Chapter 9
Vex lounged on a leather couch with Angel pressed to his side as the staff scurried to call the doctor, clean the blood from the carpet, and bring ice for their employer. He didn’t regret a second of Mr. Daniels’s discomfort.
“Vex! You shouldn’t have….”
He interrupted his Little girl. “When he’s back on his feet, I’ll hit him again.”
“Vex!”
“I should call the cops, you… biker!” Mr. Daniels threatened.
“Go for it. They’ll take me away, and my club will come to collect Angel and keep her safe. You’re not going to fucking protect her,” Vex told him bluntly.
“Father, you really don’t know what happened. The Ravagers were…. That motorcycle club isn’t like Vex’s. They’re animals. No one should be abused like they treated me. Why didn’t you pay the ransom?”
“It’s important to never bend to the demands of criminals, Angel. Once I paid them, that would have endangered you again and again,” Mr. Daniels explained as if he were talking to a mentally slow child.
“So, you left your daughter with the dregs of society where they tortured her worse than a prisoner of war. Degradation, sensory deprivation, starvation, and physical violence. Does that sound like a spa trip to you?”
“Now, wait a minute. Angel doesn’t look like any of that happened,” her father blustered.
Vex stood, ready to break another body part of her unfeeling father. The bastard hadn’t learned his lesson. Angel grabbed his arm and darted in front of him to block his path.
“Father….” Angel protested, shaking her head. Turning, she met Vex’s gaze, unsure how to respond.
“You can’t rewrite history, old man, to make yourself feel better. Angel, do you have anything else to say to your father?” Vex snarled over her shoulder. He was done.
“No, Vex. I’m ready to go,” she told him in a voice that dripped with hurt.
Wrapping his arm around her thin waist, Vex hugged her to his side and studied her face to see if she was upset with him. Her small smile went straight to his heart. He needed to get her out of here. He turned and guided her toward the door as Mr. Daniels rose to his feet.
“Angel, I’m not done speaking to you.”
Vex opened his mouth to share his thoughts when she patted his chest. He allowed her to reply.
“Father, I’ve been held in horrendous circumstances for weeks when you could have secured my release long ago. I think it’s best if I leave before I have Vex teach me how to punch as well as he does.”
“Now, Angel, that’s not fair.”
“No, Father. Not fair is caring more about your wallet than about my survival. Perhaps when you reflect on the risk you exposed me to, you’ll understand that I’m not willing to thank you for leaving me there a second longer than necessary.”
“When you calm down….” Mr. Daniels started.
“Will be a cold day in hell.” Vex met the arrogant man’s gaze as he finished the ridiculous statement. Angel wouldn’t see her father again if Vex had anything to say about that choice. And he would have.
Reynolds opened the front door for them. “Miss Daniels, the staff hopes you recover quickly. Our thanks go to you, Mr. Vex, for rescuing her.”
“It’s Vex, Reynolds,” Vex growled.
“As you wish, sir. That doesn’t change our appreciation for your efforts.” The butler met Vex’s gaze directly. “Another visitor is arriving.”
Vex nodded and ushered Angel through the doorway. He checked the drive as they descended the stairs. They’d reached the borrowed truck when a fancy sports car appeared.
Angel followed his glance and shook her head. “I do not need this after talking to my father. That’s Trevor.”
“You don’t have to talk to him, Baby girl. This truck will roll completely over that midget car.”
A soft giggle escaped her lips. “I needed that image. No. On second thought, I’d rather get this over,” she told Vex before narrowing her eyes to add, “Don’t punch him.”
“I’m not promising anything,”
The car parked, and a tall, well-dressed man unfolded from the driver’s seat. Vex rolled his eyes at Trevor’s polished appearance. That jerk had never struggled a day in his life. Thank goodness Angel hadn’t fucked him. Good sex would mess up that perfectly styled hair.
“Angel! My God, I’m glad to see you. I’ve messaged you, but you haven’t answered.” He rushed forward with concern etched on his face. When he reached to hug her, Vex stepped in front of him.
“Who are you?” the man demanded, looking past Vex toward Angel. “Who is this, Angel?”
She spoke quickly. “Trevor, this is Vex. He’s the man who rescued me. He and his friends.”
“Of course. Thank you, Vex,” Trevor said, changing his tone immediately. He held out his hand to shake Vex’s.
Vex didn’t offer his in return. “Trevor,” he snarled. How long had Angel’s supposed fiancé left her in danger?
Trevor dropped his hand as if completely confused by Vex’s response. “I’m not sure what’s going on here.”
“Trevor, we found out father didn’t pay the ransom for my release but left me with those men,” Angel told him.
“What? He never mentioned that to me. Why would he refuse?”
Vex had seen the shadow cross Trevor’s face at the mention of ransom. He didn’t believe for a moment the two men hadn’t discussed that. And probably agreed. He sent a warning look to Angel, but her attention was focused on the polished man in front of them.
“He said something about how giving them money would encourage future kidnappings,” Angel explained.
“That does make sense,” Trevor said, nodding. The jerk quickly backtracked when Angel recoiled. “I mean, I can see how. The threat could increase in the future if he met the criminals’ demands—not that he should have left you there.”
“Right,” Vex drawled, glaring at Trevor. He clenched his fist, tempted to deck Angel’s ex-fiancé as well. If he’d had proof Trevor had played a role in leaving her in the Ravagers’ hands, Vex would have taught him a lesson on how to protect his next fiancée.
Angel wrapped her fingers around his. Vex relaxed his hand and turned his palm to meet hers. She smiled at him as if he lit the sun as she linked her fingers with his.
