Page 50 of Villainous
“Nothing,” Villainous and I say in unison, but we never take our eyes off each other.
Villainous sips his glass of bourbon, and then he asks, “Are you finished with your meal?”
“Yes, sir. I am,” AJ answers.
“Okay, after your bath, we’ll head to your uncle’s house.”
Villainous
AJ is very talkative—he gets it from Maya. Apparently, he likes to play this video game, Minecraft, and Final Fantasy. I don’t know either of those. I’m not a gamer. Never was.
“I want to play football when I start back at school,” he says.
“Okay, do you know how to play?” I ask, leaning back into the seat. My two soldiers stare at AJ before they peer at me. Right before we left, I told them about AJ and how they have to look after him.
“No, but I watch the playoffs. My grandma had me moving around a lot to join a team.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you how to play.”
He nods. We pull up to Devious’s manor, and AJ’s eyes widen.
“Can you keep a secret?”
“Of course. I’ll never tell anyone what we talk about,” I say honestly.
“I sure hope so because I hope one day, you can be my best friend.”
“You are already mine,” I tell him. I hold out my hand, and his tiny fist hits mine, and a smile spreads across his face.
He lifts up his shirt, and faded blue and brown bruises are all over his back. “What the hell? What happened to you?”
“Grandma. She would hit me when I didn’t do what she says.”
Immediately, I see red, and rage burns in my chest. “Does your mother know about this?”
He shakes his head. “I tried telling her the last Christmas she spent with us, but Grandma wouldn’t leave us by ourselves. She keeps saying my ma is a danger to me.”
I want to fucking murder the bitch for how she’s treating Maya and AJ. This bitch is going to die.
“Don’t worry about her hitting you again.”
“Thank you, Da.”
Henson opens the door, and we step out. The air smacks my cheeks as our soldiers stand behind us.
“Why do we have all these bodyguards around us, Da?”
I don’t know how I’m going to explain to him what I do for a living. I’ll tell him when he’s older.
“I’ll explain later.”
We stroll up the stairs, and I tap the doorbell. AJ chews on his tongue as he rocks on the backs of his heels.
“Relax. Uncle Cayden and Aunt Roselyn will like you,” I say, patting him on the back.
He nods. “Is it true you used to play football?”
“Yeah. What exactly did your mother say about me?”
