Grieved Loss (Bellandi Crime Syndicate 3)

“This is all beside the point. Can we get to that little menace being punishe

d? Look at what he did to my Oliver!” Pearl shrieked, and she clutched the strand of pearls around her neck.

“I’m talking to my son before I can even think about dealing with you,” I shot over my shoulder. “What happened, Cookie Monster?” I asked Axel softly, ignoring her continued tirade behind me.

“I want him expelled!”

“Mrs. Fiore informed you she needed to discuss the situation with Axel. I suggest you quiet down and let her do that. When Mr. Fiore arrives, he won’t be pleased to learn his wife and son have been disrespected,” Dante warned, stepping between Pearl and I to form a physical barrier and give Axel and I a bit of privacy.

It was greatly appreciated, even if it might have seemed insignificant with Principal Blanchet’s eyes on us, anyway.

“Disrespected? You dare to talk to me about disrespect when you come into my space. Do you have any idea who my husband is?” she asked, and I resisted the urge to chuckle and throw out Matteo’s name.

I’d let Ryker do that when he arrived, and knowing he was already on his way gave me the courage I needed to finally stand up for myself against all the bullshit I’d endured at the hands of the bitchy, judgmental women in that school.

“Tell me what happened,” I repeated, touching Axel’s cheek. He turned his deep blue eyes up at me. Tears shone in them, and if I hadn’t already been murderous, the sight of those alone would have made me positively stabby.

“He called you a slut,” Axel whispered, and my body froze as I processed the words. “He said that you proved just how trashy you were by spreading your legs for a man like Ryker.” I could see that my little boy didn’t fully understand the implication or meaning of the words, but he understood enough to know it had been a terrible insult.

To both me and Ryker.

Dante’s energy went haywire behind me, and I didn’t dare to look at his face.

“Did he say those exact words, Cookie?” I asked Axel as calmly as I could. No matter how pissed off I was, I wouldn’t do anything that gave him the impression my anger was with him.

He’d done nothing wrong, and I dared anyone to tell me that protecting his mother was wrong.

“Yes,” Axel whispered. I patted his cheek gently, leaning down to kiss his forehead. Spinning around to face Pearl, I wished Dante wasn’t in my way.

I wanted her to see her undoing written all over my face.

I tapped his shoulder, making my furious guard turn back to look at me. “It’s alright, Dante. I’ll take it from here,” I said. He nodded hesitantly but stepped back to take stock behind me with Axel. My son immediately flourished under his care, letting Dante inspect the bruising in a way I couldn’t.

I had a feeling he was more familiar with black eyes than I was.

I ignored Oliver’s blubbering as he touched his cut lip and fixated my glare on the mother. “And I wonder where a six-year-old might have heard those words?” I asked her with pursed lips and a tilted head.

She glared back at me. “That’s irrelevant.”

“You’re teaching your six-year-old son that a woman’s value lies in who she spreads her legs for. That is hardly irrelevant, when he turns around and repeats your exact words in some pathetic, misguided attempt at bullying. You want to talk about my son being a menace? What about all the boys who have transferred schools because of Oliver’s torment? He is a miserable child, just like his mother.”

Axel chuckled behind me, and Dante’s legs vibrated as he shook with his attempt to keep silent.

“I hardly see how I can be a miserable child. I’m a full-grown woman,” Pearl scoffed with an eye roll. Always ignoring the truth of her son’s bullying and always getting away with it because of how much money they donated to the school.

I suspected her biggest problem with Ryker was that his wallet was fatter than her husband’s.

For people like her, it all came down to money.

“Then act like it,” I spat in return.

“Are you going to expel Axel Latour or not?” she turned her attention to the Principal with a glare.

“My son will not be punished for standing up to bullies and defending his mother against the words of a catty, jealous woman who is so miserable in her own marriage that she has to condemn others for the choices they make that are none of her fucking business.”

“Calla, my hands are tied. I have no choice but to at least suspend Axel. He started a fight,” the Principal said at my side, and my mouth pressed into a hard line at the look of glee that crossed over Pearl’s face.

“You do what you have to do, but I assure you, I’ll use all my resources to find a legal solution to the stain on this school.” I pulled my phone out of my purse, tossing it to Axel where he sat. “Do me a favor, Cookie? Call your Aunt Samara.”