Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 124836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 624(@200wpm)___ 499(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 624(@200wpm)___ 499(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
“What do you mean by that?”
“Is the Mountain Mistress asking me for this favor? Or is it Moni asking because we’re family?”
“It’s not a favor, Einstein. It’s a respectful request.”
He looked up at me. “A request?”
“From family.”
Sighing, he shut the book and placed it on the shelf. “Family has limits in this world.”
“Not our family.”
Einstein leaned against the shelf and studied me. “Now that you’re with Lei, Marcelo suddenly believes that he is still in love with you, that you’re the woman that got away.”
I blinked. “I’m not the woman that got away. It just didn’t work out.”
“He loves you because when he looks at you, he sees his innocence, and. . .he sees his mother.”
I swallowed.
“But you’re right. Marcelo is not romantically in love with you. He’ll figure that out soon.”
“How do you know that?”
“There’s someone else that has his heart. He just keeps avoiding and running from it, but with each day around her more and more there will be no place for him to run.”
I smiled. “I’ll have to meet her.”
“I’ll introduce you, but Marcelo can’t see. He pretends she doesn’t exist, while also stalking her.”
“What the hell?”
“It is an odd situation indeed.”
I decided to bring it back to my goal for talking to him on the side. “Einstein, no power plays or plotting when it comes to Lei and me.”
“You’re a mothering figure.”
“I’m not.”
“You are. I realized that long ago after reading some books on psychology. You don’t try to mother people. It’s just something that’s in your nature, probably because of everything you went through as a kid.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re the oldest sibling.” He took his book from under his arm, placed it with the new book he was borrowing from me and then held them both in front of him. “You were the one who had to grow up too fast, who felt like it was your responsibility to protect your mom when your father was out there disrespecting her.”
I tensed.
“You took on that burden because you thought you had to. And that protective, nurturing side of you—it never really went away. It just spilled over into everything else, into everyone else.”
Emotions rose within me. “I don’t know about that.”
He held up a hand, stopping me gently. “It’s not a bad thing, Moni. It’s just who you are. And it’s why I’ve always been drawn to you.”
I pursed my lips.
Even though he was part of their gang, I doubted Einstein ever picked up a gun much. Surely, Banks, Marcelo, and Gunner did enough of the shooting for him.
Plus, Einstein’s deadliest weapon was his mind—his ability to get in a person’s head and figure them out to the point where they were more scared of him. That was a helpful skill for him when the bullies came around taunting and bothering him.
Einstein watched me some more, probably knowing exactly what was going on in my mind. “Do you know how much it meant to me, as a kid, when you’d come around? When you showed up for those summers or even Christmas and spring breaks?”
I knew what he was doing, touching on our connection, reminding me that he came well before Lei.
Don’t let him twist this. They have to stop fucking with Lei.
I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but it wouldn’t go away. “I didn’t do anything special back in the day, so let’s get back to—”
“You did everything special,” he insisted and his voice was full of this quiet intensity. “You were the first one who ever asked if I’d eaten in a day or if I’d slept. Because of you, whenever you left at the end of the summer, Banks began taking your place and asking too. Bringing food.”
Against my will, I smiled. “Aunt Betty found out he was sneaking food out of the house and whipped his ass for it. And he would never say why. I had to freaking tell her months later. The crazy fool just would take the abuse.”
“I’m glad you did tell her. Banks’ peanut butter and sandwiches shifted to Aunt Betty’s Tupperware surprises. She would show up early before her job and drop it off to me without saying a word. They never made me feel ashamed.”
“Banks and Aunt Betty have big hearts.”
“You do too.”
“Stop trying to flatter me, Einstein. I’m still pissed about your hyping Banks up to be an asshole at the cookout—"
“When we were kids, you were the one who brought a washcloth to wipe the streak of dirt off my face. Didn’t pick at me or anything. You waited for Banks and them to leave that day, came up to my stoop, took that washcloth out of the plastic bag and just wiped my face like I was a little kid.”
“That dirt was bothering me.”
“I think you even cleaned my ears too.”