Page 42 of The Venom We Bleed

The car’s not brand new, but it’s well-kept. I’d seen a few of the dealers driving around in something similar—though I know they prefer the SUVs. The blacked-out windows aren’t different either. I can’t tell if there’s anyone inside, but there’s some warning bell inside me blaring that there is. That we’re being watched.

“I am, Mama,” I reply distractedly as I stare at the car. “Practice ended half an hour ago.”

“Hi, Lex,” Mama murmurs.

“Hi, Mrs. Vargas,” Lex replies with a nod.

“Do you want me to fix you boys something to eat?” She circles me and moves further into the house. “Is Nolan here? He’s probably got to work tonight. I can whip up some panzanella for him before he goes.”

“No, Mama,” I say, still eyeing the sedan with increasing irritation and concern. “We’re okay.” My eyes flash to Lex. He’s glaring at me still, but there must be something on my face because in the next moment, he’s up and off the couch, our spat forgotten.

“Gio, why are you still standing at the door?” Mama asks, tsking. “Go on and close it and bring those bags into the kitchen. Your papino will be home soon.”

The mention of my father has me gritting my teeth, but instead of responding, I just give Lex a look of meaning and nod out of the storm door towards the black sedan. He doesn’t need words. He merely nods and nudges me out of the way before opening the door and heading outside. I wait a moment to make sure he makes it to the car and is safe before I half-heartedly kick the door so that it swings shut, but not all the way. Then I follow my mama into the kitchen and set her bags on the scratched counter before unloading.

“Let me grab you something to drink. You sweat too much at those practices of yours,” Mama says as she moves towards the equally beat-up refrigerator.

With a sigh, I set one can of tomatoes on the counter and turn, catching her around the waist with one arm. “Mama, we’re fine,” I say, cupping her cheek. The dark circles under her eyes have grown. “You look tired. Why don’t you go rest and I’ll finish unpacking this.”

“I’m not an invalid, Giovanni Luis.” Her face tightens as she uses my first and middle name as if that’ll get me to do what she wants. It used to … when I was eight. Now, however, I stand a good six inches taller than her and more than double her body weight.

Still, I stroke a strand of her black and gray hair back and give her my most beseeching smile. “You are tired, Mama,” I repeat. “I am a grown man; I can make my own food. You’vebeen at work all day. You should lay down before Pa—Father—gets home.”

The asshole will likely only interrupt what little rest she manages to get by demanding his dinner and criticizing the unkempt house that he seems to wreck whenever he comes through. It’s better she get as much now as she can.

Mama grumbles and glares at me. “You never listen to me anymore, amore mio,” she gripes. “Ever since you shot up”—she pauses to smack me—“it is as if you lost all respect for your mama. I raised you to be a better man than this.”

I bite down on my tongue to keep from laughing at her poor attempt to guilt me into letting her work. I shake my head. “Not going to work on me, Mama,” I tell her. “You raised me to take care of those I love and that’s what I’m doing.”

With firm hands on her shoulders, I turn her around and push her towards the hallway just as Nolan exits the bathroom down the dark interior. His half-naked form appears and he offers Mama a wave as he ducks his head and disappears into my room to, I assume, get changed.

Mama gripes and complains and guilt trips me every step of the way, but finally, I manage to nudge her halfway down the hall. Far enough for her to get the hint that I’m not going to let her do anything until after she lies down. Her smaller frame dips into the room she and my father share as the front door opens and Lex appears.

My gaze shoots to his and I frown. “Who was it?” I demand.

Lex tips his head around me, trying to look past the living room into the kitchen and I sigh. “I just got her to go lay down,” I say, lowering my voice as I answer his unspoken question about whether or not Mama is still there.

Lex nods and moves back towards the couch. “That was Mattias,” Lex murmurs, lowering his voice as a door opensdown the hall. I look up, spotting Nolan as he moves towards us, wearing a pair of my jeans and a dark t-shirt.

I frown at him. “Wash those before you bring them back,” I say. “I don’t want them back covered in grease.”

Nolan flips me off without looking my way as he finishes towel drying his hair and then lets the worn gray fabric just hang around his neck. Shaking my head, I return my attention to Lex, less concerned now that I know it was just one of my father’s men checking up on me. I fucking hate it when he sends them without warning, but telling him to stop would only result in another fight and Mama crying. I’m tired of seeing her fucking cry.

“What did he want?” I ask Lex.

“The collection money from Ma-Ri,” Lex replies.

Nolan moves into the kitchen and starts up the task of unloading Mama’s groceries that I’d stopped earlier. “Good thing you had it,” he says. “The handover went fine?”

Lex nods and moves up next to the counter, grabbing a carton of juice and turning to stow it in the fridge. Together, the three of us make quick work of unloading the two bags and at the bottom of the second, I pull out the receipt and scowl.

“Fuck—when the hell did shit get so expensive?” I mutter, crumpling the little piece of paper before I remember that Mama likes to use the coupons on the back. With a huff, I set it back on the counter, straighten it out with the flat of my palm as much as I can, and then toss it onto the stack in the junk drawer.

“Everything’s expensive nowadays,” Nolan comments as he pops a can of soda and then starts to chug it.

I grip the edge of the countertop and bend over it, inhaling slowly through my teeth.

Even if it comes out that Allen Donovan is innocent, the damage has already been done. There will always be a dark cloud hanging over his daughter’s head and people will stillbelieve that her father was the one that ruined half of the town’s lives.

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