Page 95 of The Fallen Ones

“How have you been?” I asked and turned the music down.

“Good. I feel happier than I have in a long time.” Her reply sent warmth washing over me.

“I’m glad. That makes me happy. Anything in particular that’s made you feel that way? Or should I say,anyone?”

She bit her bottom lip and twisted her fingers in front of her while looked down at her knees.

I grabbed her jaw and turned her face toward me. “Lil bit. Tell me.”

“The masked trio. I saw them again. Well, saw one of them. At Cameron’s party.”

“Oh yeah?” I pretended I didn’t already know.

“Yeah one of them followed me to the bathroom, and....”

“And what, Lil?”

“We had sex.” Her cheeks flushed red.

“Did you enjoy it?” I asked as I stared at the way her lips parted, her jaw still in my hand. It took everything inside me not to kiss her right there.

“Yes.” She nodded.

“That’s a good thing, Lil bit. You deserve to feel special.” I released her jaw and moved a loose strand of her dark wavy hair and tucked it behind her ear. “I’m glad you’re having a good time. That makes me happy.”

She smiled, a look of relief washing over her face.

“They still haven’t told me their names, but they did refer to themselves as the Fallen Ones. Have you ever heard of them?” She looked eagerly at me.

“Uh, no. I haven’t, sorry. If I do, I’ll be sure to let you know though.”

She seemed to accept that, so I turned the radio up, smiling internally at her attitude about the Fallen Ones.

“I love this song.” Lily’s face lit with excitement as she began singing along.

“Me too.” I admitted, the boom from the bass coming out and filling the interior of the car.

“It reminds me of the time you taught me how to drive a stick."

“You mean, when you stalled the car a dozen times before we even got out of the driveway?”

“Oh, shush. I learned how to do it eventually.” She slapped my arm and laughed.

“Half-assed, but that’s fine. I’ll count it.” I winked at her and rested my hand on her knee. It was a bold move since I didn’t typically touch her like this. When she didn’t move away, I took it as a good sign and kept my hand there.

She offered a smile and continued to sing. Her voice always left me mesmerized. She had so many talents and didn’t even know it.

We pulled up to Giano’s a few minutes later. I grabbed a parking spot before cutting the engine and getting out to go around to Lily’s side to open the door. I liked doing that for her. She deserved the princess treatment. Besides, I was old school. My grandpa always said to treat a lady how you’d want your daughter to be treated.

Of course, I wasn’t so sure I’d want my daughter railed by three masked men in various settings. I tabled that thought and moved to the next.

The idea of having a kid with Lily one day had crossed my mind a few times. I’d seen the way she was with kids and knew she’d make an amazing mom. That wasn’t something anywhere near our future, so I pushed the thought away. We still needed to figure out how we were going to come clean about everythingto her and still be able to keep her. The plan of continuing on and hooking her good seemed to be working. I had hope it would stick when it came time to unmask.

I held the door open to Giano’s and watched as Lily walked in front and chose a booth for us to sit.

She slid to the opposite side of the booth and faced me. “Caleb, can I ask you something?”

“You know you can,” I replied and placed my hands on top of hers on the table.

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