Page 129 of Lady Killer

“Thank you,” she said, turning to hand me the offending eyeliner.

“Sit down,” I told her, pointing to the toilet with my chin.

She sighed and shuffled over, putting down the lid before sitting with the grace of a dancer and crossing her ankles.

Kneeling down in front of her, I inspected my mother’s face.

Sofia Torres was a beautiful woman. Her hair was a shade darker than mine, but just as long and thick. Her face was more heart shaped by comparison, her lips fuller, and her nose a bit wider, but my eyes and cheeks were all hers.

So was my butt.

I had an inch on her in height, but since she usually wore much higher heels than I cared for, she appeared taller.

People often mistook us for sisters, and it wasn’t hard to understand why.

“Look down,” I instructed her as I unscrewed the top.

“What are you doing tonight, mija?”

I didn’t answer right away, focusing all my attention on neatly applying the liner. When I paused to assess my work, I answered, “Mmm, not much. I’ve got some more SAT prep I want to get through.”

Mami hummed in approval, and I started on her other eye.

“And everything is good at school? No boys causing problems for you, right?”

It was understandable that Mami had her trust issues around men. My father had done a lot of damage, to both of us.

“No, Mami, no boys,” I said, squinting as I leaned forward to angle the wand to get that perfect flick. “Besides, I thought I showed you that I can handle myself with Kai.” Pulling back, I sat on my heels as I compared the two sides.

“Ay, my baby is all grown up.” She threw up her hands. “I know, I know.”

I licked my thumb and used it to clean up a tiny splatter of black liner.

“It’s my job to worry about you,” she muttered, still keeping her eyes down.

This was far from the first time I had heard this from my mother. We both knew the ritual well. “You put yourself in far more danger than I ever do.”

“I also have far more experience than you do.”

“Look up at me,” I said, taking one last look at her eyeliner. “There you go. Check it out.”

When I’d told her that there was a boy who had to die, she was prouder than when I brought home my first A.

Being a nurse provided Mami with a plethora of knowledge and tools that came in handy when it came to killing.

Long before I even met Kai, she’d taught me how to fill a syringe and how to administer an injection. How to find a vein and how to deliver an air embolism.

She’d done a stint at a psychiatric hospital and was trained on how to rapidly sedate violent patients, and she made us both practice in the living room until we were covered in bruises.

It was her idea to use fentanyl to disable and eventually dispose of Kai, and she was the one who had stolen it from a hospital where she had teaching privileges. After it was done, she picked me up around the corner two blocks over from the party, giving me a relieved hug when I returned.

She was always proud of me, no matter what. But choosing to follow in her footsteps . ..

“Gracias, mija, you did a perfect job.” Mami’s voice broke me out of my memories.

“Of course, Mami,” I said, going to stand against the bathroom wall. She continued to apply the rest of her makeup as I watched, before she poured herself into a stunning black lace dress that fit her like a glove.

By the time the good doctor arrived to pick her up thirty minutes later, the poor guy never stood a chance.

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