Page 5 of Her Hidden Smile

“Sharon, don’t pester the boy. He’s been through a lot,” the big man said. He came up to stand next to the lady with the yellow hair. He put his arm around her shoulder, just like he had the girl. “Why don’t you take the kids to the cafeteria and let me talk to Renzo.”

I shivered some more. I wanted to beg the pretty lady not to leave me. Not with the man who knew what I had done. He might be nice in front of her, but I knew he was big and mad. If Izan could hurt me this bad, this man could kill me for sure.

He must have seen my fear.

“It’s okay, boy. We’re just going to talk.” He smiled, but I didn’t trust him.

The lady looked up at him. She was frowning, but she must have seen something in his face, because she smiled, then looked down at me. “It’s going to be okay, Renzo.”

She turned to the two boys and the girl. “Come on, let’s get something to eat.”

She made them leave the room, then turned back to me and smiled. “I’ll come back soon, Renzo.” Then she followed the kids.

The man grabbed one of the two chairs in the room, dragged it over to the bed, and sat down. He was still higher than I was and I had to look up at him. His eyes were darker than Luis’. Darker than Izan’s. They were black like Jorge’s.

“Renzo, my name is Christos Drakos. I want to thank you for getting help for my wife.”

I sucked in a deep breath and held it. He couldn’t really be thanking me.

“You know what I did.” Even I could barely hear my voice, but he nodded. “Then why are you thanking me?”

“I know what it’s like having to go against people meaner and stronger than you are. It’s tough. Sometimes it’s the toughest thing you’ll ever have to do in your life. But you did it, Renzo, and I’m grateful.”

I wanted to bawl like a baby, but I didn’t. The big man. Señor Drakos. He seemed to know. He hurried on.

“You know your last name, don’t you?”

Looking at him, I knew I couldn’t lie. “Yes.”

“Is there a reason you don’t want to tell us?”

“I’m never going back to the orphanage. Never.” My hands hurt, and I realized I was holding them in tight fists.

He nodded. “All right then. I have a proposition for you.”

“Huh?”

“I have an offer for you.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. Luis had had an offer for me, too. It had been only a little bit better than the orphanage. Of course, it was a lot better than the pimp.

“What offer?” I finally asked.

“Become a part of my family.”

Again, that was what Luis had said. He said that the four of us would be a family. He said we would all look out for one another. I just stared at the big man. We looked at each other for a very long time.

“What are you thinking?” he finally asked me.

“The boy who beat me up was supposed to be my family, too.”

“Ours will be better. You can talk to our other children.”

“Was the boy in this room supposed to be part of my family, cause he doesn’t want me. It won’t be good.”

Señor Drakos chuckled. His laugh didn’t scare me like a lot of grown-up men’s laughs scared me. “You’re pretty smart, Renzo. Jase is one of my sons, but he is all bark and no bite.”

“What does that mean?”