Page 41 of Meet Cute the Virgin

Killian folds his arms over his chest. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”

“You clocked that?” I ask.

“You’re still tense for a man that’s managed to get the girl.” Not sure I fully have her yet, but I will.

“Victor.”

“What of him?” We both worked with him; hell, we worked together with him more than a few times. “You going to tell me he didn’t have a heart attack?” Of course he put that together.

“I’m still trying to find out who did it.”

“Why you? I can’t see the government closing it.”

“Unless they are leaving it be for now. Maybe it’s part of a bigger picture. One that he’ll be behind.” Killian cocks his head to the side. He might be a solid wall of muscle and grunt half his words, but he’s smart. That’s how you stay alive in his line of work.

“Is there someone after Lily and you—” I hold my hand up to cut him off. He’s pissed off, but he pauses.

“I’m only now piecing a few things together, and I’m not even sure if I’m on the right path here.”

“All right.” He nods for me to follow him, and I do. We go out a side door that takes us into one of the gardens so we’re all alone and no one can sneak up on us. “Now talk.”

I do. I tell him everything I found about the blood type and the family fire she might be connected to. I give it all to him; he might see something I don’t because I’m too close to all of it.

“I don’t envy you,” he says when I’m done. “She adores her father. Talks about him a lot. This news will be hard on her.”

“I know.” I nod in agreement. “But he’s still her dad. Nothing will ever change that. I share my father’s DNA, and he’s not my dad. In fact, Victor was more of a dad to me than mine ever has been.”

“It’s personal for both of you.”

I nod again. “This might be a crazy thought,” I tell him, “but, and tell me if I’m getting lost in the weeds here, could some of this be by design?”

“Yes,” he says without hesitation. “When have you ever known Victor to not be planning ahead? Thinking forward about what-ifs and how they would play out. He left his daughter with you, and I get it. You and Victor were close, but I mean…” He doesn’t have to finish the thought; my mind has already been there, but a part of it I was sure was only wishful thinking. To know he would have been happy knowing Lily and I ended up together.

“Something is coming,” I tell him. “And he wanted me to protect her from it. That much I’m sure of.” I run a hand through my hair, still unsettled and frustrated. I hate not knowing the answers. “I think he knew I wouldn’t be able to stay away. That I’d cross every line to keep her safe.”

“Have you?”

I meet his eyes. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

I think of Lily in my arms last night, the way she kissed me back just as hard; she also hasn’t told me to leave.

He claps my shoulder, heavy but solid. “So what I’m hearing is we need to get on this dome sooner than later.”

I glance over at Killian. “Are you smirking?”

“Happens every now and then.” He reaches up and touches the corner of his mouth. “Side effect from being with Teddy.”

“And jokes,” I laugh. “I barely recognize you.”

These girls think we’re the controlling ones. They have us in the palms of their tiny hands, and neither of us would want to be anywhere else.

Chapter Twenty

LILY

The library smells of lemon polish and old paper, which is impressive considering what happened in here. I run my finger along the back of one of the velvet couches. Dry as could be.

“Roland’s a magician,” Teddy says, flopping onto the couch. “Seriously. I’ve never seen anyone clean this fast. It’s suspicious.”