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going to kil me.”
    “I doubt it.”
    If the stranger only knew … “Yeah, wel , I don’t. I happen to have known the woman since the day I was born and she’s going to beat me until I bleed.” He looked up at the stranger who’d saved his life.
    He was huge. Probably around six-four with short blond hair, he was dressed al in black. High-end black. Nice pants, Ferragamo boots and, unless Nick missed his guess, the button-down shirt was silk with leather cuffs and col ar—not that fake stuff they sold at the Dol ar Store where he and his mother bought clothes. As for his coat, the leather was so soft, it didn’t even make that crackling leather sound.
    This guy was definitely loaded.
    “Why can’t I move my arm?” Nick was starting to panic.
    “You were shot.”
    “Where?”
    “Your shoulder.”
    Before Nick could say another word, he heard his mother’s distressed cry. From the side where his vision was blocked, she appeared and wrapped her arms around him.
    “Oh my God, baby. Are you al right?” She bawled as she saw the bandage on his head and over his eye. “What did they do to you? Why weren’t you at home like I told you?
    Dammit, Nicky, why don’t you ever listen to me? Just once in your life!”
    “It wasn’t his fault.”
    His mother released him instantly. She turned toward the stranger, who was stil in the far corner of the room. “Who are you and why are you here?”
    He held his hand out to her. “Kyrian Hunter. I’m the one who cal ed you.”
    She shook his hand. There was a stark contrast between her tan secondhand frayed wool coat, cheap white vinyl boots, and the red sequined polyester skirt Nick knew belonged to one of her dancing outfits. His tiny mom was a beautiful woman, but the heavy, overdone stage makeup made her look a lot older than her twenty-eight years and he hated when she teased her blond hair out for shows. It made her look cheap and his mom was anything but. “Thank you for that, Mr. Hunter.
    Where did you find him again?”
    Nick panicked. If Kyrian told her where he was when he’d been shot, she’d shoot him again just for good measure.
    “He was in the Quarter, trying to protect an old couple from being mugged. They got away and the scum who’d held them up was beating on him when I saw them and stopped it.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “You saved my baby?” Kyrian nodded.
    She sobbed even harder.
    Nick felt like total crap. It was a good thing his dad wasn’t here. He’d cut his throat for upsetting her like this. “Don’t cry, Mom. I’m so sorry I got shot. I should have done what you said and gone home. … I’m just so sorry.”
    She wiped at her cheeks where her makeup was now streaked by the tears. “You didn’t do nothing wrong, baby.
    You’re a hero. A wonderful hero and I couldn’t be prouder of you.”

    Nick winced at the lie. He wasn’t a hero. I’m a hoodlum . . .
    just like my scum-sucking father.
    He met Kyrian’s gaze and something in his eyes made him think that Kyrian might actual y know the truth. If he did, he didn’t bust him for it, which only made Nick feel al the worse.
    His mother drew a ragged breath. “The doctor told me you’d have to stay here for a few days, maybe a week or more. I don’t know how we’re going to afford—”
    “Don’t worry about it. I’m taking care of the bil .” She narrowed her eyes at Kyrian. “I can’t let you do that.”
    “It’s al right. Least I can do for him. There aren’t many kids his age who’d take a bul et to keep a stranger safe.” Stil , she looked doubtful.
    Kyrian offered her a kind, tight-lipped smile. “I have the money, Mrs. Gautier.” Wow, unlike Peters, he didn’t sneer her name. He actual y said it like he respected her. “And no one to spend it on. Trust me. You’re not taking a dime from me or my family that’l be missed.”
    She bit her lip. “That’s mighty kind of you. Especial y after everything you’ve already done getting him here and