Page 53 of Angelic Acts
“Don’t make it a habit of waking me at night.” His threat further angers me.
“All of you have woken me in the night. Normally, it’s because your woman has run away,” I snap at him.
“Yeah, but you don’t have kids. I do.” The image of children that look like Lizzy and me running around has me smiling. I don’t think I’d want a litter like he has, but anything she’s willing to give me will satisfy me.
“Whatever. Be here soon. I’ll text you the address. I’ll be at my place with Lizzy. Don’t come over.” He agrees, so I end the call.
With a heaving breath, I make my way back to our fence and open the door. Jogging through, I realize I’ve been gone for over thirty minutes. Lizzy must be worried. I pick up my pace and knock on my glass door.
She flies out of the couch and swings the door open. Frantically, she checks me for injuries, and when she finds none, she exhales. Only to turn rosy when she realizes her hands are on my bare torso. Unable to help myself, I flex against her hold and she squeaks, then shrugs my blanket off her shoulders and thrusts it to me. I take it and slowly wrap it around myself, grateful for the coverage before she can look down at the pipe between my legs.
“What happened?” Her voice is soft and timid as she leads me to the couch. The urge to lift her onto my lap and comfort her floods me, but I fight it back. She needs to know the truth before I touch her again. It’s why I turned down the hotel room invitation tonight. We can’t be together until I’ve confessed my sins. I can’t hide from her and lie to her any longer.
“I took care of them. Don’t worry about those two. I–”
“What do you mean you took care of them?” She gasps in horror. “Did you kill them?”
“No. Well, not yet. But we do need to discuss what happens next.” She misunderstands me as she shrinks back.
“I can’t call the police,” she confesses quietly with her gaze glued to the floor.
“Because of your false identity,” I confirm. She doesn’t realize I’ve secured her cover, even going so far as creating false identities all the way back to great-grandparents.
“Yes, I–” She gasps, her eyes widening in horror. “Wait, what? How did you know about that?”
“We both need to be honest with each other right now. There are things you don’t know about me and our relationship. But the more pressing matter is the things I don’t know about you.” I hate forcing this from her, but we don’t have any other option.
“Like what?”
“I haven’t dug into your past. But it’s time you tell me. You can trust me. I only have your best interest at heart.” I grab her hand and squeeze it. I’m mollified when she squeezes back.
“I’m confused. What does my past have to do with robbers?”
“Lizzy, my angel, they weren’t robbers. They’re from Mississippi and here for ‘Elizabeth.’ They were sent to abduct you. They’ve been stalking you for weeks. I’m so sorry. I should’ve been more aware. I should’ve seen them.” Her face pales further with each word from my mouth until she’s white as a ghost and shaking like a leaf. “Listen to me, Lizzy. I will keep you safe. I swear on my life. The Syndicate will protect you. But I need to know what we’re protecting you from.”
By the time I finish speaking, she has a faraway look in her eyes and fear I’ve never seen before clouds her expression. I pull her into my lap over the blanket and soothe her. I whisper words of love and support until she’s able to catch her breath.
“Okay. I’ll tell you everything. But promise you won’t think less of me,” she begs.
“Lizzy, you mean the world to me. You truly have no idea how important you are to me. Nothing in your past could change my view of you. Nothing,” I assure her.
She searches my eyes before nodding.
Chapter 29
Lizzy
The tremors running through my hands are so violent that I have to clutch them together in my lap to calm myself. All my worst fears come crashing down. Someone has come after me to take revenge for what I’ve done. My past has finally caught up to me.
A hand lands on my knee giving it a soft rub. Looking up, Bash’s concerned eyes land on mine. I know he said nothing would change his image of me, but he doesn’t know what I’ve done.
He waits patiently while I gather my thoughts, trying to figure out where to begin. How do I even say it in a way that exonerates me? I did what I had to do to survive, but what if he doesn’t understand?
“Growing up, it was just my mom and me. We were poor. So poor. There were times we’d have to catch our own food because we couldn’t afford anything else. School was a reprieve. Senior year of high school, this guy from the city, Vincent, started showing an interest in me. He was older and had money. He would buy me things I could never imagine having and bring me places I’d never been before.” I sigh asBash tenses. He knows where this is going. Or at least the start of it.
“I was young and naïve. My mom warned me against him, against men who give you the world at first, because the other shoe will always drop. She tried to forbid me from seeing him. So, when I turned eighteen, I dropped out of high school with two months left and moved in with Vincent.
“The first few months were perfect. He continued to spoil me. I was living a life I’d never imagined I’d experience. There was never an empty cupboard, and he never said no to anything. I think I knew deep down that the money was dirty. That there was no legal explanation for how much cash he brought in. How he always worked at night, and how there were places in town we couldn’t frequent. But I turned a blind eye because I knew my ignorance was the only thing keeping me with him.
