For the record, I didn’t mean food.
“Definitely dangerous.” I swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry for what happened last night. I’m so sorry I did that to you.”
“Don’t be sorry.” His eyes remained serious. “Believe me, Samantha, that kiss—it was enough to prove something very important to me.”
“What?”
“That I’d do anything to find a way to kiss you again.”
He leaned forward to brush his lips against my forehead.
My heart swelled. It wasn’t a real kiss, but it would have to do.
Before he walked away, I had to ask him one more thing. “Bishop, I know you don’t want to tell me much about what happened when you were human. Not even your name back then, but…I need to know something. Will you answer just one question for me?”
“One question?” he said, holding my gaze.
I nodded.
“Only one question,” he said again. “You promise?”
“I promise.” For now, I thought.
He was quiet for a moment. “Fine. Ask your question.”
“Kraven told me that you’re an angel and he’s a demon because you were willing to do something that he’d never do.” I let out a shaky breath. “What was it?”
Silence fell between us and stretched for so long that I never thought he’d answer me.
“What was I willing to do to become an angel when I’d done more than enough in my life to become a demon instead?” he asked quietly.
My mouth was bone-dry. I just nodded.
His blue eyes flicked to mine and they were now haunted. “I killed my own brother and sent him to Hell. That’s what I did to become an angel.”
I didn’t speak. I didn’t think I could speak. My mind swirled around and around with this new piece of information. I didn’t know what I’d expected him to say, but that was definitely not it.
Stunned, all I could do I was watch him walk away and disappear into the night before I forced myself to finally turn toward my house. My mother stood by the open front door, watching me with a curious expression.
“New guy?” she asked.
I cleared my throat. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to have heard what we were talking about. “Fairly recent.”
“He’s cute. You like him?”
“Yes.”
A fallen angel. Dangerous as a demon. Once one of the bad guys. Responsible for killing his own brother. “More than I probably should.”
Her face was strained, and I didn’t think it was because of my confusing love life. “It’s been tearing me up about what happened. I should have told you the truth years ago.”
I shook my head. “Now I know. I’m adopted.”
She sniffed and ran a hand under her nose. Her blond hair was down tonight and spread around her shoulders. Instead of her usual business suit, she wore jeans and a sweatshirt. Comfortable, nondesigner clothes for a change. Very unlike her. I approved. “All I can say is I’m so sorry. I know we’ve had our problems lately, but I think we can work through them if we want to. I love you, honey. I have from the very moment I was lucky enough to welcome you into my life. We all go through hard times in order to make us realize what the important things really are. My work’s not important. You’re important. You hear me? And—and I want us to be a real family again, if you’ll allow it.”
She looked exhausted from getting all of that out at once. It made me smile a little. “Have you been rehearsing that speech all night, waiting for me to get home?”
She exhaled shakily. “All day, actually.”
I processed what she’d said. I believed she meant it, every word. “It was a good speech. And I agree. Yeah, we’ve had our share of problems, but…family’s not always about biology, it’s about love and support through good times and bad. You might not have given birth to me, but you’re my mother and I love you, too.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “When did you get so wise?”
“Recently. Very recently.” I gave her a tight hug.
Natalie told me that hate makes you stronger, love makes you weaker.
I couldn’t have disagreed with her more.
“Well, good.” Her voice trembled as she stroked my hair. “Because that all could have just gone very badly. I imagined several outcomes, you know.”
“This outcome is a good one.”
She nodded and gave me another quick hug before we both went into the house. I closed the door behind us.
“Feel like pizza?” she asked. “I’ll order one. It’s not too late.”
“Make it a large? Can we get wings, too?”
“No problem. Pizza and wings.” She turned toward the kitchen to grab the phone, but looked over her shoulder at me. “Lock the door while we’re waiting. Can’t be too careful. This city is getting more and more dangerous every day.”
A chill went through me as I turned the lock and pulled the safety chain over. “You’re right. You can never be too careful.”
She had no idea what was lurking out there. No idea what her adopted daughter really was. But she was safe from me. With everyone else—there were no such guarantees.
I needed time to deal with what had happened to Carly. I needed to find Stephen and get the chance to recover my soul—and hers. I had to figure out what it meant to be an honorary team member in a group of angels and demons who were currently trapped in Trinity and tasked to protect the city.
I also had to deal with the fact that I’d fallen in love with a fallen angel—one with an extremely scary and deadly past—and if I ever kissed him again I could destroy him completely.
Yes, those were some serious problems I had to deal with very soon.
At the moment, however, all I really wanted to think about was pizza.
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ISBN: 9781459230125
Copyright © 2012 by Michelle Rouillard
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Table of Contents
Prologue
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
BPA