Page 35 of Kilo's Edge

He hesitated, then grinned, and with a shrug said, “Chris.”

“Chris.” It was weird. I’d only known him as Kilo. Trying to think of him as anything else seemed strange. “Thank you.” It was difficult to force myself to get out of the truck, but I did.

He waited until I got to the door before he started it and drove away.

“Mama,” I called out as I went inside. “I’m home.”

Carmen looked up from the couch and gave me a grim look. “She’s upstairs.”

I went and sat next to her, pulling her against my side. “Is she mad?”

“She was worried.”

“Sorry if I worried you both.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You stink.”

Ugh. I knew what she meant, but Kilo had slept next to me all night. And kissed me. I didn’t want to stink. “I’m going to shower.”

I bypassed Mama’s room and quickly showered and changed before going to face the music. She looked me up and down as I entered her room. “I’m sorry.”

She sighed and set her knitting aside. “I don’t want you to be sorry.”

“But I am,” I told her, walking over and sitting on her bed. She was in the little armchair next to it. She liked to look out the window while she knitted.

“I know. I was just worried, Mija.”

“I know,” I echoed. “I really like him, Mama.”

She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “And I’m trying to remember that you’re not my little girl anymore. That if you go out and… stay the night somewhere,” she gave me a pointed look that said not to tell her what happened, “that it’s your right. This whole mess has taken so many years away from you. It’s not fair.”

This was going way better than I ever expected. She wasn’t yelling. She wasn’t even scolding me. I was getting nothing but empathy and understanding. “Who are you and what have you done with Lucia?” I teased.

She cracked a smile at that. “This isn’t easy for any of us. If you’ve found someone to make it better, that’s good.” I nodded. “Have you told him?”

I cringed and shook my head. “I don’t know when the right time would be. How do you just tell a guy that you’re in Witness Protection because some really bad people are trying to murder you and your whole family?”

“I don’t know, Mija,” she said, leaning forward to take my hand. “But you’re going to need to tell him at some point. It won’t be fair if we have to disappear again and he doesn’t know why.”

“I know, Mama,” I sighed. “I know.”

She patted my hand. “Go watch TV with your sister.”

I left her room, trying not to be depressed that I not only needed to tell Kilo about my secret, but that at some point I’d probably have to leave him.

CHAPTER 15

Camila

Icarried over the lasagna I’d made earlier that day and knocked on Kilo’s door. It’d been three weeks of this. Almost every night, I went to his house and brought a meal. We’d eat, talk, watch movies, and most nights I fell asleep in his arms on his couch. Then I’d sneak home and into my bed. It was the most normal thing in my life in over four years.

And each day I fell harder and harder for him. We made out often, but still hadn’t slept together. He seemed to be taking things slow with me and as much as I appreciated that, I was done. My body was rioting and demanding that we give in to the urges that refused to give me any relief.

Tonight was the night. I’d bought a new bra and panty set and I was wearing a short pair of cotton shorts and a tank top. Food and small clothes, that was my plan to seduce this man. It was laughable. He had beautiful, half-clothed women around the clubhouse every day. But this was the best I could do, so I wasgoing for it. Seeing how his eyes lit up when I brought dinner in, and how his gaze heated when he looked me up and down, I thought it was a good plan.

“Hey, Cami,” he said with a grin as he opened up the door. His eyes narrowed on the dish I was holding. “What did you make today?”

I laughed at his tone, because I’d already figured out the way to this man’s heart was through his stomach. “Lasagna.”

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