Page 50 of Zombie

“What’s going on, kitten?” I asked tenderly.

She gulped and glanced away from me before meeting my eyes.

“Nothing,” she said curtly.

“I thought we agreed no lies?” I responded, realizing how fucked I was for saying that when I was the biggest liar of them all. I let the silence stretch between us until she cracked.

“Where did you go last night?” she asked as emotion filled her face.

Her question caught me off guard, and I raced to come up with an excuse. “I needed to run out because I forgot something at work.”

I watched Lennie’s face fall. And that’s when I knew that I had truly messed up.

“You’re lying to me! I know you are! You keep lying to me!” Lennie cried as her bottom lip trembled. She took a step back from me, onto the grass.

Shocked by her outburst, I scrubbed a hand down my face. “You don’t understand. There are certain things I can’t tell you for your safety!”

The words came out more harshly than I intended.

Unshed tears filled Lennie’s eyes. “Bullshit, Dante! That’s total bullshit, and you know it. I saw you last night! I know what you are up to!”

My heart skipped a beat at her words. I needed to tell her, but every fiber of my being resisted the idea of sharing my secret. Had she followed me last night? Were those phantom footsteps that I’d heard in the warehouse hers?

I took a step forward and froze as she took a step back. My heart sank. She had every reason to not trust me. I understood that.

Lennie clenched her fists at her sides and spoke once again. “This won’t work unless you are honest with me.”

One lone tear slipped down her beautifully made-up face.

I looked at the ground and let out a growl of frustration. “You just don’t get it.”

“Then fucking help me understand it!” she bit back.

I met her eyes. The hurt in her expression deepened at my silence.

“If I tell you, it will ruin everything.”

“If you don’t tell me, you will ruin everything,” she whispered back.

I took a breath and licked my lower lip. My whole mouth felt dry. But she was right. I had to tell her. If I didn’t, I would lose the person that meant most to me.

I took a step closer and was happy when she didn’t retreat. I put a hand to her cheek. “There are things about me that you shouldn’t know...” She let out a scoff, but I continued. “If I tell you, you have to understand that I am taking an enormous risk.” I raised my other hand to cup her jaw. “I don’t want to lose you more than I already have.”

Tears were falling freely down Lennie's face. “Dante, please, just tell me. Tell me what I saw wasn’t what I think it was.”

I closed my eyes and opened them. Here went nothing. “I am the son of Anthony Ricci.”

She looked at me as if I had confirmed something that she already knew.

“I have been working to take down Sarah and Ricci’s empire.”

Lennie looked at me with confusion and then a “duh” expression. “Well yeah, isn’t that the whole point of your team, to take them down?”

I was unsure what she had seen last night and appreciated she wasn’t jumping to conclusions without letting me explain. I nodded while still holding her face. I saw the moment things clicked.

“But your team doesn’t know that you are his son,” she said.

I nodded once more.