Chapter Fourteen #3
“You’ll what? Hm?” he asked, standing. My eyes struggled to stay on his face when I knew that his abdomen was exposed. I saw tattoos. He was covered in ink. His voice had an edge to it, but it didn’t show anger from him.
He knew about this.
“How long have you known about it?” I asked, trying to keep my voice firm and sure.
He stalked to me, his blue eyes freezing me in place. He gripped my chin. “Considering I was the one who let Bella help you… I've known for a while, angel.”
My mouth fell open as I took a step back from him.
I weaved a hand through my hair, needing to make sure I was still in my body on this Earth.
He remained silent, watching my every move as his jaw ticked.
My brows came together as I tried to swallow, but my throat was suddenly dry.
Shock led to confusion, and then came…panic.
I shivered as a single drop of sweat made its slow crawling descent down the back of my neck. “Collin, I—”
He held up his hand, turning his face away from me. The letter was a test, and I had failed him. He didn’t trust me. He didn’t—
Tears filled my eyes, and my hand slapped over my mouth, my stomach twisting in painful knots. After everything. The last twenty-four hours. He just wanted a taste of me and I let him have it. He brought me here to Boston—to—to…
“Make it quick,” I whispered as my hand fell, my eyes focusing on the couch behind him. My fingers grazed my lips. I would never forget the feeling of his lips against mine, even in death. They were nothing short of heaven. He moved closer, saying something, but I had already checked out.
I would never see my family again.
I would never see my friends.
I would never see my nephew again.
I would never get to become a momma.
I would never get to see Jeremy truly happy.
Strong hands cupped my face, and suddenly I was looking up into glacier blue eyes, cold and empty. Those lips moved, but I didn’t hear all of the words falling from them. My ears were ringing. His thumbs brushed away my tears as a pained look flashed across his face.
“Baby, look at me.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Baby. Razor blades made their new home in my throat, a burning pain. “Please, don’t make it hurt. I've seen you kill quickly—”
In the next second, my back was up against the window, the cool glass causing me to shiver once more, and goosebumps coated my skin.
“Karina, look at me,” he growled. His voice held anger but also a hint of a plea. Sniffling, I obeyed.
He was the most beautiful man. His jaw was set, his lips curled, and those eyes filled with worry I'd never seen. “Dammit, you infuriating woman.”
“You aren’t going to kill me?”
“No, but I'll spank you until you are sobbing if you say that again,” he warned.
I shook my head in his hands. “I don’t understand—”
“Karina, God fucking—” he pulled away from me, giving me his back as he ran his hands over his shaved head.
“Col—” He whirled, pointing at me.
“Don’t you fucking call me that. You don’t get to call me that if you still think I am going to hurt you,” he spat.
The room was silent for a moment. “What are you going to do with me?” I asked, my voice small. I hated myself for it. I was stronger than this; I had to be.
“My men and my staff are very loyal to me, so you didn’t get Bella to betray me. The second you asked her for a pen and paper, she came to me,” he explained.
“I—”
“Angel, I need you to be quiet,” he snapped, and in turn, I snapped my mouth shut.
He shook his head, mumbling something under his breath. He took a seat on the edge of an armchair, his hands clasped between his knees before he looked at me. “You were never a part of the plan, but Jesus,” he hissed. “The first time I saw you, I felt like I couldn’t fucking breathe.”
He looked away from me.
My heart was pounding in my ears. What?
“Never had I seen a woman so fucking beautiful. You were a vision, and in that moment, I believed there actually was a God. He was teasing me with something I could never have, not with the blood on my hands,” he said, his voice rough with pain. Those eyes flicked back to me, earning a small gasp.
“You were—are heaven to me. The only heaven I will ever have. The day I took you—I saw you in that coffee shop. Fuck, how could I miss you? The light you carry with you is blinding, Karina.”
“Col,” I whimpered.
“Don’t—I don’t want to hear that. You're still scared of me.”
“Why? Why did you orchestrate the letter?”
He huffed a quiet laugh, as if he didn’t believe what he was saying. “Because I wanted you to have a fighting chance, baby.”
My knees gave out as my face crumbled. “You—what? This doesn’t make sense,” I cried, bracing myself against the glass to avoid crashing into the floor.
“I had hoped your friends would find you. Fuck, I damn near prayed for it. I would leave for days on end, wishing that when I came back, you would be gone,” he said gently.
“I would've fucking hated it. I hate being apart from you, always have. Nevertheless, I still avoided that god forsaken city for five years, Karina. I had to.”
“But—”
“Romano doesn’t know about you,” he rasped. “He can never know of your existence. He found out about Haley, but then again, she fell in love with the lead agent investigating us…so the target on her back is on his hands, just like the target on your back would be mine.”
“You—you wanted to save me?” I breathed, running a hand through my hair.
He stared at me, his jaw jumping.
“You chained me to a wall,” I whispered.
He nodded, his throat bobbing. “Yes.”
“You choked me.”
“I wanted to give you a quick death, angel.”
“Do you still want that?”
His chest seemed to deflate as he pressed the balls of his hands against his eyes.
“No, I didn’t want it then! That’s why I left you.
When I came back, I thought the universe would have granted me mercy,” he said, dropping his hands.
His eyes were red rimmed. “Mercy was granted. You were still alive, and my punishment started that day.”
“I am a punishment to you?” I asked, my voice small.
He closed the space between us, bending his neck so his forehead touched mine, his eyes searing.
“You are the sweetest form of torture. Touching you with the intention to harm you will always be my greatest regret. The fact that you said yes to me is a miracle in itself.” He stroked his thumb over my bottom lip, his voice dropping to a level I had never heard before.
“I won’t stop earning your forgiveness until I place the world at your feet, angel.
Until I bleed dry, I will never stop fighting for you, protecting you.
Whether you want me or not, you have me. My protection—all of me.”
A blue-eyed demon sacrificing the world for his angel, the fires of hell burning everything in its path—including the devil to get to her—to have her.
I put my hand on his cheek. “Col—”
His cell phone began ringing, and for a few moments, we just stared, silently begging each other for the words we shouldn’t say.
This conversation wasn’t over.
He knew it.
I knew it.
But the darkness clouding his soul beckoned him, and he had to answer.
He sighed, fishing his phone out of his pocket. His thumb stroked my bottom lip as he looked down into my eyes. “Sleep for me, angel. You'll always be safe with me.”
His lips found my forehead, and for one fleeting second, I believed our happily ever after was in reach. Then, he spun on his heel, answering his phone.
“This better be good,” he growled, walking away.
My brain worked to process the conversation that just passed between us—an angel and a demon. There were lots of things that stood out, but there was one fact that had my hair standing at attention.
This demon was turning against the devil for me.
His loyalty to Ray Romano was over.
I gripped my scalp, sucking in a deep breath. He needed to know the truth.
He needed to know he was about to turn against his father for me.