Hopeless despair glistened in her blue eyes and the sight kicked Nick straight in the gut.
“Mrs. Gautier …” A tic worked in Kyrian’s jaw. “I know you can’t tel it by looking at me, but I’ve had a hard life. I’ve lost everyone who was ever important to me and I know what it’s like to be kicked hard when you’re down. You’ve got a great kid there. He deserves a chance. Let him work for me, part time, after school for a year, and we’l cal it even.” She glanced at Nick, who wasn’t so sold on this idea.
“Doing what?”
“Washing my car. Running errands.”
His mom scowled. “What kind of errands?”
“Yeah,” Nick interjected, “I ain’t no babysitter or dog walker.” Kyrian rol ed his eyes. “I don’t have kids or a dog.” He returned his gaze to Nick’s mom. “He’d pick up groceries.
Some dry cleaning. He can work with my groundskeeper trimming hedges or help my housekeeper clean the outside windows. Nothing dangerous or il egal.” That didn’t sound too bad, but Nick already had a job that he liked most days. “What about Ms. Liza, Mom? Who’l help her in her store?”
Kyrian frowned at him. “Liza Dunnigan?”
“You know her?” Nick asked in surprise.
Another tight-lipped grin broke over his face. “Yeah. We go way back. And I think she’d understand if you worked for me for a while.”
His mom’s hand tightened on his. “I don’t know … what do you think, Nicky?”
Nick looked at the sling on his arm. There real y was no way they could afford this bil . If Kyrian would pay and his mom wouldn’t have to suffer …
“As long as he’s not a pervert and Liza doesn’t mind, I can work for him, I guess.”
Kyrian laughed. “I’m not a pervert.”
“You better not be ’cause I’l quit if you are.” Kyrian shook his head. “So it’s settled?” Indecision played in his mom’s gaze before she nodded.
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Now if you two don’t mind, I have an appointment I need to keep.”
Nick frowned.
“This late?” his mom asked suspiciously.
Kyrian nodded. “I do a lot of international business that requires me to work late at night. Like I said, I don’t sleep much.” And with that, he was gone.
Now that they were alone, his mom gave him her ful attention. “What do you real y think?”
“I think I’m real y glad I’m not dead and you’re not kil ing me over getting shot and being in the hospital, running up bil s we can’t afford.”
Her lips trembled. “Baby, how could I be mad at you for something like this? I just wish I made enough money that you didn’t have to work too. If you’d been at home—”
“Don’t, Mom, please.” The guilt of it was kil ing him.
She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed his bruised knuckles. “Al right, sweetie. You just rest. Don’t you worry or think about nothing except getting better.” She pul ed one of her black hair bands from her pocket and slicked her hair back into a sedate ponytail.
Nick smiled, knowing she did that for him so he wouldn’t be embarrassed by her over-teased hair. Then she went to the sink to wash off her makeup and pul off the fake glitter eyelashes. She was so much prettier without al that goop on her face that he didn’t understand why they made her wear it.
Once she looked like his mom again, she slid into the bed beside him and held him close.
Normal y, he’d be pushing her away ’cause it felt like she was stifling him. But tonight, while he ached and hurt, he was glad to have her hold him close.
It’d always been just the two of them in this world. Team Fabulous. That’s what she’d cal ed them as far back as he could remember. Together they could make it through anything.
She brushed his hair back from his temple and gave him a light kiss there. “You are my little man, Nickyboo. And I’m so grateful I have you. You’re the only thing I’ve ever done right in my entire life and if anything ever happened to you, they’d have to dig two graves ’cause I couldn’t live a single day without my baby beside me.”
Her words almost succeeded in making his eyes tear up, but he was too tough for that. Nothing could make him cry.
Nothing. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, baby. Now go to sleep. You need to get better so I can beat your butt for getting hurt.” Smiling at her empty threat, Nick closed his eyes, but he couldn’t sleep. His mind kept replaying the look on Alan’s face as he’d pul ed the trigger. The creep had tried to kil him. …
And if it was the last thing he did, he was going to get even.
As his dad would say, Our blood don’t run. Sometimes we want to. Sometimes we ought to. But we don’t ever run from anyone or anything.
Next time he met up with Alan’s “crew” they were going to feel the ful wrath of Nick Gautier. …
CHAPTER 3