Page 56 of Worth of Waste

Although, quite a bit of it had.

“If I need help, let me ask for it,” Karen said.

Well, he wasn’t about to argue with that.

Still …

“And you will allow me to provide for J, right?”

“He’s your son, Dino. I didn’t put the responsibility on you, but I’m not going to refuse you if you want to take it on.”

Good enough.

Karen didn’t realize it, and Dino wasn’t about to explain and start an argument, but in order to provide for his son, that would also include making sure the boy’s mother was in a good, stable position in her life.

He’d started that ball rolling with the lake property.

Dino was going to keep letting the ball roll.

All too soon, Ben DeLuca’s large three-level home came into view at the very end of the suburban street. All of the homes in the area were large and the inhabitants toted bank accounts big enough to feed five families, not including their own. Every time Dino saw his uncle and aunt’s home, his stomach twisted in knots.

He hated that place.

It brought back one too many bad memories for him, things he would rather forget. Especially the garage where he had been beaten on more than one occasion, and once even had to watch his younger brother take a few hits before being shoved into the trunk of a car for trying to help Dino during one of Ben’s many lessons.

Nothing about the DeLuca home felt like … well, home.

“I have to go,” Dino said, though it was the last thing he wanted to do.

Karen sighed. “All right. You still should have woken me up.”

She sounded less angry.

He took that as a win.

“What do you want for Christmas?” he asked.

It was a good distraction.

And the holiday was only a month away.

“Nothing,” Karen said. “Why?”

“Shouldn’t I get you something?”

It was the first year where he would be able to shop for people he actually gave a shit about. Maybe that would make the holiday a little less dull.

“Why would you get me something?”

“Because you’re mine,” Dino said, confused.

The silence on the other end of the call only lasted for a split second before Karen’s sweet laughter echoed through the speaker.

“Yours, huh?”

“Thought I made that clear, Karen.”

“You’ll be just fine,” she replied.