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As we headed to my home and my real life, I leaned back in my seat and brought my fingers to my swollen-feeling lips. I might never see Samuel again, but I knew I could never honor his request to forget tonight. Even if I wanted to, it was burned into my memory. But Ididn’twant to forget. I wanted to remember tonight and keep it in a safe place in the back of my mind for the rest of my life.
* * *
Samuel
So much fornot doing anything damning.
I watched the car drive away, taking Piper Amato out of my life. I swept my tongue over my bottom lip. I could still taste her cherry-flavored ChapStick. It had been a grand total of twenty seconds since her lips had been on mine, and I already wanted to kiss her again.
Fucking hell. She was a fifteen-year-oldhuman.
As a part of the secret order, I had a lot more freedoms than the average angel, but I was still bound by the same laws, the ones that dictated that Piper was so far off-limits it wasn’t even close to funny. Kissing her had been a mistake of epic proportions.
I needed to get out of here before I had the chance to fuck up again. I couldn’t trust myself right now. Clearly.
I took off without a second’s thought. If I waited, I’d find some way to twist the situation in my head, to convince myself that there was a good reason to seek her out again. I really needed to get the hell out of here.
The stairs to the roof of my club passed in a blur until I was in the garden again. I shed my button-down and let my wings spread from my back. I didn’t know when I’d return. My only goal as I shot into the sky was to get away. I’d worry about everything else later.
One
Piper
Present
Oh my God,save me now.
This restaurant was clearly a bad choice. Our food was taking forever to come out, and I was already done with this date. We’d been here for twenty minutes, and the guy had already brought up my family and the charity ball my parents hosted at the end of every summer no less than five times.
You’d think I’d be used to this charade by now, but it still stung every time I realized another date was only with me for the connection to my family and my money.
I reached for my glass of wine and took a tiny sip. I had zero intention of getting intoxicated here. There would be time for that somewhere far away from the guy who’d seemed sweet and flirty yesterday when he asked me to dinner.
“I’ve always thought clean water was such an important issue…”
Of course he did. Any decent person would want to make fundamental human needs available to every person in the world, but he was talking like I was supposed to be impressed that he possessed the most basic level of human kindness.
Translation:Please invite me to your family’s ball and foot the entrance fee.
I forced a smile as I lowered my wineglass. “I wholeheartedly agree,” I said as politely as I could manage. “Any and all contributions are important and make a difference to the lives of many families around the world.”
His smile slipped for a second before returning full force. “Would I be lucky enough to accompany you to the ball?”
“I don’t bring dates to my parents’ events.” It was a vow I’d made after I let a boy ruin a family holiday. That was a far cry from a charity ball, but it was close enough. I wanted an actual shot at enjoying myself and my family.
My date’s smile was completely gone now. He was starting to figure out that I was not his ticket into Boston’s elite society. “That sounds lonely.”
“I’m used to it.”
“Do you ever get tired of it? Having to go to occasions alone?”
Not as tired as I get of people asking to go with me.But I couldn’t tell him that. “If I do, I can always change my mind, but I’d rather enjoy the time with my family.” At least that was the truth. I wouldn’t trade my family for anything, not even a family no one had ever heard about.
“That’s wonderful. I wish I were closer to my family.” He reached for his glass and took a deep drink. “But I guess there’s no point in wishing I could change the past, is there? The only thing we can control is the future. What dreams do you have for your future?”
“I’d like to travel someday, but I have some classes left to finish before I’m ready to do that.”
He nodded. “I toured Europe for a few months right after I finished college.”
