The boy stopped. Corey lowered him to the ground and gave him a gentle push toward his mother. Mother and child clung to each other. He followed the movement of Tiffany's hands as they gently caressed the head that lay cradled against her breast. The scene emasculated him. Maybe he did deserve to be behind bars with the rest of the world's scumbags. When she spoke to the boy, he was sure of it.

"Joey, Corey didn't hurt me."

Joey pulled out of his mother's arms. He seemed to grow six inches as he stepped away from her and turned to face Corey. "My mom is a lady. She never lies. All the same, I don't like the way you treat her. You may be bigger than I am, but if you hurt her, I'll come after you." 

Corey rolled that over in his mind for a moment. His son had just threatened him with who-knew-what. While he was proud of the kid's spunk, his reckless disregard for consequences would land him in big trouble one day. The old woman had been right; his son needed a man in his life to channel that raw cussedness into something closer to productive grit.

"Boy, you did right to defend your mother. However, I'll give you some good advice. When you threaten a man, you'd better be ready to back it up right then. You get my meaning?"

The boy's eyes grew into round saucers of self-doubt and then narrowed in defiance. This kid was his, all right. He was going to have to learn all his lessons the hard way, just like his father.

"I believe I asked you a question. I expect an answer."

"Yeah, I got your meaning."

"I believe you meant, "Yes, sir," didn't you?

Joey looked at his mom for direction. 

Tiffany glared at Corey. He could see she wasn't happy with his method of handling the boy, and she was probably right. He was too used to striking first and asking questions later. That attitude might have kept him alive in prison, but it wasn't going to be effective with his son. 

Tiffany gave Corey a silent warning with her glacial blue eyes and then turned to her son. "Mr. Donovan deserves your respect, Joey."

The kid gave her a long breath but didn't argue. "Yes, sir. I got your meaning."

"Good." Corey took the challenge out of his voice. "Now that we have that settled, your mom and I have some things to discuss privately. You can leave the room without worrying about her. I won't harm her. I give you my word."

"Mom?" Joey questioned his mom while not taking his eyes off Corey.

"It's all right, Joey." Tiffany squeezed her son's shoulder. "Go get some of Mrs. Stewart's fresh tea cakes and I'll join you shortly."

Corey waited as the boy turned the thirty-second walk to the library door into a three-minute production. Turtles moved faster. It's exactly what he'd have done at that age if forced to leave his mother with someone he didn't trust. With one last scathing glance in Corey's direction, the kid finally exited the room.

*  *  *

I hope you enjoyed the preview chapters of this story. 

THE CLICKABLE LINK to the completed book is on my profile page

Book Link: https://books2read.com/u/mgEQev