Chapter 8 Angel #2
Nausea rolled over me as I brushed my fingers over the soft petals; four weeks seemed too short.
That was how long they’d given me. Not only to get married but to relearn everything I’d ever known.
Maybe it was something about the realization I’d had about myself or about the way that I, again, felt Gaven's gaze on my spine—ever penetrating—but perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to marry young?
My father wouldn't even have considered him if he was going to just lock me up after the deed was done.
I was just a tool, I knew, to hand over the Price empire to someone my father trusted, and if he was happy enough knowing that I'd be cared for regardless of what happened to him, maybe I should just accept it.
There was still online schooling. Maybe if I just shut my eyes and pretended that Gaven was nothing more than a businessman, things would be—
My thought was cut short as the sound of tires shrieking against the pavement reached me a split second before a loud burst went off—a car backfiring or perhaps a wheel popping?
The back of my heel clipped the sidewalk, and as I stumbled and tried to right myself again, something whizzed past me a moment before a motorcycle tore up the shoulder of the street, damn near popping onto the sidewalk.
"Angel!" My head turned at the sound of my name being yelled, except it was too late.
The man riding the motorcycle swung his arm out, and my eyes zeroed in on the gun in his hand with realization.
That sound earlier had been a gunshot—one intended to kill me, and now he was going to ensure he didn't miss again.
My lips parted on a scream, but it got caught up in my throat as someone slammed into me from the side.
The pavement rushed up to greet me, and I closed my eyes tightly as my hip hit the sidewalk and then we were rolling.
Body on top of body, black coat swirling in a mess as legs hit mine, and we tumbled out of the range of the motorcycle as it sped up the road away from us.
Heart pounding, head aching, my eyes sprung open again, only to find myself staring straight up into the face of the man I'd been thinking about all afternoon.
The harsh set of his jaw was taut as he ground his teeth together, glaring first at me and then to the side as he pushed off the ground and off of me.
Just before Gaven’s body leveraged away from mine, though, I'd felt it—the length of him inside his slacks. Long and thick.
What kind of woman did it make me that I was thinking of nothing but my future husband's dick when really … I'd just almost died? Maybe I'd sustained brain damage on the way down.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Gaven barked as several guards came rushing up only seconds later. "You were supposed to be watching our surroundings! Your incompetence nearly got her killed. Get the SUV. We're leaving. Now."
No one could manage a word as he began snapping orders and growling at everyone approaching us.
Almost as an afterthought, Gaven reached down and helped me back to my feet.
I wobbled on one leg, gasping as I nearly went down once more.
Glancing down, I realized that one of my low heels—a choice on Gertie’s part rather than mine—had snapped in the scuffle and I was uneven.
"For fuck's sake," Gaven muttered, and I briefly wondered if he was about to turn his anger and frustration on me. Before I could utter an apology, however—for what, though, I wasn't even sure—he turned and swept me into his arms.
Blinking, I settled against him without a second thought, feeling small against his broad chest and muscled arms. I’m definitely brain-damaged, I thought to myself as my arms twined around his neck.
An SUV came screeching up to the corner and he hustled me toward it, sliding in and letting someone shut the door behind us.
Only then did he look down at me, and surprisingly there was no anger when he spoke. Instead, there was only concern.
"Are you okay, Angel?"
"Yes, of course." The words came out before I was even really sure. I felt okay. A little dazed, but I wasn’t harmed.
Gaven narrowed his eyes on me as the SUV pulled away from the sidewalk and slid back into traffic. The driver was a known employee of my father’s and remained silent as he drove. His companion in the passenger seat, however, glanced back.
"I want a physician standing by when we arrive back at the house," Gaven commanded.
"Of course, sir," the man replied.
"I don't need that," I said quickly as my mind swam with shock. "I told you I'm fine."
Gaven's hands tightened around me when I moved to release him, and his head jerked down. "I want you looked over by a professional. You were nearly shot to death; there's no fucking way you're fine."
Shot to death … yeah, he was right. I'd nearly been killed. Someone had shot at me and damn near took my head off speeding past on that motorcycle. That thought catapulted me back in time to another day when I’d almost died.
Another shooter. Another man who had saved me.
My head lifted and I stared at Gaven as if seeing him again for the first time.
No, I realized. Not another man. The same man.
“Angel?”
“You…” My voice escaped me. He’d saved me seven years ago—at my mother’s funeral.
Did he remember? If so, why hadn’t he said anything?
Confusion fogged my mind. I felt cold. I pressed a hand to my forehead.
I didn’t know what happened seven years ago—all I knew was that after several months of tight security, my father had suddenly relaxed.
As if his anger had dispersed. No, that wasn’t possible.
He’d loved my mother so much that he had sworn to never forgive the ones responsible for her death.
The only excuse left was that … the ones who’d killed her were dead.
Did that mean Gaven had done as I’d asked? Had he found them? Killed them? My head throbbed.
"Angel." Gaven cupped my face, bringing my eyes back up to meet his. I hadn't even realized I'd lowered them. "Tell me the truth."
The truth? I thought bitterly. The truth was that I hadn't wanted this marriage. I didn't want to be any more involved in my mafia family's business than I already was. I was Alice falling down the rabbit hole, desperately trying to claw my way back to the surface.
I shivered in his arms, wincing as the strap of my heel scratched the back of my ankle.
He cursed, dropping his finger away from my chin.
Gaven's gaze examined me, and after finding the issue, he reached down and slipped a warm finger between my skin and the strap, sliding first the broken shoe off and then the unbroken one.
"Angel—"
"Thank you," I muttered, cutting him off. Gaven's head came up and his eyes focused on my face once more, lips parting in surprise even as his gaze hardened in careful consideration. "I didn't say it, but thank you."
Without him, I might not have been sitting there.
Seven years ago, he’d saved me; today, he’d done so again.
I might've been bleeding out on the street, and though a part of me hated him for his role in forcing me away from my dreams of normalcy, I had to admit, he wasn't exactly acting the part of a hitman and future mafia boss. His gentle touch and unexpected affection … it was as though he genuinely cared about me. It was silly and childish to think that way, knowing who and what he was, but I couldn’t silence the notion no matter how hard I tried.
Once more, his finger found my chin and lifted my face.
He stared at me for several seconds before dipping his head.
My heart thundered against my ribcage, threatening to race right out of my chest as he neared.
I could smell the scent of mint on his breath.
Gaven brushed his full, masculine lips against mine, sparking something inside of me that had been there ever since I'd first laid eyes on him.
It was only growing, and if I wasn't careful, it would completely consume me.
Marriage? To him? I was already fucked. Already trapped in this world I'd been born into, but perhaps … just maybe, it wouldn't be so bad if I was trapped in it with him.
His kiss overtook me, his mouth slanting over mine and his tongue delving deep.
The world disappeared as I reached up and sank my fingers into the wickedly soft strands of his dirty blond hair.
They called me Angel, but he indeed played the part.
The savage passion in his kiss speared me.
He was a fallen divinity being here to wreak such terrible havoc and all I wanted was for him to destroy me before the terrible things in our world did it first.
Because I was scared. Terrified that one day I'd end up just like my mother.
Left bleeding alone in a pool of my own blood with no one there to hold me as I left this world.
It could've happened today, and maybe that was the reason I caved to my desire to return Gaven Belmonte’s kiss.
Maybe I needed this physical connection to bring me back to the real world.
Our story, I realized, hadn’t started that day in my father’s office. It’d begun seven years ago when I’d asked of him the darkest thing a person could ask from another.
I’d asked him to kill for me, so now I had to wonder … had he?