Chapter 8

Luca’s hand flew to his stinging cheek, and tears welled up in his eyes.

“You’re a sinner. A pervert,” she’d roared so loud, he’d been afraid the neighbors would hear.“I didn’t raise my son to be a freak!”

The words had stung worse than her palm, and he would never forget them.

The rest of the spring semester had been awful. Gone was the warm loving mother he’d always known. Instead, she’d demanded he’d change or he was going to hell. She’d dragged him to church and forced him to talk to a priest in an effort to save his immortal soul.

At first, Luca had tried his best to keep calm and to reason with her, hoping she’d come to her senses and realize he was the same person as always. He was so afraid of losing her. They’d always been close, and she was the only family he had. He’d never known his father; the guy had taken off when his mother had told him she was pregnant and hadn’t been seen since.