Page 30 of The Killer Cupcake
"No!" Kathy's voice cracked like a whip. "She is young and sweet and trusting. And he is a predator—you know it! You know it! You act like you're some defender of women, but you're ready to hand her off to any man who knocks on your door with the right pedigree."
Janey took a threatening step toward Kathy, her honey-colored eyes flashing dangerously, but Kathy held her ground with Elliott defiance. "Did I hand her off? Did I? I gave you the decision. You could have sent him away ceremoniously, and the matter would have been settled. Looks to me like you're the one feeding poor Willa to the jackal.”
"Why is this all a game to you?” Kathy shouted, her voice echoing off the high ceilings.
"Because life is!" Janey's mask finally slipped, revealing the steel beneath the silk. "You're an Elliott, and I'm raising you to be one. The reason you agreed to this charade is because we Elliott girls don't run from danger—we walk straight into it. We don't cower, we stand up for ourselves, and we make damn sureanyone who hurts the people we love pays dearly for it." Her voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "Last night, Carmelo beat that man nearly to death, as he should have, niece. But you? You should have cut his throat while he still drew breath. If Willa is under your protection, then protect her. It's not my fucking job—it's yours!"
Kathy stood in stunned silence, processing the brutal truth in her aunt's words.
Janey's predatory smile returned. "Creole men,ma chère, are every bit as deadly as the Sicilians in this town when it comes to young dark-skinned girls who catch their fancy. You keep your eyes on him."
With that pronouncement, she turned and walked from the room, leaving Kathy alone with her racing thoughts.
Kathy sighed deeply and rubbed her temples as unwanted memories surfaced—flashes of her attacker's leering face, the primal rage she'd witnessed in Carmelo's eyes, the way he'd turned that violence on her and demanded she participate in the retribution. And now Janey with her twisted games and brutal lessons. She didn't want a life steeped in violence, but she was born from it. She was Henry Freeman's daughter, and despite her best intentions, she had developed a taste for it.
"Madame," came a soft voice.
Kathy spun around, surprised to find Pinkie standing quietly just inside the doorway. "Yes?"
"Should I have breakfast taken upstairs to Monsieur Carmelo?" Pinkie asked in her gentle accent.
"Yes, please," Kathy said automatically. As Pinkie turned to leave, Kathy called out impulsively. "Pinkie! Can I ask you something?"
"Oui, madame," Pinkie said, turning back with patient attention.
"I saw the look on your face when that man was here. You know him?" Kathy asked directly.
"Non, madame, not personally," Pinkie replied carefully.
"But you know of him?" Kathy pressed.
Pinkie nodded slowly, her expression growing troubled.
Kathy studied the young woman more closely. She was plainly dressed in her servant's attire but possessed a natural beauty that reminded her achingly of Willa—the same quiet grace that could attract the wrong kind of attention. "Can he be trusted with Willa?"
"Non, madame, he cannot," Pinkie said with quiet conviction. "You must keep your eyes on Mademoiselle Willa here in the Tremé, especially around the men who are in the world of the Boanno’s. Most especially around a Thibodaux."
Kathy exhaled slowly, her worst fears confirmed. "Thank you, Pinkie. I appreciate your honesty."
"De rien, madame," Pinkie said with the hint of a conspirative smile before slipping away as silently as she'd appeared.
Alone again, Kathy stared out at the courtyard where orange trees cast dancing shadows in the morning light. She was learning that in this world of beautiful surfaces and hidden dangers, the servants often saw the truth more clearly than their employers. And the truth was that protecting Willa would require more than good intentions—it would demand the very Elliott steel that Janey was so determined to forge within her.
"So why are we going?"Carmelo asked as he nibbled thoughtfully on his buttered toast.
"You have to start training tomorrow. This is your last free day before the fight. I figure we can get out and see the city together," Kathy reasoned, settling beside him on the bed.
"We don't have to go with him, you know. I can call Caesar and have him show Willa around. Then you and I can stay in bed all day." Carmelo's smirk was wicked.
Kathy rolled her eyes with fond exasperation. "My privates are sore from your attention. No more lovemaking for now. Besides, Willa really wants to go and see the city.”
Carmelo sighed heavily. "She wants to go with a man she shouldn't trust, and you want to let her go with a man she shouldn't trust. That makes no sense,cara mia."
"I want her to feel adored for once in her life. I want her to experience being appreciated and desired. And he's a skilled actor—he'll make her feel special." Kathy's expression grew more serious. "Besides, I know what forbidden fruit does to a girl. It only makes us crave it more desperately. I try to stop her and she wants him more. Men like Jean-Baptiste come in all shades and from all backgrounds. Janey is right. Willa needs to see the danger with her own eyes, not be sheltered from it. That's what my auntie is trying to teach me. That's what you were trying to teach me."
Carmelo stopped chewing, his dark eyes clouding with regret. "I'm sorry for making you participate in that situation last night, Kat. I just lost control?—“
"Hey," she reached over and touched his hand gently, her fingers tracing the fresh scars across his knuckles from the brutal punches he'd delivered to her attacker's face. "No one makes me do anything, remember? I'm my own person. Your other half."
