by Susan Stoker, Cristin Harber, Cora Seton, Lynn Raye Harris, Kaylea Cross, Katie Reus, Tessa Layne
He hadn’t even realized he could feel possessive until Angel. Right now he had the irrational urge to pummel the shit out of Roman even though the other man was doing exactly what Vadim was paying him to do. It didn’t lessen his internal struggle though.
Gritting his teeth, he watched her wriggle against Roman. She wasn’t aware Vadim was there, but he knew Roman was. The former Marine was always aware of his surroundings and had likely heard the soft chime of the alarm turning off when he’d arrived.
“This isn’t fair,” Angel growled, struggling even more, pushing her butt into Roman’s crotch as she fought against his hold for all she was worth.
“A real attacker won’t be fair, Angel. Remember what I taught you.” Roman’s voice was harsh.
Fuck. He knew they were training, but Vadim’s hands clenched into fists. He didn’t need to watch this.
He started to head back to the kitchen when Angel looked up from her position bent over the couch. She smiled when she saw him. “Hey, baby.”
God, he loved that she called him that.
Roman loosened his grip around her upper body and to both their surprise, she slammed her head back into Roman’s face right before she pushed her elbows out, letting her slide out from his grip.
Roman grunted as he took the hit and immediately Angel swiveled around. “Did I hurt you?” she asked, concern in her voice.
He lifted a dark eyebrow, those different colored eyes of his amused as he pressed a gentle hand to his nose. He wasn’t bleeding, but his eyes were instinctively watering from the hit he’d taken. “Uh, no. You finally did what you were supposed to do.”
“How’d she do today?” Vadim asked, stepping into the room, some of his earlier tension easing.
Angel crossed the distance to him, ready to hug him, but then stopped. “I’m sweaty,” she muttered, almost to herself.
Shaking his head, Vadim pulled her into his arms as Roman started moving the coffee table back into place. He didn’t care if she was sweaty, he just needed to feel her against him.
“She could do better, but she did well enough,” Roman said.
“She is right here,” Angel muttered as she wrapped her arm around Vadim’s waist and half-turned to face Roman.
“Okay, you could have done better.” The other man’s lips twitched, as if he was fighting a smile. “That last move? You should have done that earlier.”
“I know, but…I couldn’t remember which one to do. My first instinct is to scream and then you hold so tight I can’t breathe and I just forget what to do.”
“That’s actually good. Sometimes you only get one chance to alert others so if you want to shout and scream during training go for it. It’ll get you more pumped up. Of course…” He trailed off, glancing toward the direction of the bedrooms. Then Roman looked at both of them. “We’ll have to train somewhere else where freaking Cujo can’t attack me.”
“Charlie’s a sweetheart, you big meanie.” Angel nudged Vadim. “Did you bring food home? I’m starving.”
He loved the way she said home, as if she considered this her place. Soon enough he hoped she would, even though he knew he couldn’t broach that subject just yet. It would be too soon for her—but he wanted her here on a permanent basis. “No, but I’ll cook something. Let me walk Roman out.”
“Okay, I’ll let Charlie out through your office. She probably needs some fresh air.” She dropped a quick kiss on Vadim’s mouth, thanked Roman then hurried toward the bedrooms.
“Thanks for staying with her again,” Vadim said as he walked Roman to the front door.
The other man shrugged. “She’s easy to be around. I see why you like her so much.”
Vadim stiffened at that and Roman just laughed, the sound foreign coming from the other man. “I’m not my brother—and you know he was just fucking with you the other day, right?”
“I know he asked Angel out knowing she’s mine.” Which still annoyed Vadim.
“Yeah, he thinks she’s hot, but he thinks any woman who talks to him is. He just wanted to push you into making a move.” Roman scrubbed a hand over his hair, as if the conversation was making him uncomfortable, but he continued. “We all knew how much you liked her for a while now.”
Had he been that obvious? Maybe to everyone except her, apparently. “Well he doesn’t need to push anymore.”
