Page 79 of Beautiful Liar

“You make him sound like a fucking saint,” Wren snapped.

“They arehismask.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wren asked.

I knew what it meant. Evil always wore a mask.

Luca went on ignoring Wren’s question. “He dated some of the girls he mentored after they came of age.”

“He molded them as he saw fit,” Wren said with disgust.

“But he never hurt the girls,” Luca said. “Only the boy.”

Tomás’s voice rose in pitch, and he dragged air through his lungs. “What boy?”

The SUV suddenly felt stifling. Until Luca answered. “When Alessandro learned that Maddox Brennan was engaged to Carl Casera, he became enraged and ordered the boy to be brought to him. The boy refused, only to be drugged and forced into submission.”

Another drag of air ripped through the car.

“Luca, stop,” Wren said, choked on words he couldn’t say.

Luca ignored Wren and continued. “Alessandro was furious. The boy had fought him, and no one had ever fought him. He chained the boy.”

“Luca—” Fox warned.

“The boy cried. Told him to stop.”

“Shut up!” Wren snapped.

“Alessandro didn’t stop.”

Tomás’s chest rose and fell with every sharp inhalation of breath he took. His eyes grew wide, distant, his face paled. “Stop the car,” he whispered.

He didn’t give Luca a chance to pull over when he lunged over Fox’s lap and attacked the door. I didn’t know who screamed, I didn’t know who ordered Luca to stop the fuckingcar. Fox managed to stop Tomás from jumping out before the car made a full stop. When Luca finally pulled over onto the side of the road and stopped, they both fell out.

Tomás jumped over Fox, stumbling as he rushed to the trees flanking the road. Then he turned to us as we gathered outside to catch him should he fall. But Tomás was already falling and there was nothing we could do to stop him. He needed to land on his own.

His eyes swept back and forth between us. “Who!” he yelled. “Who was the boy?”

I wanted to hug him, bring him into me, but I didn’t want to force him to run. And he was seconds from doing just that. “Look at me, baby. Look at me.”

His eyes landed on mine.

I took a step closer. Then another. He didn’t back away. “Listen, we’re here to set this right. They’re here to help us. The sonofabitch will never hurt you again.”

He cocked his head. Thick tears fell down his face. “Who?”

It was Wren who took a step closer and broke the silence. “It was you, Tomás. The boy was you.”

Tomás sucked in a sob, and I rushed to him just as he collapsed. I rocked him in my arms the way my mom used to rock me whenever I got hurt in the playground and when she couldn’t, my grandmother would hold me. The memory so elusive, I’d forgotten how it had felt to be loved.

Until now.

We all let Tomás push out what he needed in order to continue. The thought of him seeing the fucker again, being used as bait while we tried to end Alessandro had everything inside of me screaming to head back. Fuck it. Protect him.

But Tomás needed this more than he needed protection. I understood this too. We all did. After a few minutes, Tomáspushed away from me, wiped his eyes, and nodded. “We should go. I’m okay. I’ll be okay.”

He didn’t look at anyone as he climbed back into the SUV.

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