Trevor stared at their joined hands and asked, “Angel? What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry, Trevor. I don’t know how to say this, but I’m going to break our engagement. I can’t marry you.” Angel added quickly, “Luckily we hadn’t set a date or made any arrangements.”
Vex didn’t attempt to keep the triumph from his gaze. You lost her, Trevor.
“Angel? What are you saying? Of course we’re getting married. You’ll need some time to recover from this. Then you’ll remember how perfect we are together. Our families….”
She interrupted him before Vex could. “My family left me trapped in a dark room with men who beat, starved, and humiliated me. I would have died there before my family paid my ransom.”
“You’re safe now. That’s the most important thing. You can always get some therapy in a few months if these memories linger,” Trevor said.
“You need to get out of that magical palace you live in more often, bud. They’re still after Angel and won’t stop until they capture her or we take them down. I know which one I prefer. Would you like to join us when we ride to end them?” Vex suggested, confident exactly how Trevor would react.
Trevor stared at Vex for a second as he processed that information. He dragged his gaze from Vex to address Angel privately. “This sounds like something to leave to the police, Angel. Come with me. Let’s go inside and discuss this calmly.”
Angel studied Trevor for a long moment. The pause made Vex worry that she was actually thinking about walking away from Vex.
Finally, she opened her mouth and said, “I would still be there if Vex had left my rescue for another discussion. I think enough talking has happened here. Don’t bother messaging or calling.
Nothing will make me change my mind. Oh, and they took your ring, Trevor, or I’d return the diamond to you. ”
“Go check with Viper. He loves sit-down meetings of the mind,” Vex suggested as he opened the truck door for Angel. He turned his back on Trevor, completely dismissing him. Scooping his Baby girl up in his arms, Vex lifted her into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt.
Her hands twisted in her lap, clueing Vex in that she was worrying. “Is there anything else you need to say to someone here, Angel?”
She shook her head. “I want Sammie. Can we go home?”
“We can.” Vex pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and stepped away to slam the door.
“See here. I’m not done speaking to Angel,” Trevor blustered.
“Angel said don’t contact her. She’s not going to change her mind. Your engagement is over. She’s done.”
Without another word, he circled the hood, keeping his eye on Angel the entire way. She leaned toward him as he climbed into the cab. “Let’s get out of here, Baby girl, and I’ll find a place to hold you.”
“Please.”
Vex didn’t look at Trevor. He was done. What a boringly proper life Angel would have had with that wimp.
Until they’d driven away, part of him had worried she might choose the life that was familiar to her instead of the protected and cherished one Vex would offer her.
Angel had erased that concern. She’d never wavered.
“He’s not a bad guy,” Angel whispered.
“I’m glad he was nice to you, Baby girl. I’m also glad you weren’t burned to a crisp in that rattrap of a hangout.”
They both sat with that statement ringing in their brains for a few minutes.
That fatal possibility was harsh even by Vex’s standards but true.
Vex had no doubt Viper would have continued to solicit ransom funds from Angel’s father even after she’d died.
Maybe, after a longer period, Mr. Daniels would have relented and thrown his money away to free someone who’d passed away months ago.
Vex forced himself to stay in control as anger boiled in his gut.
Angel’s sweet presence was the only thing that kept him from barreling through the fancy gate guarding the Daniels’ estate.
Angel scooted as close as she could to the massive console in the big truck cab.
She leaned over to wrap her hand around his thigh.
The sight of her delicate fingers on the battered denim of his jeans defused some of his ire. He covered her hand with his. “Thanks, Baby girl.”
“I bet you’re wishing anyone else had found me.”
“I will spank your bottom so hard you’ll stand for a week if you ever suggest or even imagine that statement is true again. Running into you in that hellhole is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I feel like a total asshole for saying that. You shouldn’t have been there.”
“But then I wouldn’t have met you,” she added.
“No.” Vex wanted to tell her that fate would have brought them together, but he knew better. Except for some catastrophic event, their worlds never would have collided.
“Then that’s what I’ll remember when I have a nightmare. I’ll hug you tight and celebrate that we found each other.”
“Fuck, Angel. Don’t make a grown-ass adult man cry as he’s driving a truck down the middle of millionaire lane,” Vex pleaded as he headed for the other side of town.
Her infectious giggle made the corners of his mouth tilt upward. He chuckled, and laughter bubbled out of her. Angel wrapped her arms around her stomach as she abandoned herself to the merriment filling the cab.
“And you decked my father. That’s going to make next Thanksgiving interesting. My father will have the staff make the dining room table as long as possible so he can sit you out of arm’s reach.”
“I’m okay with that. I can sprint down the middle of the table to punch him again if he dares to value money over your safety,” Vex told her.
She patted his thigh to placate him. “Do the Devil Daddies celebrate holidays together?”
“Always. We’re family. We gather at Inferno instead of the compound.”
“I can’t wait to experience Inferno. I’m sorry I never ventured there before.”
“Not really a Daniels kind of place, Baby girl.”
“Don’t be a snob, Vex.”
“A snob?” He glanced over at her, completely taken aback by her response.
“Yes. I don’t judge the Devil Daddies. Do you think it’s fair to judge me and my friends?”
Vex shook his head as her logic rang true. “You’re right, Angel. I shouldn’t make any assumptions about people based on the amount of money they’re swimming in. You do have money in your pools, don’t you?” he teased.
Her amusement bubbled from her lips, and he enjoyed hearing that the tension had disappeared completely from her laughter. He was sure she wouldn’t request an escort to that estate to see her father or that jerk Trevor for a long time. Neither of them deserved his Baby girl’s attention.