“That isn’t your fault,” Damien says. “Just because his dad is MIA–”
“What?” I ask, looking over at him.
“The father,” Damien says. “He’s not in the picture.”
I swallow hard, suddenly having a difficult time meeting his eyes.
“He, uh…he doesn’t know. The father, I mean. That’s why he hasn’t been around.”
“Do you know who he is?” Damien asks.
I chew my lip for a moment, trying to decide how to answer that. “I have an idea, but it’s really, really complicated.”
I can feel Damien’s eyes on me as he studies me. When I don’t say anything else, he changes the subject back to Luca. “How does he do at school?”
“He’s quiet. He loves art and math. At recess, he plays alone a lot. Just kind of does his own thing.”
“Does he get bullied?” Damien asks while watching Luca.
“Sometimes,” I answer softly, and his jaw clenches.
“I can relate to that,” he says.
“You got bullied? By who?” I don’t know why it surprises me, but it does. I guess because I can’t imagine anyone bullying Damien. He doesn’t take shit from anyone.
“Kids. Teachers. My father. Everyone really,” he answers.
“I bet your mom had a hard time watching that,” I say, and Damien’s face hardens a little.
“My mom died when I was little,” he says, and my stomach bottoms out.
“Oh. I’m sorry,” I say quickly.
“You didn’t know. Most people don’t. I don’t like talking about it. I had no family other than my father, and he was less than kind. I grew up in survival mode. I was taught to be hard and shown that love only brings pain.”
I have no idea what to say about that, but it really does explain a lot.
“Have you considered putting him in another school?” he asks. “Maybe a private school for gifted kids?”
“I thought about it,” I answer. “But when I looked into it, there was no way I could afford it.”
“Well, you can now,” he says. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Luca waves over to us and smiles–at Damien. “I found another one!” he calls out.
“Another octopus?” Damien asks, standing up.
“Yes! Like at the restaurant. There’s one here too. Twice as big!”
Damien saunters over to Luca, and my heart tightens in my chest. His backside is soaking wet from the slide, but he doesn’t care. Office Damien would care. Opal Room Damien would care. But this Damien, this Damien that I only recently met, that I didn’t know existed, he doesn’t care that his expensive clothes are drenching from a water slide. He doesn’t care that people are staring. All he seems to care about is making sure Luca is okay.
He has no idea.
And it’s enough to break my heart.
Chapter 33
Damien
