Free Shadow of Love by Ellen Wolf

son, desperate to keep him away from the influence of the older boys. She knew enough about their scuffles, break–ins, and fights. The fear of her son getting busted by the patrolling police filled her with horror.
    Working long hours and attending a community college to finish a computer course that she hoped would broaden her chances for a better job, she had little, if any, time to monitor her son—a son who got caught up with a group of teens who spent their time roughing up the neighborhood.
    Watching Sophie approach, her immaculate clothes and sparkling jewelry as perfect as a picture from a glossy magazine, he wondered what she would say if she had known him back then? Would she run away, her lovely face marred in a grimace of disgust and terror?
    In a dark hoodie pulled over his long hair, he had walked the streets of his neighborhood with a knife in the pocket of his baggy jeans and a smirk on his half-childish face. He felt invincible back then, an exhilarating sense of freedom and power making him less and less receptive to his mom’s pleading to stop meeting up with the older boys. They were everything he wanted to be, and he was eager to prove himself worthy of their attention. He got his chance sooner than he had ever planned, as they included him in their plan to rob the local grocery store. James would be a lookout, his eyes and ears a safety net for the older boys looting the shelves of the supermarket.
    What would his fiancée say if she knew that about his past?
    He had to stop himself from smiling ironically as he imagined her shock. And what about Emily? Her expressive eyes could never in a thousand years hide her true reaction to knowing that he was nothing more than a common thief—a thief who had escaped the punishment of the law only because he was twelve at the time and because there was someone at the police station who had seen him as more than yet another juvenile criminal who deserved nothing more but time at the juvie.
    Would she shrink back from him, her lovely face pale and fearful? For one second he almost wanted to say it out loud, if only to test his theory about the family that had become a part of his life without knowing how deeply they had already impacted him with their actions.
    ‘ Em, you look positively sick.’ Sophie was there, her arm going around her sister’s tiny waist as she watched her, not so much with concern but rather with interest, as one might watch an insect struggling to escape from a jar where it was trapped. ‘Are you ok? James, what have you done to her?’ She turned to him, her playful smile belying any serious thought behind her remark.
    ‘ Nothing. He was very nice, Soph.’ Emily cleared her throat, her smile radiant. If he hadn’t known any better, he would have believed that she was absolutely fine. Which was only one more proof of the fact that he couldn’t trust anyone of that household, however tempting it might have been.
    ‘ Good.’ Mollified, Sophie took her place at the table, leaning to him and whispering confidentially, ‘I didn’t want to tell mom about our engagement before we eat, James. It will be quite shocking to her, even though she seems to have taken a liking to you, darling.’
    He knew that. In the short conversation with Marlene, James noticed the older woman’s almost obsessive affection for her daughter, her blue eyes lingering on the girl’s face with pride and love. For one short second, something like a swift stab of regret or even shame paralyzed his entire body. If he went along with his plan, Marlene would be just as much of a casualty as her lovely daughters.
    She deserved it. He calmed his conscience instantly, his compassion fading as he remembered her role in the tragedy from the past. She was self-centered, cold-blooded, and manipulative. The only person that mattered to her at all was sitting next to him, her easy chatter allowing him to switch off and think of the next step of his plan.
    He heard Emily