Page 131 of Dark Love

“Are you going to be in danger?”

She’s worried about me. Dahlia isn’t worried about the monster that I am. She’s worried I’ll get hurt. That worry I can assuage. “No, Dahl. I’m meeting an acquaintance.”

Dahlia lets out a long sigh.

There’s no need to worry about the death and destruction that comes after.

“When will you be home?”

Home… Four little letters rock my world, making everything go topsy-turvy. “I don’t know. Possibly a few hours, or I might not make it back until tomorrow.” If this takes until tomorrow, someone is going to pay in blood.

“Oh…okay.”

Temptation is the pouting lips begging to be kissed in front of me.

Walk away. Time isn’t standing still, even though every second with her feels like a lifetime of beauty. “Now go eat before your egg gets cold.” It takes more effort to let my arms fall away from her body than it does to do a hundred pushups.

Which I haven’t done today.

I hustle upstairs to get dressed.

***

As I walk down the steps, there are only a few more moments that I can enjoy this utopia Dahlia lives in. When I walk out the door, the emotionless killer inside of me needs to come out.

“Vex? Is that you?”

It better be me or someone is dying before I walk out this door. “Yeah, Dahl.”

“I’m coming.” She rushes to the foyer. “Good, I finished in time.” Dahlia lifts up a little floral thermos and matching lunchbox.

“What is that?”

“Your breakfast.”

My what?

“I wasn’t sure what you’d have time for, but I didn’t want you to be hungry all day. So this is a protein smoothie with kale, spinach, apples, celery, and some berries. You can drink it on the way. And if you have time, I made your omelet into a sandwich.”

“You made me breakfast?”

“Uh-huh.” Dahlia nods. “But I don’t have anything to bribe you with. I’ll think of something and give it to you later.”

I grin down at her because there’s no other choice. No one has made sure I was taken care of since my mot—Don’t think about her. Not now. Not here. “You keep thinking about that, Dahl. I’m sure you’ll come up with something.” I take the ridiculous-looking containers. “See you soon Dahl.”

Bourbon Cookies

Dahlia

Staring at the clock worrying about Vex is going to drive me out of my mind. There are only so many times I can scrub the kitchen counter and make the bed, and I exceeded that number a half an hour ago.

What am I going to do to keep my mind occupied? Work isn’t an option. I’d just make a mess out of that. And there’s no way I could focus on a book, even if it was written by one of my favorite authors.

There has to be something…

Max. Before Vex showed up, I was going to make him cookies, get him slightly drunk, and then ask for advice.

The embarrassment alone from all of that will keep my mind off of Vex and the scary things that might happen after this so-called friendly-ish meeting.

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