Page 72 of His Puppet

“Hey, don’t tell Blade I’m saying this shit, all right? You provoked me and you know it. I’m already on ‘thin ice’ for calling him Blade instead of Mr. Bianchi, so let’s keep this between the two of us, cool?”

He must finally see the discomfort sinking deep into my bones because his eyes roam my face and he frowns. “What’s wrong? You’re like, pale.”

“What—” I clear my throat when my voice cracks. “What do you mean they never found his mom? What are you talking about?”

Victor’s face gets serious, and he’s suddenly intent on concentrating on the road. He puts both hands on the steering wheel and straightens his spine.

“Victor.”

“How about we just focus on the job and quit the chit chat?”

“What happened with Blade’s mom?” A lump forms in my throat, and I swallow it down. “Fucking tell me!” I yell when Victor still doesn’t answer.

“Forget it, all right? Shit, don’t get so worked up.”

I grab the wheel and veer the car onto the side of the road. Victor’s eyes widen, and he stomps on the brake, jerking the wheel and shoving me away. I bang against the door and brace myself on the dash just as the car comes to a stop.

“Jesus fucking christ!” He spins toward me, his eyes wide. “What the fuck are you doing?!”

“Tell me what Blade did to his mom.”

Victor blinks and halfheartedly laughs as he turns and looks out the windshield. We’re parked on the side of the lightly traveled highway leading to Vegas. “I can see why you two get along so well,” he says, his voice playful like he’s trying to lighten the mood. “Drama queens. The both of you.”

“Tell me—”

“All right, all right.” Victor holds up his hands. “Just shut up about it, already.”

I sit up straight, my eyes intense as I watch Victor’s face carefully.

“I’ll tell you as long as you promise me that nothing I’ve said or will say leaves this car. If I get in trouble for this, I’ll find some way to take you down with me, princess. You get me?”

“Whatever.” I wave my hand to dismiss him. “Just fucking tell me—”

“He killed his mom.”

My mouth closes, and my eyes widen. He didn’t tell me anything he hadn’t already implied, but it still sends a chill over my skin.

“I think…” Victor shrugs. “That’s the rumor anyway. His mom was screwing around with a dirty cop Blade’s old man did business with. He found out about it and slapped her around or something like that.” Victor waves his hand as if the details are irrelevant. “She runs to the lover, and they come back with several of his cop buddies. They beat the old man to death then hauled his corpse to an alley and filed a report saying it was a mugging.” Victor pauses for a second. “I bet they wished they would’ve killed Blade too.” He laughs. “I’m surprised they didn’t.”

“Why would they have?” I ask, my chest heavy. “It was his mother they were trying to defend, and wasn’t he just a kid?”

Victor tilts his head. “Okay, first of all, don’t underestimate cops. However bad you think us criminals are, there’s nothing that compares to a sadist with a badge. Who gives a shit if he was a kid? He was sixteen, so that’s barely a kid anyway.” Victor gives his head a shake like he’s shaking off my stupidity. “But anyway, they killed the old man right in front of Blade, so it’s not like Mommy was protective, and they had plenty of reason not to leave a witness behind. But then again, maybe she made them let her boy live and just wanted to teach him a lesson or something. I don’t know, I wasn’t there.”

My stomach has twisted into knots, and I’ve turned away from Victor. I stare out the windshield and wish I hadn’t asked, wish I’d never spoken to Victor at all.

Blade didn’t just suffer the loss of his dad. He witnessed his death.

And it was his mother’s doing.

I breathe in deep and ache to wrap my arms around Blade. Kiss him, hold him, let him know how wanted he is, how much I accept him. How much I understand. How loved he is.

Loved.

There’s that word again.

“All done with the theatrics?” Victor asks. “Can I drive now?”

I glance at him for the briefest second and feel the shot of annoyance like a needle injection. I don’t answer, but Victor puts the car in drive and pulls back onto the highway anyway. We drive into the city and make our way downtown, Victor shifting uncomfortably in the silence.

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