Mine for Eternity [Council Enforcers] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Free

Something she had never even told the police. They already thought she was crazy. If she had told them what else she saw, they would have surely thrown her in the nuthouse and taken her son away from her. No, she would never tell another living soul. She was going to try her best to forget about it herself. At least she would pretend she would.

Chapter 2
     
    “This is good. Thank you.” The simple meal of bacon, eggs, and toast had to be the best thing Tessa had eaten in what seemed like forever. Nico seemed to be enjoying his meal as well, judging by the fact that he had already finished his bacon and eggs and was almost done with his toast. Without thinking, she grabbed her last two pieces of bacon and a slice of toast and put them on his plate.
    “No,” Mitch grunted. He stood with an angry look on his face and headed over to the stove.
    She had no idea what his problem was, so Tessa ignored him and watched Nico as he ate. She wanted to make sure he got enough to eat because she had no idea when they would get a meal this good again. They were down to their last little bit of money, and it wasn’t like she had a way of making any more. Tessa’s head hurt just thinking about it.
    “Eat,” Mitch said, setting another full plate of food in front of her. “There’s plenty more where that came from.”
    “Why are you angry?” Tessa wasn’t sure what she had done in the past few minutes that seemed to piss the man off, but she could tell he was very unhappy at the moment. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him “thank you for the meal” and to gather their belongings and leave, but Mitch spoke before she could say anything.
    “You do that a lot, don’t you? How long has it been since you’ve eaten a full meal without giving half of it to you son?”
    Sharing with Nico was something that came naturally to Tessa. It didn’t even register that she was doing it anymore. All she cared was the he got enough to eat, and if that meant she had to go without to make that happen, then that was her problem. She could feel her anger spike. How dare Mitch think he deserved the right to say anything about how she took care of her son? He was a stranger to them and nothing more. “Look, we appreciate everything you’ve done for us, but we’ll be on our way now.”
    “Wait. Just wait.” Mitch stood with his hands out. “I didn’t mean any harm. I wasn’t judging you. I just meant it wasn’t hard to see that you guys haven’t been eating properly. I can tell that you’re obviously running from something by the way you keep trying to dash toward the exit every ten minutes, but I meant what I said. No harm will come to you here. You and your son can stay as long as you need. I give you my word that the both of you are safe.”
    Could she trust the word of a stranger? Mitch had been nothing but kind to them since they had broken in, but it was only a matter of time before whatever was chasing them caught up to her and Nico again. She didn’t want to put Mitch in danger, but then again, he did have a real-life lion protecting his home. Maybe she and Nico could stay just for the night. A good night’s sleep would do them some good, and they could get a fresh start in the morning. Tessa’s decision was cemented when she looked over at Nico. The poor boy had fallen asleep sitting up. He was in danger of getting a face full of eggs if his head drooped any further.
    “Okay, if it’s all right with you, then we will stay for the night.”
    “Just finish your food, we’ll talk about everything else later,” Mitch ordered.
    Tessa stared at Mitch as she shoveled the last of her eggs into her mouth. She hoped she wasn’t putting her trust in the wrong person. There was just something about him, though, that made her feel safe and protected. She didn’t think those were feelings she would ever feel again, but Mitch made her feel them just by being at her side for a little while.
    “Thank you, Mitch, for everything.