Roman laughed again. “Yeah, he knows. Listen, I don’t know if you’re going to want Angel out in public, but this Saturday we’re having some people over to watch the fight. It’ll be mainly the security guys but they’re bringing their girlfriends and wives too so if you want, bring Angel. Hayden and Jay will be there.”
Vadim nodded. “If she wants to go we’ll be there. Her problem is taken care of.”
Roman’s eyebrows rose. “Taken care of?”
“Not by me, but the guy is dead. Found out right before I left work.”
“Good. Stupid fucker. You still want me training Angel this week?”
Vadim paused, then shook his head. “No, but I’ll ask her what she wants. If she’s open to the idea I want you to train her the next couple weeks or so, just until she’s more comfortable defending herself.”
“No prob. I actually know a guy who runs a local gym. They’ve got classes exclusively for women if she’s interested.”
“Thanks, I’ll let her know.”
After Roman left, Vadim locked the door then went in search of Angel. She was in the kitchen, holding the refrigerator door open staring at the interior with her other hand on her hip.
“You take Charlie out already?” he asked, taking his tie fully off and setting it on the rest of his things.
“Yes, lazy dog. She ran out, did her business, then ran back inside. She’s now sleeping, again, in your room. I don’t think she likes the cold,” Angel said, looking over her shoulder at him. She swept an appreciative gaze over him before meeting his eyes again. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you want to devour me.”
“That’s because I do.” Slowly he started unbuttoning his shirt. Her gaze tracked his movements, the hunger in her gaze clear, flooring him. He loved how she wore her emotions right out in the open.
Shaking her head, she shut the door and turned to face him. “I’m sweaty and gross.” She wrapped her arms around her middle. “We can’t do anything now.”
Like he cared that she’d been working out? He continued working his buttons free, his gaze dipping to the outline of her nipples. They hadn’t been visible before but after she’d gotten a workout then stood in front of the fridge, the cool air clearly affected them. He wanted to taste them. Before they took things further though, he needed to tell her what he’d found out. Reluctantly, he stilled his hands. “Will you sit for a sec?”
Her eyebrows rose and she ran her fingers through her long ponytail, bringing it around to her chest, holding onto the strands in a nervous gesture that had quickly become familiar.
“It’s not bad news.” At least it wasn’t to him. Vadim didn’t think she’d celebrate Emile’s death, but she could finally move on with her life.
Some of the tension eased from her shoulders and as she sat, he joined her. “First, you’ll be receiving a check from your parents’ insurance company for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. They should have it to you by next week.” He’d had Wyatt’s legal department look over her parents’ policy then sent the company a letter directly from them. It hadn’t taken long for them to jump into action—no doubt they were afraid of legal action since someone had dropped the ball. Whether intentionally or not, Vadim didn’t care. He just cared that Angel would have enough money to not have to worry.
Her hazel eyes widened and she jumped off the chair. “Are you kidding me!” she shouted. “That’s amazing. Did you do this?” When he nodded, she grinned, smacking her lips to his noisily.
He tightened his grip on her hips, holding her close. He loved the mix of her lavender lo
tion or whatever she wore combined with her natural scent, especially since she’d just worked out. She might think she was too sweaty, but seeing her all natural made him even hotter for her.
“Thank you,” she said, the smile on her face radiant.
It made him feel a hundred feet tall. This woman had the ability to destroy him. And she had no clue. “They never should have jerked you and your brother around in the first place. There’s more.” He wasn’t sure if he should work up to it so he decided to go for blunt. Angel seemed to appreciate that anyway. “Emile is dead.”
Her pretty mouth formed a small O of surprise as she stared at him. “Dead? You’re sure?”
He nodded. “The police think it was a robbery gone wrong. He was found shot twice in his motel room. The room was under his PI’s credit card, which is why I wasn’t able to find him in town.”
