Dropping my voice to a sinister growl, I leaned further into him, grabbing his cheeks. “Tonight is the luckiest night of your pathetic fucking life. If I ever see your ugly face again, a beating will be the least of your worries. Capiche?”

He nodded, fear in his eyes.

“Good, good.” I released his face, giving it a light but forceful slap. “Don’t make me regret this or you’ll have an immediate appointment to meet your maker.”

Trying not to sprint to my bike knowing I was on the clock, I didn’t want her to be waiting for too long and change her mind. Not when I was making so much progress with her.

She was going to be mine.

Ding!

The door to the diner opened, announcing my arrival. I broke far too many traffic laws to get here, get her food, and get back on time.

Martha quickly made her way around the counter, looking around me. “Where’s the girl? Brent, so help me if you scared away the first girl I got to meet...Is that blood on your ear?” She went from wagging her finger at me to cleaning up the blood on my ear.

I didn’t have much time to clean up.

Martha was the woman who raised me. When my mother handed me over to the Dictator, he hired anyone who dared try to calm my wild nature. He didn’t have time for it himself. I couldn’t blame him–running the conglomerate didn’t leave time to look at a child more than once a week, let alone raise them.

I never knew if she met my mother before she killed herself, but I never dared to ask. I accepted my life for what it was–shitty. Plus, opening up about mommy problems? No thanks.

I held up my hands. “Chill, Mom, she’s the one who sent me here! Don’t worry about the blood.”

Her shoulders relaxed while she cleaned me up, her smile returning. “Oh! I am so glad. The one girl I ever met and she’s gone instantly? I would beat you silly if you did that to me; my old heart couldn’t take it,” she said, gripping her chest in her typical dramatics.

She was the only one who could draw a smile out of me. “She’s not going anywhere, Martha. Anyway,” I held up my box. “I need this stuffed to the brim with whatever she ordered last time.”

Giddy as could be, she took the box. “I love a girl who can eat. Tell me about her while they cook up the food.”