Dead Man Walking (The Fallen Men #6) - Giana Darling Page 0,103

by too,” Bat told me, mentioning his twin sons, who I happened to adore. “Amelia’s got some appointment, but she wants the boys at church with her this mornin’, so we figured we’d go together.”

I blinked at the massive war veteran with tattoos from neck to wrists, trying to imagine him in the hallowed halls of First Light. “You’re going to church?”

Bat smiled sharply as he plucked the peach from my limp fingers and brought the fruit to his mouth, taking a monstrous bite. “Fuck no. But I’ll wait outside and shoot the shit with Dane while you do your business.”

“Where’s…I mean, is Priest going to meet up with us?” I questioned pathetically because I couldn’t help myself.

I knew he’d left because the intimacy had been too much for him. He was a wild animal, so it wasn’t as if he could be domesticated overnight. I wasn’t angry, and I wasn’t even really sad about his abandonment. I was just happy he’d opened up as much as he had the night before.

And I wanted an opportunity soon to take another crack at those concrete walls.

Bat’s lips tipped in a small, sympathetic grin. “Nah, man’s got club business this mornin’.”

I nodded with my lower lip pinned between my teeth, the pain a slight comfort. Without another word, I quickly put my white SMEG coffee machine on to drip and went to get dressed.

Surprisingly, Cleo followed.

“What’s up, honey?” I asked as she hesitated at the door to my bedroom, hugging the doorframe as if for comfort. “Are you okay?”

She bit her lip, a lock of short, rumpled brown hair swinging into her green eyes, tangling with the lashes. In the glamour of the biker babes, it was easy to overlook Cleo with her sweet, full-cheeked prettiness, the freckles on her nose and the shyness in her expression. But I’d always found her lovely, her beauty growing on you the more you studied her. The problem was, with Cleo, she did not like to be studied at all.

“Cleo?” I repeated as I shucked the blanket and quickly pulled on a ruffled set of underwear. “You’re scaring me a little. What’s up?”

She sighed, pushing off the door to plod over to my bed and collapse on top of the covers with a gusty sigh. “I think I’m in love.”

I blinked.

She went into a half crunch on the mattress to look at my expression and winced, then giggled a little. “I know, I know, I’m sorry. I should have told you, but you’ve been busy with a murdering psycho and a certain redheaded enforcer.”

“Honey,” I emphasised as I quickly chose a wintry cream dress from my closet and dragged it on before going to her side and sitting on the bed. “There is seriously no excuse for not telling me! Even if I was busy, you should have hit me upside the head and told me your news.”

She laughed a little, relieved and also giddy, a happy little flush in her cheeks. “Honestly, it’s been a bit fun keeping the secret. I can’t even really tell you who it is.”

My eyebrows cut hard lines into my forehead. “Oh my gosh, are you serious? This is so unlike you.”

Cleo and I were best friends for many reasons. We were both fairly innocent girls brought into the club world by family ties without a man in leather to call our own. We both loved classic movies, though I skewed to the horror and Cleo loved old love stories, shopping at vintage stores, and basically anything and everything girly. We were two peas in a pod, Axe-Man had said once after walking in on us making heart-shaped pancakes at midnight during a sleepover.

And it was true.

So, I was both shocked by her secrecy and by the fact that she was dating at all.

She’d never had more than a crush as far as I knew.

“Is it Eric?” I asked, thinking about her blushing around him recently while we were wrapping up a Little Miss Murder episode.

Her laughter was embarrassed and stuttering with awkwardness. “Bea! I can’t say, okay? Not yet at least.”

“Why would you need to hide a relationship with him? Are you afraid Axe-Man wouldn’t approve? I know Eric looks like a punk, but he’s a really good guy. Heck, he’s a dedicated churchgoer.”

Cleo’s blush intensified. She grabbed my hands and squeezed them tight, eyes shining as she leaned toward me. “He’s amazing. No matter why I can’t tell you the details, I was just bursting to tell