Page 81 of Promise to Break

"My name's Killian. I'll be a lawyer when I finish school, and I came here because of a girl."

"Do you like her?" he asks, around the thumb still in his mouth.

"I do, but don't tell her that, or her head will swell. And I like her as she is now." A tiny sound comes out of the boy as I smile at him.

"My mom's in prison. The bad cop took her. It's because of me. I didn't hide the pointy things good. I needed to do it good. I was a bad boy. Mommy told me so."

"A pointy thing?" I can already see where this is going.

"It made Mommy feel better. But the bad cop didn't like it. So he took her because of me."

"And you want her back?" The biggest nod I have ever seen from a human meets me. It's as if he's trying to convince himself as well as me. "Was your mommy good to you?" Silence. "Because I can take you to her."

"To prison? Because I hid the pointy thing?"

"No, it's not because of that. You didn't do anything wrong, okay?" He doesn't seem convinced, so I add, "Look, the pointy thing isn't a good thing, but I can take you to her if you want to see her."

"Can I come back to Nana after?" Tears start to gather in his droopy eyes.

"Do you like her? Nana, I mean."

"Yes. She tells me stories about pirates. I like her stories. The pirates don't have hands, but they're strong."

Hero comes to us but not too close and stares at the boy. "It's a big doggy," he says.

"He is."

"Can he come with me to see my mommy?" Hero comes closer and rolls onto his back. The kid laughs and pets him.

"Well, if I take you to your mommy, you won't need Nana anymore. You'll be with your mom again and keeping the pointy things hidden."

He frowns. "I don't like them."

"Oh?" I try to sound confused.

"They make Mommy act funny, and her eyes are scary. Like this," he says, trying to open his eyes as wide as he can.

"So, how about this? You let me go see your mommy while you stay here and eat good food and listen to stories about pirates."

The boy jumps on my lap and gives me a hug. He smells like bubble gum and dirt. A snap from a camera pulls my attention to Maricela, and I wink at her. This girl is changing me more and more with every moment I spend in her vicinity, and I don't know if that's a good thing.

"I'm still mad at you," she says as she rubs Hero's ears. The furry thing is going to lose its tongue if she keeps going. I can't even blame the dog. Her touch is like magic.

I shrug. "You're mine, and you accepted your fate. I'm not good at sharing." I pull her close to me and look over at the kid, who's now asking a former madam to tell him a story.

"Julian is my brother," she says with a peck on my lips.

"As far as I can recall, you have only one sister."

"You know what I mean." Her hands go to my cheek.

"You're mine," I say again. "And I promise you that you'll be mine for a long time."

She looks me in the eyes, the green and the blue, finding harmony. "You're making too many of those lately." I kiss her neck, waiting for her to elaborate. "Promises."

"And I tend to keep each one of those. You'll see."

Chapter thirty-two

---