I shrug. “What could you have done? You were a boy.”
Mateo’s face hardens. “Father, how could he have?—”
“With his dying breath, he admitted I was his biggest regret. I don’t know what I did, but I was never enough. I’m never enough for anyone.” The last part slips out, and I snap my mouth shut in surprise.I shouldn’t have said that.
“You’re more than enough.” Faith’s hand wraps around mine.
Guilt consumes me now, the weight of every wrongdoing too much to carry. “I’m sorry for what happened to you. It shouldn’t have.” Adalene looks shocked, her eyes widening as I say the words. “It was all an accident, a mess I didn’t know how to clean up. I thought I was protecting McCrae but ended up hurting you, and?—”
“Tell us what happened.” Mateo’s voice is gentler than before but firm, and I know he’s not about to take no for an answer. He’s finally cracked inside my frozen wall, and I know in my heart, there’s no pushing him out now.
I don’t even know if I want to, not when it’s so nice to finally feel his warmth seeping in.
THIRTY-EIGHT
VALENTINA
September 21st, 2024
“Be careful with him,”I hiss, feeling equal parts panic and frustration. McCrae grumbles, blowing a piece of hair off his sweat-slicked forehead as he looks over his shoulder at me.
“Do you want to hold him?”
I scowl, looking at the dirt covering the boys clothes. “No way.”
He rolls his eyes at me, and I cross my arms.
I pay McCrae to do my dirty work.
Thehimin question growls beneath McCrae, his feet flailing in an attempt to throw him off. I hold my breath as McCrae lets him flail. If he was a hundred pounds heavier, and a lot more intentional with his energy exertion, he might actually stand a chance—as it is, he reminds me of the boy he so obviously is.
“Just hold still,” McCrae bites out while wrapping a belt around his wrists to keep them tied up.
“Fuck you,” the boy snarls, his cheek pressed against the cool basement floor. It’s relatively clean down here, but I don’tparticularly want him getting some mysterious disease because he spent hours licking the concrete.
As if having a similar thought, McCrae yanks him up by his fresh restraints, pulling his snarling face close to his own. He twists in McCrae’s grip, attempting to— “Did you really just try to bite me, you little fuck?”
I almost laugh. Almost.Something tells me McCrae wouldn’t find humor in that, though.
“Got him? We need to get him out back before the brother’s leave or something.” Unease curls in my stomach. They’re likely looking for him right now, and if it comes to a fight, I’ll be of no help to McCrae. The brothers have become quite a nuisance at the casino—stealing every chance they get, like they don’t think I notice.
I’m too fucking smart for that.
Still, if they’re desperate, who knows what they’re capable of?
“They won’t leave without the baby,” McCrae reassures me, and the kid yanks on his restraints, his eyes flashing as he bites again on the shirt wrapped between his teeth.
“Some people know a lost cause when they see one, McCrae. Not all people are dogs with a rotten bone like you.”
He glares at me over his shoulder. It’s clear he regrets telling me about his brother, but I don’t have time to worry about that right now. We need to get this kid out of here.
McCrae stands, pulling the writhing twat with him, when his phone rings, the vibration loud in the silent basement. “Grab that, will you?”
I reach into his pocket, withdrawing it, but I stop, staring at the name.
“Who is it?” he grumbles, the kid throwing his head around as McCrae fights to keep control of him.
“Mateo. He’s called twice.”That can’t be good.
