Chapter Forty-Four #4
Angel sniffs. I adore how sorrowful he is on behalf of my tragic family tale.
He is extra pretty when he’s sad.
Taking him by the hand, I bring him to the dresser. “When I began working for your father, I saw the knife. I recognized it instantly by the carving, since my father still had many of Isabella’s things.”
Reaching into the back of the top drawer, I pull out a small box. I open it and remove a necklace, showing it to Angel. His lips part, eyes springing between mine and the ivory pendant with the carving of a bird in barbed wire.
“This was hers,” I tell him softly.
Then I place it around his neck.
“Hang on… I can’t accept this,” he whines, though it’s clear he wants to, the way his gaze is coveting the beautiful handmade jewelry.
“But you have to, baby,” I hum, moving his hair aside to fasten the necklace.
I press a kiss on his nape and he purrs.
“It deserves to be passed on.” Our eyes meet in the mirror.
“After I killed your parents, I vowed that if you, or your sister, ever came for me, I would give it to you. I would tell you the truth of that knife I stole and make sure The Ivory lived on… in you.”
He’s just staring at me, and my chest is aching, because I know what I’m about to do… What I’m about to tell him that will smash his beautiful heart to pieces.
“Cards on the table, I thought it would be your sister,” I sigh. “Even after you found me at Edge, part of me still thought Avianna would end up in here first. We were always searching for her too… And when I heard that there was a girl lurking around the island, I was almost certain it was her.”
There’s a subtle shift in his features, as if he likes this. That I thought he was Avianna. That the two of them are still linked, through this, as dreadful as it may be.
I’m sure that’s what he was going for. I mean… Arianna, Avianna. He wasn’t exactly being subtle.
But then something painful passes over his face. “But would you have… I mean, if it had ended up being Avia, would you have wanted… her?” His throat dips. “The same way you want me…?”
A psychotic grin sweeps my mouth right up. I move in front of him once more and cup his jaw. “Pajarito, are you jealous?”
He scowls. “No. Callate, idiota.”
I laugh out loud. “Baby bird, it was all about you. Trapping your sister in here would have been like… bait. To get you here.” I look around the cage. “This was all made for you, Angelito.”
He shoots me a snarky look. “Am I supposed to be flattered by that?”
I brush my lips over his. “No sé… Is it working?”
He shivers, palms resting flat on my chest, as if maybe he wants to push me away, but isn’t able to make it work. “Fuck off, Diablo.”
I chuckle, seductively deep. “And now I have you,” I whisper, kissing gently; his mouth, his jaw, his neck. “Just like I always wanted.”
“I really don’t think I should take this necklace,” he hums. “It’s part of the Ivory heritage. Shouldn’t it go to… a Blanco?”
“Like who? My children?” I snort. He chuckles and shrugs. “Yea, that ain’t happening.”
“Okay, but what about your… future… spouse?”
I freeze.
“Like your wife, or your… husband?” He mumbles, audibly breathy. I lift my face to lock our eyes. “Someday…”
My mouth opens, but I can’t make anything come out. I’m just speechless, staring at him.
Wife…
Husband…
Someday…
“Or I could give it to you…” I whisper. “Now.”
He bites his lip, toying with the pendant. “I, um…”
“Come.” I hoist him up quick, holding him by the ass as his legs circle my waist.
Kissing, devouring his plush lips and those little breaths while carrying him over to the bed. I lay him down, and I’m mere seconds from stripping him to nothing but the necklace. But I can’t right now.
Shit, I do not want to tell him…
“Baby?” He mewls, fingering my hair.
“Hm…?” I kneel in front of him, taking his hands in mine.
“Were you able to… find Avianna?”
I blink at him, swallowing hard.
Wow… It’s like he knows.
They do say twins have an unspoken connection.
“Si, mi amor.” I close my eyes.
He goes quiet. The silence around us is deafening and it goes on for way too long. So long that it’s become very apparent I’m about to tell him something very bad.
“Just tell me, Diablo,” he sighs.
When I reopen my eyes, I find him blank. He’s shut down.
The only comfort I have is that he’s spinning Ivory’s pendant in his fingers. Like it’s giving him solace in this troubling moment.
“I’m so sorry, pajarito…” I choke up the words. “She’s gone.”
Angel stares. Then blinks.
He looks down at his lap and sniffles.
Then he nods. “Do you know how… it happened?”
“From what I was told, she overdosed. A couple years ago… We only just found out.”
A whimper leaves him, his face falling into his hands.
For all the indications over the years that I’m a heartless, soulless, unfeeling monster, this moment disproves their validity. Because I can feel something inside me breaking. Something deep inside, past the muscle, tissue, organs and blood; a human piece, though not of biology. Metaphysical.
It is coming apart with empathy for the suffering of this cherished person I think I might…
“My sweet little bird…” I reach for him.
And to my surprise, he comes to me. Climbing onto my lap, he wraps himself around me, tucking his face into the crook of my neck. Body shuddering in pain.
My Angel cries soft tears of devastation, and I just hold him, rocking him for as long as it takes. And it takes many miserable minutes, minutes wherein I wonder how it’s possible that I can feel his anguish right now.
How it’s possible that a man who’s caused so much intentional pain could actually want to heal someone; and one of my victims, no less.
“Tell me the truth,” Angel eventually whispers, peeking up at me. “Was my father’s business tied to… the trafficking of children?”
Gulping the lump in my throat, I simply nod.
His glassy eyes close, tears tumbling down his cheeks.
“You shut it down…” He croaks. “When you took over?”
“I did,” I mumble. “But it was too late. It took me too long, and I’m sorry, pajarito, but it was not a selfless act.
I waited until I had enough leverage, and respect.
I could have shut that shit down immediately…
” I swallow. Insecurities I’ve shoved down my whole life digging up to the surface. “I should have…”
Not fully evil, but definitely not good, I’m just… a regular awful fucking man.
There’s nothing special or different about me.
I’m just like all the rest of them; a callous, egotistical fraud.
“At least you tried.” Angel grasps my face. I shake my head, but he holds me steady. “You did. You have a heart, Diablo… I’ve seen it.”
“No…” I grunt. “No, I don’t. Do not give me credit for anything, pajarito.”
“Stop…”
Shoving him onto his back, I’m pinning him in an instant. “Don’t make excuses for me, Angel. I am a monster, and the sooner you get that through your head, the sooner you’ll—”
He cuts me off with his lips on mine. Yanking at my hair, and kissing me rough.
He pushes me until he’s on top, pinning me.
“My… monster,” he purrs, and I groan.
Before I know what’s happening, he’s tearing my clothes off, and shedding his own.
Our hands are everywhere, feverishly grabbing and squeezing and caressing. He finds lube and pours it onto my inches. And when he sits down on my cock, I’m falling in a fast, blazing shimmer like a meteor shower.
My little bird rides me slow, working his hips to stroke every inch of me deep within his gorgeous body; his rare physicality, like a precious gemstone. Born in the beauty of originality.
We come together, free, and I’m crying actual tears.
With his name on my lips, and mine on his.
Stay with me, sweet Angel…
Stay with me, and never leave.