fucking little whore. That’s all you’re good for. That’s all any woman is good for, Alejandro. You remember that. You remember the day this worthless bitch sat her cunt self beside you and tried to tell you what kind of man you would be. You’ll be the man I tell you to be. The kind of man you should be. Not some pussy with a woman’s ways. You hear me, boy?”

He lifted his chin, forcing himself not to look at Aurelia, because if he did, he might cry. “Yes, sir.”

“Simpering little bitch is sitting here telling you you’re special, isn’t that right?”

“I—” He swallowed, unsure what to say.

“You,” The Wolf said to Aurelia. “Get out of here.”

She nodded, shot a quick glance toward Alex, then bolted toward the kitchen.

“Special.” His father’s lip curled into a snarl. “You aren’t special, boy. You could be, but you have to work for it. Grow into it. You’re nothing until you do that. You have to make something of yourself. You have to grow your legacy like I did. Grow it bigger than mine. Prove yourself, just like I did with what your grandfather left me, and his father before him. Your great-grandfather started out running alcohol over the border during Prohibition. One of the Tequila People