Page 58 of Promise to Break

Killian stands, cutting the arrogant asshole off mid-sentence. He still holds me to him with an arm around my waist and waits for me to steady myself. The moment I do, Killian takes Emanuel by the collar and drags him to the floor.

"Keep in mind," Killian begins, his tone murderous, "you are in this school because of me." I gulp, imagining he sounds just like that before he kills.

"I–I—"

"I–I," Killian mocks. "You must have forgotten that you're here because you almost killed the Baroness of England with nuts while the whole country knew about her deadly allergy. Your career was dead, and I gave it several attempts at CPR. But you didn't land this job because of your talent or because of my benevolent heart. You know why I saved your ass?" He doesn't wait for an answer as he pushes Emanuel's head to the floor. "It was because my mother likes your chocolate gnash. She said it was decadent. And you can't bake for her from jail, can you?"

I tug on Killian's arm, trying to stop him, but with only one glance, I release him, seeing that I've wrinkled his jacket beyond repair.

"Now," he continues," you will apologize to your students. You will respect Miss Fernandez's efforts, and you will treat her and the rest of your classroom with respect."

Emanuel tries to raise his head from the white tiles. They're white in this classroom, pursuant to his demands, as he says he will not allow anyone to eat his cake with a dirty floor. But Killian's foot stays on his face.

"I–I—"

"I don't recall you having a speech problem when you told Maricela off." The voice of this cruel boy is deadly. He showed me his monster once already, and I'm afraid he won't hide the feral creature inside ever again, not from me, at least. It should be terrifying, but instead, it's calming.

"I'm sorry," Emanuel spits out, his words tainted with disdain and fear.

It's enough for Killian, it seems, because he says, "Good. Now, let's see if my little girl forgives you."

"I do," I exclaim. "Now let him go." I don't want this. I never did. Does my teacher deserve it? Maybe. But do I want this for him? For some strange reason, I don't. Maybe because I get Emanuel on some level.

"Not before he tells everyone his little story. After all, he loves to speak about your poverty. Manu dear, would you please tell the class your story of origin? You like being a storyteller, don't you?"

Fuck. No. If Killian knows about his history more than the poisoning fiasco that brought him to this school, Emanuel is going to lose his job. The only reason I know about it is because I had the strange urge to learn about it when our creative writing professor, Mrs. Lina, asked us to write and research about someone we dislike. After I discovered what I could, I had to find another subject to work on.

"Killian—" Emanuel starts.

"I am Mr. Fierro to you. Remember your place. Now speak."

"Emanuel is the son of a French whore," I start, not looking at him. "He is a lord by his father's side. His father didn't want him because of his origin. Emanuel was left with the title, forty thousand pounds, and nothing else to his name. He studied at one of the most prestigious schools in France, and he became the person he is today," I add after I see the clear recoil on Emanuel's face and the deadly intent on Killian's. I would rather Emanuel hate me for telling the truth than for him to be forced to do it himself.

I don't know why, but I see pride lurking in those nothingness eyes. And it makes me… Fuck, it makes me giddy.

"And how did you open your first restaurant?" Shit. Shit, fuck, shit, Killian. I try pleading with him with my eyes, but he tells me without words to do to him as he did to you. Some part of me wants to. Some part of me remembers the girl who wanted to see my bully covered with burns from a poisonous plant—to make him feel what I felt. But can I do it? Can I dismiss my moral code and treat people the same way they treated me? I don't think I can.

Killian narrows his eyes. "Maricela here, is part of my family. Her sister is a Fierro, and Maricela is mine, not by blood, but by choice. My choice. And my choice, Dear Manu, is law. Here and everywhere in this fucking country. You harmed her, and yet, she hesitates to hurt you back. And you know why? Answer me, merd." This is one of the only words I know in French. He called him shit.

"No. No, I don't," the voice of one of the cruelest people in this place trembles. Emanuel seems so small to me now that whatever he did to me becomes insignificant.

"It's because she's better than you. She's better than anyone in here. This girl has gone through hell and back. She could be cruel if she wanted, but when it comes down to it, she chooses to be good because it's a choice. I chose to be who I am, and so do you, you piece of shit."

"I'm sorry. I truly am," Emanuel begs, clearly afraid of what else I might say about his past.

"And I forgive him, Killer," I say, remembering how he looked at me when I called him that in the midst of fucking me. "It's my choice, so I ask you to let him go."

He does. The man who hurt me with his words more than any bully in the last year looks like a poor child broken by life. I know the feeling. Life breaks everyone. The question is what you do with what life gives you.

I can respect Emanuel because the broken man in front of me gave his life to fight for his place. He may not be a good person, and his methods are far from kosher most of the time. Still, he's a fighter, and that's why I forgive him.

I hold out my hand to help him up from the floor, and he takes it. As our eyes meet, I see it, the act he held all this time just to be broken by a monstrous boy with money and power.

"Be thankful," Killian adds as a final jab, "and make sure all her cakes are sent to my place." He starts to turn away but halts and looks around, his gaze stopping on Simona. "On second thought, I have a better idea. You take her tray and come with us," my bully orders before grasping me by the hand and pulling me out of there.

I let him because it's time for him to understand he can't be my hero after he was my villain.

Chapter twenty-four

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