CLAIMED BY THE MAFIA KINGS 1st of the Mafia Queen Series

a's

lence: some kids took time to warm up,but this wasn't the kind of quiet that came from shyness or

was the only thing keeping her connected to the world. She'd barely moved since this morning. I'd trie

ext to her, keeping my voice

ven a glance i

ustration bubbling ben

Lyra. Don

damn it, if she kept this up, we were going to be two ghosts haunting

tapped against the window like it was trying to say something neither o

ce. A

y years of working with kids, I had never met one this shut down. Grieving kids cried, or they sc

window, staring at the ceilin

g my own rule. "I saw you looking at them y

f this humongous mansion. I reached for one of the books beside her, flipping through the pages. It was a fairy tale:

teady. "Once upon a time, in a faraway

don't

My heart kicked in my chest. I looked at her, eyes wide with surpris

real life, they don't. But in stories, sometimes

aw a flicker of something cross her eyes, a

something. I could

s on my knees. The silence settled between us again, h

our age, I used to sit by the window just like you. The rain made

then back to the window. My chest tightened. I didn't know

tch the rain?" I asked, my voice low

ything. I could feel the mansion itself watchin

er tiny voice cracke

liked t

d mentioned her mother, and fuck, I wasn't ready for it. I wasn'

my voice steady. "Yeah? I bet s

ched her fingers, how she clung to the hem of her sleeve

I'd seen this kind of pain before: the kind that sits in your gut and makes you want to disappear. I

did when it came to Mira, but I could feel his eyes burning into my back. He was waiting for something, some s

le, carved from stone, but there was something in his eyes, somethi

ppeared back down the hallway,

pletely. I turned back to Mira, who hadn't even flinched at the sound of the

he garden grow," she whispered sud

in my throat. "Your mommy sou

ut the window, her little hand pressing agai

uiet wash over us. I'd learned something in my years of working with kids: so

and for a brief moment, it felt like the whole world had pause

n't going to be a quick battle or an easy win. It wasn't going to be about big moments or dramatic breakthroughs. It was goin

to let me in. I didn't know if I'd ever fully get through to her. But I wasn't giv

h something clean betwee

cking here, and that had