“I guess that’s how he found me, hiring someone,” she murmured, seeming to slowly take in the news. Angel placed her palms on his chest. “This is a lot to absorb. I feel…really relieved. Which I know is awful.” Her expression was pinched as she looked at him. “Is that terrible that I’m sorta glad he’s gone?”
Vadim shook his head and pulled her against him, not letting her protest about her rumpled state. “It’s not terrible. You have a right to be relieved after that monster sent you on the run, fearing for your life.” Vadim wasn’t sort of glad, he was fucking thrilled that the bastard was dead. The guy had beat up Angel and killed her brother, her only remaining family. Emile could rot. But Vadim didn’t say that to her, not wanting to scare her.
“I…don’t even know what to say. I can finally move on with my life, stop looking over my shoulder all the time.” The joy in her voice slid over him, pulling an immediate smile from him.
But in the back of his head he worried that when she moved on and didn’t need his protection, that she wouldn’t want him in her life anymore. That thought splintered through him like shards of glass. He bent his head and claimed her mouth, hungry to mark her in the only way he could. In a way that would remind her how good they were together.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
As she pulled up to a stop light, Angel looked at her freshly buffed and polished fingernails and smiled. She hadn’t done anything frivolous for herself in two long years and while getting a simple manicure wasn’t much, it felt fantastic. She still couldn’t believe what had happened in the past couple days. She’d gone from being Angel Johnson to her real self, Angel Flanagan, practically overnight. Now she actually had enough money to finish school and put down roots.
And Emile was dead. Really and truly gone. She only felt bad because she didn’t feel any sorrow for him. He’d killed her brother Aaron so she was more than relieved that her brother had found the justice he deserved.
Vadim had told her Wednesday but she’d still been too shocked by everything to leave his place. But she’d taken advantage of her new freedom to reach out to former professors at Tulane. Once she’d explained everything to two of her favorite teachers, they’d spoken to the dean and were going to work with her to help her finish her last four classes online. With just twelve credits shy of graduating, all her professors had been stunned when she hadn’t returned and had seemingly fallen off the face of the earth. She was just thankful they even remembered her and were willing to help. It was too late to start this semester but she was going to take two classes over the summer then two in the fall and be done by the end of the year. She was actually glad she couldn’t start immediately.
Her brain needed time to decompress from everything. For the first time in two years she didn’t wake up with a lingering sense of fear hanging over her head. Not to mention she had sexy, sweet Vadim in her life.
Of course she couldn’t just stay with him indefinitely. Which was another reason she was out running errands today. He’d already done so much for her and now that she had insurance money coming in—thanks to his diligence—she was going to get out of his hair as soon as she could.
Even if she didn’t want to leave. She loved his home, but they couldn’t just go from being friends to lovers who lived together. It would be too fast. Probably. Okay, not for her, but she didn’t think he wanted her just moving in all of a sudden. Not permanently anyway.
Pushing that thought aside, she steered the Serafina’s SUV into the entrance of her old apartment complex. She needed to tell Mr. Botkin she wouldn’t be coming back at all, even once her place was fixed. She could have called but she was nearby and wanted to thank him for being such a great landlord.
Vadim already had his Mercedes back and the hotel had let her use the SUV for the rest of the week. Soon, she’d be buying a car of her own. She’d sold hers when she’d first left Louisiana because she’d needed the money and because she hadn’t wanted to give Emile an easy way to track her. She didn’t mind taking the bus, but it would be nice to have her own wheels again. In college she’d been able to walk everywhere but Vegas wasn’t set up like that and it could be difficult getting around.
There were a couple open spots in front of her building so she picked the one nearest her old place. She was really curious about the water damage but wasn’t sure if she should go in. From what she could tell Mr. Botkin had packed up everything well, but she still wanted to do another sweep through the place if she could. As she stepped onto the sidewalk she saw her downstairs neighbor leaving her apartment.
