Page 245 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

He stared at her. “How complicated?”

* * *

“You’re late.”Gran put his plate on the table. The pasta and sauce were dried around the edges where it had been in the oven staying warm. She refused to use a microwave.

“I was studying with friends.” He should have been studying, instead he’d wasted time gathering bits and pieces for the lady at the registry office. It had taken a week. He had no idea how he’d gotten into school without a birth certificate, but he guessed the thugs had forged something or bribed the admin.

“Huh.”

From that one grunt, he knew he was in trouble again. “What now?”

“You don’t need to finish school. You have a job waiting.”

Working construction and doing misdeeds on the side. He wanted more, even if he wasn’t sure what that looked like.

“With the guys who beat me up? Pretty sure you aren’t supposed to let your kid be roughed up by the thugs you work for.” He ate faster, determined to finish and go to his room.

He could’ve reported the beating to the cops, described the men and left Gran out of it. But he didn’t want his body to be washed up on the beach or found in a septic tank ten years from now.

“You are making things difficult for me.”

He pushed his plate away. “You are letting them turn me into a criminal. Is that what you want?”

“We need to survive.”

“No, we need to live.” And this wasn’t living. This was cowering in shadows. “We can leave. You can claim the pension and retire.”

“I will not take the government’s money. It’s a bribe.”

“Cool, Gran. You stay stealing. But the day I turn eighteen, I’m done.”

“You can’t walk away like that.”

“I can.” He’d try anyway. The men weren’t snow leopards; they were just humans who knew too much. He could hide from them.

He went to his room and shut the door. Without a laptop, school was that bit harder, but he’d learned to type assignments on his phone then send them to his email, which he could access on the school’s computers.

He pulled out his work, determined to finish it that week. He’d already asked for an extension and couldn’t do so again without losing marks for no good reason.

Gran opened the bedroom door. One of these days she was going to find him with his hands in his pants. Maybe that’s why she kept intruding.

“What now? I’m working.”

“You need to go out.”

“No, I need to do my assignment. I’ll go out tomorrow.”

He returned his attention to his book; aware she stood in the doorway watching him. He kept working.

He knew her games, and the tricks she used to make him comply. This time he wouldn’t fall for them. She stood there for ten minutes before huffing off without closing the door.

Would she tell her friends that he wanted out? That he was becoming more difficult? The bruises hadn’t yet faded, but his resolve had hardened.

He reached into his school bag for his drink bottle, but his hand brushed over the wallet. As soon as he touched the smooth leather, he saw Kass. The way he’d looked at him, the feel of his body. He should’ve stayed in the club and let things play out between them.

His favorite fantasy unspooled in his mind. The beat of the music became the rhythm of his heart as Kass lead him out the back. The door was barely shut before Kass had his mouth on Bailey’s dick.

He smiled at the image of Kass, all clean cut and far too pretty, on his knees.

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