Lie, Baby, Lie ✔️

chapter twenty-one- wade

Chapter Twenty-One

The day after our meeting with Romero, Mia skips school entirely. I wake up around eight the next morning to her at my front door, shyly twisting the hem of her t-shirt before she asks if she can come in. I step aside and kiss her once she's inside.

"Don't you have class?" I ask.

"I'm ditching for the day," she replies. "I'd rather be with you anyway. With Romero knowing where I go to school, I'm not sure I want to be back there. At least not right now."

She's more rattled than she lets on. I'd like to knock his teeth out for keeping tabs on her like that, but I'd never get a good hit in. One of his men would get me before I could even try.

She presses her mouth to mine again for one more chaste kiss. "What do you want to do now?"

I grin. "I can think of a few things."

I bend down and scoop her up, one arm around her and the other looping under the backs of her knees. As she rests her head against my shoulder, I walk her right to my room, and we stay there for the next couple of hours, bodies tangled underneath the blankets.

***

I frame Mia's face as we lay side by side, her cheeks soft and warm. Her whole body is like that, and as she's naked in my sheets staring at me with those eyes of hers, I feel like I've lucked out. When Mia looks at me, her love is there, and I'm reminded that I'm not alone anymore.

Thomas Critt's sister ended up being the first girl I ever loved. That's definitely not something I expected. I don't think anyone could fathom a demon would get close enough to touch her, to fall for her. I'm Catholic, I'm a man with faith, but miracles were always something that didn't happen to men like me. At least, before her anyway.

We've spent the morning making love, talking about anything except Purgatory and Romero, and staying in my bedroom without ever moving.

"I'm glad you're here," I tell her.

"Me too," she says. Her eyes stray to the alarm clock on my bedside table. She reads the time and slumps in disappointment. "I have to go in an hour."

"You should stay," I suggest.

She says, "I'd like to, but Thomas wants me at Purgatory as soon as school gets out. I think he wants me to work with him this afternoon."

Mia wants nothing to do with the business, but she can't help her involvement now. The minute she snuck away to Mexico, she submitted to joining her brother for as long as she remains in Los Angeles. The more she delves into it all, the more she knows about the drug trade. It's an ugly thing, and she's got a front-row seat now that she's at the top with Lucifer.

She hesitates before saying, "We still have time to say yes to Romero."

"No," I refuse. "I already told you why that's not going to happen."

"So you're just gonna let him tell Thomas about us?"

"He's bluffing," I say. "We're his best shot at getting what he wants. He wouldn't throw that away so easily."

"He will if he realizes it's a dead end," she counters.

"So what if he does? Thomas might not believe it," I argue.

"You've seen what happens if someone even touches me inappropriately. He never saw Frank grab me, and he forced me to put a bullet in his head. If he knows what we've done, or even what we just did, he won't care about evidence."

"I won't take the deal," I say stubbornly. "That's the end of it."

"You're going to turn down the help we need without thinking about it?" she asks.