The woman rarely talked to Angel, but she was friendly enough. She smiled at her neighbor, who was rushing to the sidewalk, keys in hand. She was wearing light green scrubs and white sneakers. Angel knew she worked in home health and had odd hours. It was clear the woman was heading to work.
“Hey, did you get affected by the flooding?” Angel asked.
The dark-haired woman stopped and frowned. “What flooding?”
“My apartment got flooded. I thought you might have been affected too since you’re below me.”
The woman just stared at her for a moment, then shook her head. “Ah, I’m late for work, but I didn’t know there were any plumbing issues here.”
As the woman hurried down to her car Angel decided to head to Mr. Botkin’s place instead of her own. Before she’d taken two steps she saw him coming out of her apartment, a bucket in his hand. When he spotted her from the balcony his eyes widened in what was most definitely guilt.
What the hell? Had he found a renter willing to pay more? It didn’t make sense that her downstairs neighbor hadn’t even heard about the flooding; she would have been affected too. Angel raced up the stairs ready to demand an answer from him. “Was my place really flooded?” she asked, hoping she was being paranoid by that guilty flush on his face.
After a long pause, he shook his head. “No, but your friend wanted to protect you.”
She blinked, not understanding. “What friend?”
He paused, just watching her with an almost panicked look on his face.
“Did you lie because you found a different renter willing to pay more?”
He shook his head and his original statement started to sink in. Her friend wanted to protect her. There was only one friend of hers that Mr. Botkin had ever met.
“Vadim had something to do with this?” The sense of hurt that slammed into her was staggering.
Mr. Botkin nodded, his expression apologetic as he sighed. “Yes. A man was asking about you. A bad man. Vadim wanted you gone from here so he could protect you. He said you’d have a place to live. Did he lie about that?”
She shook her head, gritting her teeth. No, but he was a big liar who was going to answer for what he’d done.
* * *
“You ever gonna tell me what’s bugging you?” Roman asked Angel from across the high top table they were sitting at. The bar they were in was a local hangout close to the casino. The drinks were cheap enough, the atmosphere was relaxed and there was no smoking inside.
She traced her finger down the neck of the beer bottle she’d been nursing for the better p
art of the hour. After leaving her old place she’d been beyond pissed at Vadim. Since she hadn’t wanted to go back to his house and she wasn’t ready to light into him yet, she’d called a couple of girls she was friendly with at work to see if they could hang out. They’d been working so she’d called Roman. Normally she didn’t mind being alone, but she’d wanted someone to talk to. “It’s nothing.”
“You’re a terrible liar,” he muttered, waving at their waitress to bring him another drink.
When her phone buzzed again in her purse she looked at it. It was a text from Vadim, asking if she wanted him to bring something home for dinner. Tears burned her eyes and that only pissed her off. She thought about ignoring him completely but didn’t want him to worry. And yes, that pissed her off too. She shouldn’t care about his feelings, but damn it, she did.
Out with a friend, I’ll be in late tonight. Don’t wait up.
Okay, her text was kinda harsh, but she didn’t care. Angrily, she shoved it back into her purse, earning raised eyebrows from Roman.
“Come on, what’s going on?”
She didn’t want to talk about her and Vadim, especially since she knew Roman was friends with him. It felt like too much of a betrayal of Vadim and even though she was pissed, she still didn’t want to talk about him. “I’ve just had a long week, that’s all.”
“So no trouble in paradise then?” Roman asked, his voice wry.
“Not like you’re thinking.” Yeah, she wasn’t talking about her relationship with Vadim with anyone. She just couldn’t. “So how is it that you and Logan are so different?” Angel hoped the change in topic would work.
Roman’s lips quirked as he shook his head. “No clue. I think he was dropped on his head as a baby. My mom won’t confirm it, but I have my suspicions.”
An unexpected laugh tore free, easing some of her hurt and annoyance. “You want to do a shot?” Probably not the best type of therapy right now, but if there was a better one, she sure couldn’t think of it. She’d just get a taxi home—to Vadim’s—if she had too much.
