Page 44 of Broken Prince

I nodded and turned to start the car. I only had a few hours with him and I needed to make them count.

“You'll tell him thank you for me, won’t you, Cassie?”

“Of course, I will. I tell him every week.”

After Jude browsed for over thirty minutes and we bought three comic books, we settled at a table in the back of the local Starbucks and I was glad that I didn’t get the lingering glares full of hate I had during our parents' trial.

I looked at my brother as he followed his ritual of breaking down his chocolate muffin into little pieces before eating them. Despite Amy's reassuring words, I couldn’t help the wave of worry that settled in me every time I looked at him and how small he was for his age, how pale and delicate.

“How are you, munchkin, really?” I asked him as he took one of the little bits of the muffin from his plate.

He nodded. “I’m good, Cassie.” He shrugged. “The center was not good at first. The boys were mean but I’m staying with the younger ones now, and the two mean ones are gone anyway.” He gave me a small smile.

That was something that was true about emotionally abused and neglected children—they made do of everything, settling for much less than they deserved. But that would not happen to Jude; I would give him all he deserved.

“I will get you out soon.”

“Yes, I know. Amy said you have a good job. When do you think we can go home?”

“We can’t go home, Jude. The house…” I stopped, not sure how I could tell him that all we had left from our lives were the four cardboard boxes that were now stored at Mrs. Broussard’s apartment. How could I tell him that everything, and I meant everything including his bike, had been seized and had been sold to pay for the victims' compensation?

“I don’t mean the house; I mean home with you.” He shrugged. “Wherever it is, it’s home with you, Cassie.”

I took a deep breath, trying to rein in my tears at his words. My brother was much wiser than his age and his love for me, the same as my love for him, was really what kept me going.

“By the summer it should be good. My boss is helping me to get you back.” I believed Luca, I truly did because despite everything I knew about him, I could see he was a man of honor, and the kind of loyalty Dom had for him was not something you could buy. He had earned that.

“I like your boss.”

I had to chuckle at that. I could almost imagine a meeting between Luca and Jude; that would be one for the history books. “You don’t know my boss.”

“That’s not true.”

I tensed for a minute, not sure I liked the idea of Luca going to see my brother behind my back. “Okay?”

“The books he gives me, he picks very well.” He nodded at himself like he was having some internal debate. “I like him,” he repeated.

I leaned back on my chair. “He is a good man.” And he was, even if he couldn’t see it himself. What he did for me? Allowing me to see Jude all by myself—it was priceless.

I could almost picture it, Jude moving in the house with me. It was a silly vision, of course. It was just a job I had there; I was not building a life, and yet I couldn’t stop thinking about how much Jude would love the house, especially the library.

“He wrote to me.”

“He what?”

“Luca, he left me a note in the first book and I replied.”

“And you hid that from me?” I was more surprised than angry. Jude’s Asperger’s made it so hard for him to hide things.

“He is answering my questions,” he replied. “Something you’re not really doing.”

Ouch that hurt and yet it was fair. “I’m just trying to protect you.”

“I know, but he doesn’t have to and I like talking to him.”

I was dying to read their letters, but I wouldn't do it. Jude had a very hard time creating relationships and if he managed to do that through letters? Who was I to stop it? I would not betray him and if Luca helped him in any way, I just had to accept it.

“You can read his letters if you want,” he said, taking me by surprise while I drove him back to the Home.

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