She smiles, and it transforms her face, making her look younger, freer. “I started to put it together after... after that night on the steps. When you waved to me at the restaurant. And Mia has photos of you in her house. The way she reacted when she saw you at the club, the ‘familyemergency’ that pulled her away from the hospital. Those things started to fit. But, I think you wanted to be found out.”
“Are you angry?” I need to know. Need to hear it from her.
She considers this, her head tilting slightly. “I was. For a while. But then I remembered how you protected me, how you called the police when Eli—” She stops, takes a breath. “I think I understand why you did it your way, even if it wasn’t... conventional.”
“You did refuse to talk to me,” I say with a small laugh.
“Most people haven’t lived my life,” she counters, and there’s a strength in her voice that wasn’t there before. “They haven’t been through what I’ve been through.”
I want to touch her. To take her hand, brush her cheek, anything… but I hold back, not sure if we’re there yet. “I’m in love with you,” I say instead, the words tumbling out before I can consider them. “I knew I loved you that day you threatened me with the knife. It doesn’t make what I did right, but I need you to know that it’s not just about obsession, lust, or control.”
Her eyes widen slightly, and for a terrible moment, I think I’ve said too much, too soon. But then she smiles again, that beautiful, transformative smile. “I know,” she says simply. “I think I’ve known for a while. You kept your word when I said I needed space.”
“And Mia?” I ask, remembering the other piece of this complicated puzzle. “Are you angry with her for keeping my secret?”
Lila shakes her head. “No. She was caught in the middle, trying to protect both of us. I understand why she didn’t tell me.”
Relief washes over me, so powerful it makes me dizzy. I reach out, finally allowing myself to touch her, just the lightest brush of my fingers against hers. “What happens now?”
“Now,” she says, taking my hand properly, her fingers intertwining with mine, “we start over. No masks, no secrets. Just Anthony and Lila.”
The feeling of her hand in mine is better than anything I could have imagined. Warm and real and present. “I’d like that,” I say, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “Maybe we could start with dinner? Akira Sushi is just down the street. We can walk.”
“I’d like that too,” she says, and there’s a lightness to her voice I’ve never heard before. “But first, I want to ask you something.”
“Anything,” I promise, meaning it completely.
“All those books you left me. Did you choose them on purpose?”
I nod, surprised she’s bringing this up now. “Yes. I wanted to... I don’t know, plant seeds, I guess. See what things you might be okay with. It was my way of getting to know you. And I wanted you to see that you deserved better than Eli, that you had the strength to leave.”
She considers this, then says, “Thank you. For seeing that strength in me before I could see it in myself.”
Something shifts between us in that moment, some final piece falling into place. She tugs gently on my hand. “Come on. I’m starving, and you owe me at least one proper date after all the drama.”
We walk toward the front of the store, still hand in hand. I glance down at the mask she’s still holding. “What do you want to do with that?”
She looks at it for a moment, then tucks it into her purse. “Keep it as a reminder, I think. Of where we started. Maybe you can wear it again, but just for fun.”
Outside, the evening air has grown colder, but I barely notice. We walk the short distance to Akira Sushi, making small talk about the chill in the air and whether or not we think it will snow soon. Normal conversation, the kind people have when they’re getting to know each other the normal way. It feels strange and wonderful all at once.
As we wait for the hostess to seat us, Lila turns to me, her expression suddenly serious. “I want you to know something. I’m not... fixed. What happened with Eli, it left scars. Not just the physical ones. I’m still working through a lot of things.”
“I know,” I say, matching her seriousness. “And I’m not asking you to be fixed. I’m just asking for a chance to know you, the real you. The rest we’ll figure out together, at whatever pace you need.”
Her smile returns, smaller but no less genuine. “I’d like that,” she says, echoing my words from earlier. “One day at a time.”
“One day at a time,” I agree, and as the hostess leads us to a table by the window, I feel a sense of rightness, of coming home. No more masks, no more shadows.
30
Lila
The restaurant is warmerthan I expected, or maybe it’s just my nerves heating me from the inside out. Anthony sits across from me, no mask between us now, just his actual face, handsome and open, watching me with those intense eyes that seem to see straight through me. I fidget with my chopsticks, unsure what to do with my hands when they’re not hidden under a table or wrapped around a coffee mug. This is strange. Being on an actual date with the man who’s been watching me for months, who’s seen me at my most vulnerable, who knows more about me than anyone. Except maybe Mia and Valerie. And yet, it also feels like the most natural thing in the world.
“I recommend the dragon roll,” Anthony says, breaking the silence that’s settled between us. “And the spicy tuna. Both are excellent here.”
I nod, grateful for the mundane topic. “I trust your judgment.”
