Page 12 of The Fractured

Sound crashed into my thoughts with a blast of a car horn nearby.

“What were you sayin’?” I asked.

“How is Lily?” Mom repeated, scratching the caramel fur on top of Bella’s head.

“She’s doin’ alright.”

“Is that all?” She tutted, brushing her thick braid of long black hair from her shoulder when Bella took an interest in chewing the end of it.

I half smiled. “She started work today.”

“Oh, good—so when are you moving in?”

My eyebrows shot up as I let out a breath and looked at her. “Cuttin’ to the chase, I see.”

“You’ve been there so often already,” she shrugged. “Move in together.”

“That’s very un-Italian of you. Most Italian mothers want their adult sons to stay home.” I smirked, knowing that was never her way of thinking. She loved the idea of family staying close, but she always encouraged me to do what made me happy.

“Oh, pfft,” she scoffed.

When we arrived at the vet parking lot, my attention was quickly drawn to a gray sedan parked in the only wheelchair access zone.

“Fuck’s sake,” I muttered.

The driver was leaning against the car door on his phone and showed no signs of needing a wheelchair.

“Language,” Mom whispered. She then brushed off the issue with a wave of her hand. “There are other spaces.”

“Not for wheelchairs…”

Jaw ticking, I drove on and found an empty spot.

After helping Mom out of the car and into her chair, with Bella waiting in the driver's seat until I scooped her up and plopped her onto my mother’s lap, I brought them from the parking lot and along the sidewalk to the clinic doors. Mom checked Bella in at the desk, the woman behind the desk cooed over the excitable puppy, and I stood by the waiting room chairs until Mom was done with the sign-in.

“I’m gonna wait in the car. Text me when you’re ready.” I began moving to leave, but Mom caught my wrist.

“The parking space we have is fine.” Her blue eyes sharpened with a warning. “Non confrontare quell'uomo.”

Do not confront that man…

Shouldn’t be too hard.

“Non lo faro.” I smiled easily, flipping my keys around my finger. Ever the charming, completely well-behaved son…

“Dean,” she warned.

“I promise. I won’t talk to the guy.”

I smiled again and then left the building through the automated doors, stuffing my fists into the pocket of my hoodie as I followed the sidewalk to the parking lot again. At least if my fists were tucked away, there was less risk of me hitting the guy on the way back. It didn’t help that I had to walk directly behind his car to get to mine.

He got off his phone as I passed him and strode in the direction of an ATM down the street. I assumed that’s where he was going. It was a good four minutes away.

I got to the Cadillac and unlocked the passenger door, and then popped open the glove compartment with one thought in mind.

Four minutes is plenty of time.

Among the things I rummaged through was a bag of Dum Dums, Lily’s idea to help me quit smoking. They kept my mouth busy and curbed the cravings whenever I felt the urge to put a cigarette between my lips. Which was exactly what I needed right now.