Page 72 of The Killer Cupcake
"This isn't on me!" Kathy said, and her hand went protectively to her tummy. Carmine didn’t notice, but Mabel did. And when her eyes connected with Mabel’s, the old woman shook her head with pity. Kathy looked away.
"Unfortunately, it is. You're all he cares about,” Carmine said. “He’s already fucking things up, thinking that someone has told you the truth.”
Kathy looked to Mabel for help, who uncrossed her arms. “All I can tell you is Memphis is no place for you child. If there is a debt here to be paid, pay it so you keep the people you love alive.”
Kathy wiped her face. "Okay. Take me to him."
Carmine exhaled in relief. Kathy hugged Mabel goodbye and followed Carmine outside. Matteo waited by the cars. He turned at the sight of her. She frowned and looked to Carmine. “Can I ride with you?" she asked. "I can't talk to him."
Matteo's face crumbled. Kathy ignored his silent plea, carrying equal resentment for him and Debbie now. Carmine extended his arm to escort her to his car. Inside, she broke completely. He sat silently until her tears ran dry.
"Done?" he asked.
She nodded.
He handed her one of Janey's perfumed handkerchiefs from the glove compartment. "Clean your face."
As she wiped her eyes, he said, "You're a woman now, Kathy. Carmelo says your father's a Harlem gangster?"
"Yes, sir."
"So you come from tough stock. Elliott Wynn is your grandfather, and then there’s your father—hard men, right?" Carmine emphasized the point.
"Yes, sir."
"Then you fell for a man cut from the same cloth, didn't you?"
She nodded, unable to trust her voice.
"So you know the rules." Carmine's eyes stayed on the road, but his words cut straight through her. "You've watched the women in your family—your mother, your grandmother. They don't break when men like us disappoint them. They get harder. Stronger. That's how they love us.”
"Yes, sir." The words came out cracked.
"No more tears, Kathy. Not where Carmelo can see them. You want to cry? You do it later, alone. But in front of him?" He shook his head. "Steel spine. That's the only way through this."
She pressed the handkerchief to her eyes one last time. "I understand."
"Good." The engine rumbled to life.
They'd barely left the curb when she found her voice. "Can I ask you something?"
He tilted his head—permission enough.
"Janey told me things. Terrible things. Said Thibodeaux’s are dead, that she poisoned the family for what they did to Willa. Said Willa lost the baby and—" Her voice broke. "Is any of it true? Is everyone lying to me?"
Carmine's jaw tightened. "JB is dead.”
“What? No. She said he survived,” Kathy asked.
“She doesn’t want you to hate her. He’s dead. And their child is. Poor thing was born dead.”
The confirmation hit like ice water. "But Willa's letters?—"
"Willa's letters are to protect the truth. To protect Janey,” he said in a dry monotone voice.
“From what?” Kathy asked.
“Willa is pregnant again." He glanced at her, measuring her reaction. "Living under my protection. Carrying my child."
