Page 122 of Never Fall for an Angel

But also a woman with bright, shining eyes. With soft ringlet curls. A healthy blush on her cheeks.

You’re the prettiest fucking girl I’ve ever seen.

I just hope someday, I can agree with him.

CHRISTIAN

This plan is either fucking genius—

—Or really fucking stupid.

“This place is amazing,” Mila beams, looking back at me with the biggest fucking smile on her face. She’s got her hair down and that dress on. I took one look at it and knew she would look fucking phenomenal in it.

I rub the spot in my chest absentmindedly, a grin tugging at the corners of my lips.

Goddamn, she’s fucking pretty . . .

Paulina was right. Seeing her out of my sweats and off the island was exactly what we needed.

Mila’s the type of girl who deserves wide open spaces. Space to grow. Space to be herself. Putting her in a cage dims her light, and I’d rather take another hundred bullets to the chest than snuff it out for good.

“What is this place?” she asks, falling into step beside me. I tug her close, intertwining our fingers together.

“The fair,” I glance around, a sense of unease stirring in my chest. As much as I want her to enjoy her day of freedom, it doesn’t mean I fucking like it.

The only thing that helps is knowing I’ve got men stationed around the park, keeping an eye on shit so I can show my girl a good time.

“Are you sure this is okay?” she asks quietly, her fingers soft in mine. I’m realizing now that holding her hand was, in fact, a bad fucking idea. Now, I don’t want to give it up.

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

And if there is, I’ve got a gun in my waistband. One on my ankle, and another in my pocket, with a full mag of hollow points in all three.

No one’s fucking touching her.

Today is about having fun, and I hate the fucking look of fear hidden in her eyes. I’m not sure what I was thinking, bringing her here, but I just . . . needed to give her something that didn’t involve the island or the men hunting us down. Time for just the two of us where there wasn’t an elephant in the room. The fair seemed like the best place to do that.

“When was the last time you came to a fair?” I ask, and she looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. I stare at her in disbelief. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. “Really? Never?”

She shrugs. “It just wasn’t something I think any of us considered. You know my mother.”

“Yeah,” I nod, and she chuckles. She’s not wrong. Monica Parker would have lost her shit if any of the girls had so much as thought about going to a carnival.

But . . . That means she’s never had cotton candy. Never had a corn dog from the fair. Never ridden on a Ferris wheel or a roller coaster and almost vomited.

Fuck that.

“Come on.”

“Hey!” She stumbles along behind me when my fist tightens around hers, and I pull her through the crowd. We’ve got a lot to do, and now that I know she’s never experienced any of it, I need her to experienceallof it.

. . . With me.

“Where are we going?” she asks, managing to fall in step with me. I slow down so she can keep up.

“We’re going to have fun,” I murmur, my voice tight. I don’t like having her in a crowd, but I know as well as anyone else that keeping a wild animal caged will only drive it toward the desire for freedom faster.

Besides . . . I have a feeling it’ll be a very, very long time before she wants to have fun with me again when she finds out my secret.

---