Part 1
Despite his irritation, Beau couldn’t help but admire the way his sister moved in decisive strides, ignoring the panic that shoved pedestrians into chaos in the plaza. He didn’t need to keep his gaze focused on her to know where she was headed. Comfortably seated in the leather seats of his Maserati parked beside a row of stores and apartments, Beau frowned at the bullet lodged in his windshield before he glanced sideways at the woman who, in her hurry, tripped over the bleeding teenager on the ground. As if to reaffirm Beau in his general hatred for human nature, she didn’t stop or slow down to see what she could do to help the youngster.
As his gaze roamed back over the crowd so he could spot his sister, a car sped past him, nearly running over a few people in the process. Beau suddenly grew annoyed by the amount of people who were making it hard for him to spot his sister. He was starting to regret the fact that he hadn’t had the foresight to lock the doors before driving away. He knew his sister. There was no way in hell that she would see this level of chaos and choose to stay safely inside the car.
He was tapping the wheel with his thumb in a nervous tic when his eyes fell on what—or rather who, had made Anthony get out of his car despite the danger. A boy, 10 feet ahead. He was on his knees, crying so hard that his red face practically turned purple. His fierce wailings forced some of the agitated folks to actually slow down and look at what had gotten him so upset. In his pain, he’d brought his fists to his face and now not only his hands, but his face were covered in blood.
By his side were his dead parents...
Practically drowning in a pool of their own blood.
Beau felt his eyes narrow when Anthony reached purple-face before she pinched his pressure points to put him to sleep. She then picked him off the ground so she could hold him against her body with his face to her neck.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he groaned as he watched her turn around to walk back toward his car in unhurried steps. “Have you lost your mind?!” He barked when she opened the door and stared at him expectantly.
She didn’t answer. She simply stared until he heaved an exasperated and angry sigh right as he leaned over so he could lower the front seat for her. She then moved to place the sleeping boy in the backseat before she reclined the seat, sat on it and buckled up.
“Have you lost your damned mind?!” He seethed, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the steering wheel.
She glanced at the kid and briefly met his furious gaze before she focused it back forward, crossing her arms.
“Anthony!” He tried to lower his voice but his anger was making it hard for him to know whether he’d achieved the task or not.
“What happens to you when you hear a crying child, Beau?” She spoke in such a soft-spoken voice that he had to wonder if he’d be able to maintain his sanity by the end of this ludicrous conversation. “Are you not going to answer me, Beau?”
His eyes narrowed while his lips thinned into two lines. Veins throbbed so fiercely at his temples that he felt as though a migraine was growing from inside his belly.
He turned the key into the ignition.
“I don’t have time for any of your riddles,” he said through clenched teeth. “As soon as we make it out of this stinking city, we’re dropping the boy at an orphanage.”
They’d be out of the city within the next twenty minutes if he drove fast enough. And in five hours they’d be home. He just needed to drive—
“Something happens with me when I hear a crying child,” Anthony’s voice cut through the plans he was mentally formulating. “I’m shoved back into my childhood and I can see myself. I see the day those I held most dear died, painting the walls red with their blood. I hear their screams and their plea for mercy. I remember the cries I wanted to yell at the sky but couldn’t, because running for my life was far more important for my survival. I recall the days I spent, afraid and alone—up until your parents fostered me... So no,” her clear brown eyes finally focused on him. “We’re not dropping him at any orphanage.”
“Don’t be stupid,” he growled.
“Don’t you have eyes, Beau? Or even compassion? Don’t you see this whole thing happened because I got too close to his family? Or maybe you didn’t notice that they’re all dead now? Because of me?”
“Or maybe I simply do not give a shit and neither should you. We can’t raise a child. End of discussion.”
She crossed her arms as she gazed back ahead.
“No.”
He blinked at her, his car nearly swerving into a tree.
“No?!”
“You heard me. And watch where you’re going. We can survive a car crash, but I won’t forgive you if the child doesn’t.”
