Page 124 of Lucky Boys
“I was just gonna grab myself something to eat. Want something?”
It was the wrong question. His eyes got wide and scared again. “I—um.”
Shit. “Hey Matty? I have no idea what you went through, besides the very basics, so I may say or do something that triggers you. Like maybe asking that question?” He didn’t respond. “If I do, it’s okay to tell me. I won’t be mad. None of us will. We just want to help.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You got nothing to apologize for. And, I’m guessing here, but no one is going to ever withhold food from you, or use it as a way to trap or trick you. If you’re hungry, eat. And Mav said the doctor said you were a little undernourished, so please, don’t ever be scared to eat whatever you want. Luca is bougie as fuck and has a chef come a couple times a week to prepare food for us. The fridge is always filled with stuff that only needs to be heated up.”
“Back at home—at Lewis and Michelle’s,” he corrected with a wince. Apparently, Larsen had told him the truth about his parentage right before handing him over to Vlad. He also told him that Lewis was paying Larsen to keep him hidden to avoid a scandal, so on top of everything else, the poor kid was dealingwith that too, “They had a chef come in every day because Mo-Michelle refused to eat reheated food.” He rolled his eyes, “It was one of the things I liked best about living with Damian, that we cooked our own meals. He-um even taught me how to cook a little.”
It was the most Matty had spoken to any of us about anything that happened to him. Not that I expected him to spill all his trauma to us, but I was honored that he felt comfortable sharing anything.
“Yeah? That’s cool. I can’t cook worth shit. I’m a beast at cutting vegetables though. That’s what I do for Mav when he cooks for us. I heard Wes is a pretty good cook too, but he hasn’t made anything for me yet, so I can’t vouch for him.”
That caused Matty to smile a little. Digging in the fridge, I saw that the chef had pre-wrapped bagel sandwiches. I pulled out two. “Do you like pork roll egg and cheese?”
“I never had it.”
“What? Yeah, no. We have to remedy that right the fuck now.” Then I stopped. “You’re not a vegetarian or anything are you?”
He made a little face that was adorable. “No. Definitely not.”
“Cool. Then sit. I’ll get these heated up. Trust me, you’ll be blown away.”
Matty didn’t seem so sure, but he still sat down.
Once they were ready, I took the seat across from him and handed him his sandwich. He froze again, staring at it. I wish I had a fucking clue what was going through his mind. I also wanted to know what bastard messed with him so much that he was afraid to eat. I learned some interesting torture techniques watching Skye and Maverick that I wouldn’t mind trying out.
When I realized he wasn’t going to start, I took a big bite of my sandwich, totally hamming it up, pun most definitely intended. “Eat up.”
He still seemed unsure, which broke my fucking heart, but eventually he took a small bite, then watched me. When I didn’t do…whatever it was he was afraid I’d do, he took another bite, then another.
“It really is good.”
“Told you.”
He gave me a real smile then, before digging in. He picked up the pace, almost eating too fast, like now he was sure I wouldn’t take it from him or punish him, he wanted it down his throat before I could change my mind. I wonder if this helpless feeling was what Mom and Pops felt like with Diego and even me when they found us. It fucking sucked.
It reminded me that I had to call them. I talked to them briefly after we got home, just to let them know we were safe. Mom still listened to all the gossip and I did not want her to find out I was in a fucking shoot out from someone else. But I wanted to talk to them about Matty, and my men. I missed the fuck out of both of them and I couldn’t wait for them to get home.
We ate together in silence, both lost in our thoughts, but once he was done, I could tell he wanted to say something.
“What, um, will happen to me now? I know Maverick said I’ll be here until they can make sure I’m safe, and it might be a while, but after? Am I going to have to go back to live with Michelle and Lewis?”
I considered this. Honestly, I had no idea what would happen. Eventually Luca was going to have to deal with the Covington’s. We managed to keep Matty’s name out of the news, as well as Il Fortunato, so Covington wouldn’t know we had him. Luca had told him that we found Larsen dead and ran into dead end after dead end so we were coming home to discuss a new plan and an adjusted payment when we returned. Covington didn’t seem all that surprised or upset that the child he raised was missing, which all but confirmed the theory that he onlyhired us to make sure Larsen and Matty weren’t going to cause trouble for us. I still thought he might know more than he let on, but we had no way to prove that for now.
If I had a say, no fucking way would those assholes get anywhere near this kid. I wasn’t sure how much my opinion mattered though. “Do you want to go back to them?” I asked instead of answering, taking the technique right out of my Pop’s handbook.
“I mean, after everything I learned? Not really? They honestly were never the best parents anyway, and I was happiest when I was away at school. But I don’t know where else I can go and I still got a year and a half before I’m eighteen.
“Hey,” I told him softly, “You don’t need to worry about all that yet. Okay? One day at a time.”
He looked down at the table. “Yeah, okay.”
Footsteps alerted me that someone else was coming into the kitchen. Two someone’s as Skye and Maverick entered.
“Hey kid,” Skye said sitting in the chair closest to Matty, “How’re you holding up?”
