Page 179 of Bad Bishop
No, he wasn’t just my lover.
He was my god.
It was only when the music died, when the final note was struck by the orchestra, that I took in the room I was standing in fully. Beforehand, I was too overwhelmed to examine it.
It was filled with roses.
In every color and shape.
Every corner. Every crook. The heavy scent of them in my nose, sweet and pleasant.
White. Yellow. Lavender. Peach. Green. Orange.Red.
He made me face my fear of roses.
In a safe space. Erasing my last memory of the flower and replacing it with something I never wanted to forget.
Tiernan cupped my cheeks, staring down at me. “Hey, Moon.”
“Hey, Sun.” I put my hands on his, keeping them on my face. I leaned into his palm.
“Thank you for this dance.”
I closed my eyes, breathing him in. “Thank you for this life.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
TIERNAN
68 DAYS UNTIL (CANCELED) SELF-DESTRUCTION PROJECT
Lila went into labor at our new house surrounded by enough medical staff to open a field hospital.
There were four nurses, one doula, two OB-GYNs, one pediatrician, and an ambulance on standby.
Some would have called it deranged. I called it adequately cautious.
“Is she giving birth or being exorcised?” Enzo followed the trail of personnel when the staff filed inside. Imma and Chiara were with Lila in the next room, yelling hysterically at her to take deep, calming breaths.
“A lot of shit can go sideways during birth.” I led us into my office. Not that I needed to explain myself to him. His biggest responsibility was not shitting his pants.
Enzo gave me a whatever-you-say-little-princess look, lighting a cigarette and flicking the match out my office window with a knowing smirk.
“Now you can’t go anywhere near her for the next month.” I pointed at the cigarette.
“Fuck off. She’s my sister.”
“That’s unfortunate. I’m sure our kid will still be bright.”
“No thanks to you, Carrot Top.”
I tsked. “Is that all you’ve got?”
“You’re right.” He rubbed his chin absentmindedly. “I need to work on my material, now that you’re about to become the most insufferable, overprotective dad that has ever disgraced this universe.”
“You mean graced.”
He smiled breezily. “I don’t remember stuttering.”
