Hero: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance Read Free Page A

phone buzzed in my pocket. Mom and Dad noticed, and I sensed their dismay as I fished it out. My sister gushed on obliviously about her latest grade 11 project. I tried to pay attention, but the sudden tension shooting through my body made that difficult.
    Come in tonight.
    Fuck.
    I glanced down at the half-eaten lasagna in front of me and gave myself a few seconds to process the demand, working through the nerves that hit me every time that message came until I could glance up casually, calm and self-assured again. I pushed my knife and fork together and inserted myself the next time Leah took a breath.
    “Sorry - I need to head out tonight. I’ll be back as soon as I can, promise.”
    The abruptness and lack of information told them more than enough. I met the concern that flashed over my parents’ faces head-on while standing up from the dinner table, refusing to show my own.
    “Lottie…” My mother’s voice was soft and I could tell she was struggling with what she really wanted to say. “Can’t you at least finish dinner?”
    I glanced down at it and my stomach turned again. I wasn’t sure I could, even if I had the time. I shook my head mutely, knowing even as I did that I was making my own feelings too obvious.
    “I don’t like this, Lottie. I won’t have it.” My dad’s firm tone and fierce eyes drew my attention, and sparked my own certainty again.
    I could never tell whether my unease made him respond like that out of protectiveness, or whether it was a subconscious way of helping me find my own strength. Maybe both - god knew neither of us could work out quite how we felt about this arrangement.
    “Don’t start, Dad - I don’t have time for this again. You know why I’m doing it. I’m going to get changed.”
    I disappeared upstairs while he was still brooding about it, shrugging on a pair of combat pants and a long-sleeved top while collecting my limited medical kit from the closet. They had better stuff at the old warehouse but I liked to be prepared regardless.
    I came back downstairs to silence and tried to avoid wondering what they were thinking about this crazed venture of mine.
    “Sorry again about dinner, Mom.”
    “No worries, honey - it’ll be here for you when you get back.” She shrugged with a sad smile.
    Dad maneuvered himself in front of me before I could reach the door, taking my shoulders in his large, calloused hands before I could shift past him. His walk was crisp enough that I could barely see the slight limp, and only then because I knew it was there.
    I grabbed his arms back, his presence making me feel safe in the same way it had since I was little.
    I watched those protective, concerned eyes looking up at me from under thick white brows as he spoke.
    “You shouldn’t be mixing with that sort, Charlotte. It’s not a good idea.”
    I smiled in spite of myself, as for some reason the familiarity of this conversation reassured me.
    “It’s alright, Dad - I can look after myself. I even negotiated with Jorge to get the experience I need to apply for college. I’m not doing anything dodgy, just what I always wanted to do - putting people back together.”
    He just grunted, knowing that all that might be true - but it wasn’t exactly how this had come about.
    Not that I would ever bring that up - it wasn’t his fault, and there was no way I was going to let him think that. If it hadn’t been for the cost of my course, he would have had the money.
    “Wrong sort of people - scum like that don’t deserve you.” His voice was rough, but the care there was obvious.
    I scowled anyway, the irony of his argument giving me the leverage I needed to end this.
    “Want to tell me why we’re still in this neighborhood then, if you don’t believe that you can make the world a better place - show people something other than killing and violence?”
    My mother chuckled behind me even as he cursed, shifting his weight onto his prosthetic and glancing back at her.
    “Should