Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Promise
A pink diamond sits on my finger, sparkling in the setting Vegas sun as we board the private jet to return to New York.
Angel had looked at sapphires and topaz. He wanted something that matched my eyes.
But in the end, we settled on the pink diamond. When I slipped it on my finger, he leaned over and whispered, “It reminds me of the color of your blush and your perfect pussy when you’re excited.”
I blush now, just thinking of the words.
Knox and Candy are just behind us, and I glance back at them like they can hear my thoughts.
Candy’s hair is back to orange, the brown must have been a wig. Honestly, I like it this way. It’s just…her.
She gives me a thin smile back, looking almost pained. Is this about Vinnie? The wedding? The trip to Vegas?
The moment we’re seated on the plane, Angel’s phone rings. He picks up and I take the opportunity to get up and sit next to Candy.
“Are you all right?” I ask, nipping at my lip.
Candy sighs. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“I am worried. Yesterday was…”
She rolls her eyes. “I appreciate you asking, though I’m still getting used to your voice.”
I laugh at that, squeezing her hand.
“But I drowned my sorrows in alcohol and bad choices. I’ve got a whole system of coping with my shitty taste. I just rinse and repeat.”
“Bad choices?” I cock my head closer, dropping my voice to a whisper. This isn’t anything Angel or Knox needs to hear.
“You know how I told you I have terrible taste in men?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I picked up the worst one yet.”
“What made him the worst?” My eyes are wide. “And how did you manage to pick up a guy at the reception with like ten people?”
Candy gives a single snort, shaking her head. “He was at the bar right outside the reception room.” Her gaze turns to mine. “Best sex of my life.”
That has me pausing. Sex with Angel is amazing. I had no idea it would be like that. But I also have no idea what makes sex the best sex. “Really?”
She picks at one of her nails, a lock of orange hair falling over her shoulder. “Really. He was older and he was just…magnetic. Which definitely means he’s bad news. He left right after, barely said a word.”
“Ugh,” I murmur sympathetically. Because the last thing Candy needed was another rejection.
“On the plus side…” Candy settles back, her clothes rustling. “I realized that if the sex was that good with some random guy, Vinnie was never the one for me.”
I pat her hand, glad she’s feeling better about Vinnie. I know I had nothing to do with his choice, but the guy showed up to marry me, which makes me feel guilty. And though I really like Candy, we don’t know each other very well, which means I don’t quite know how to gauge her reactions. “Still.”
“Look. If you’re thinking this is a problem for me, it isn’t. You had no idea Vinnie was going to show up at your wedding in a tux. I gathered that much pretty quick. And…I got an all-expenses-paid trip to Vegas.” She gives me a softer smile.
I return her smile, but my attention quickly shifts to Angel when I feel his eyes on me.
“I see,” Angel says into the phone. “Send me the pic.” And then he hangs up.
“Everything all right?” I ask, realizing I’m just repeating the same question over and over.
Angel frowns. “That was Jake. We’ll talk to him again tomorrow, and you can listen, but he just wanted to tell me that they’ve lost Sver again. They did capture him on camera, however, and they are forwarding me a picture so that we’ll know what he looks like.”
“But we’re going back to New York. Why should we be concerned about Sver?” I watch Angel’s face, his grimace speaking volumes. He’s worried.
“He worked for a Russian family before he went rogue. He’s highly dangerous.
And since he was seen just outside our wedding reception, Jake is worried he knows who we are.
He wants us to be prepared just in case Sver surfaces in New York.
” His phone dings. He opens the image, looks at it, and hands it to Knox. “Show Promise when you’re done.”
Knox hands me the phone.
It’s a picture of one of the hotel hallways, a single figure walking down the hall. He’s tall, well-muscled, graying at the temples.
His shirt is open, revealing a thickly muscled and tattooed chest.
Next to me Candy inhales a sharp breath.
I look over at her and her eyes are wide, the color draining from her face. I don’t have to ask to know…
Pressing my lips together, I stand, crossing to Angel to hand him back his phone. By the way he’s staring at Candy, he knows too.
She wasn’t kidding. She’s got terrible taste in men.
Candy’s super-hot hookup. It was Sver…