Fallen Angel: Broken Saint Duet Part Two

by E. M. Gayle

  Unfortunately, there was no sign of the boss—yet. Her historical need for a perfectly punctual arrival should have had her here first, and because of the nature of my work, my mind typically went to the worst case scenario first and worked its way backwards from there. However, in this case I refused to acknowledge the pessimism eating me from the inside out.

  She had to be alive.

  There were a dozen different scenarios my mind could work through, but I couldn't stop thinking about just one.

  Fuck.

  I slammed forward at the precise moment the door nearest me opened, and Nova slipped inside. Her sudden appearance should have given me immense relief, but it lasted only a moment before anger replaced the worry. Why had she not answered any of my calls or texts? As she swept through the darkened auditorium, her dark hair cascading in the air behind her and her mask of indifference already slipped over her face, the sudden urge to do something drastic rushed over me.

  Keeping her safe had become my number one priority.

  I took two steps forward before a hand touched my shoulder and stopped me. "Don't"

  I shoved my father's hand off me, turning on him with a snarl. "Don't touch me." The anger coursing through me had gone from red to white-hot in a flash. Gone were the even-tempered thoughts of the cop, only to be replaced by the murderous thoughts of a man in...

  "Easy, son. I'm just here to talk. Thought you might like to know I saw your man sitting on Cullotta's place, although the bastard slipped him a while ago. Don't worry though, we're on him. We've got it covered."

  "Right," I snapped. I could only imagine what that entailed and how long it would last before JD took measures in his own hand. "I need him alive to close this fucking case. If you kill him all the work I've done will be for nothing."

  "We aren't the ones looking to kill someone right now. You need to check yourself before you go off half-cocked. That won't win you any points with her."

  We both turned to Nova, now on the stage talking to a group of women huddled around her.

  "Then what are you doing here?" I still didn't feel quite myself, but some of my brain cells were beginning to fire again. Enough to question JD anyways. "How in the hell did you find me anyways?"

  JD snorted. "You don't think I remember what a man desperate in love looks like? Where else would you be?"

  Those were about the last words I needed to hear right now. If I stopped and examined my feelings too close, I was going to go over the edge. "Don't go there. Focus, old man, and tell me why you're really here."

  He shook his head. "You're as hot-headed as you were at twenty. Figured you would have grown out of that by now."

  "What can I say? You bring out the worst in me." I regretted the jab the minute it left my mouth. Getting into another fight with my father was not on my agenda, today or any day. He was right. I had grown out of it. I'd channeled all of that anger into this job, and it had served me well. It wasn't until...

  When exactly had everything changed? It certainly wasn't when I met Nova. Getting to know her had been so much more than I expected. At least until—

  Fucking Ronin showed up.

  And I meant that figuratively and literally. The fucker crossed the stage to Nova's side and leaned in to whisper something into her ear, his hand at the small of her back in a far too intimate gesture. So much for banking the anger raging inside me. It went right back from the barely there simmer I'd managed to a full boil in two point five seconds. This was fucked up. I was supposed to walk away. She'd chosen him over me. As far as I knew they could be sleeping together by now. Another thought that sent my blood pressure careening out of control. Maybe I was going to have to kill someone. It wasn't the ideal answer to the problem, but it would be the most effective.

  Ridding the world of another mafia enforcer didn't sound like a bad deal. Two or three birds with one stone actually worked out in my favor...

  "So I can see part of your problem," my father interrupted my dangerous train of thought.

  I shook my head, in an attempt to clear my mind. "Don't even go there. My personal life is my personal life. Houston sticking his nose in it is enough, I don't need you adding to that."

  He laughed at that. "I was wondering if you two had gotten past your differences."

  I nearly rolled my eyes. Ever since my brother had fallen in love with Izzy, he'd turned into a little bitch, insisting I didn't know what I was missing out on. "Our differences are still miles wide."

  "And yet you're close enough for him to interfere in your private business." The smile across his face when he spoke made me frown. I didn't hate my father for wanting to be a father, but I wasn't entirely comfortable with it either. There were too many years between us that had created a divide that wasn't easy to cross. At least not for me. Especially not now, when my focus needed to be on the woman across the room from me and the case that was threatening to implode if I didn't figure out how to nail Cullotta before he did something that could send me over the edge.

  This was not the first time I'd ridden the fine line between right and wrong, but I couldn't remember another situation that left me this—desperate.

  Talk about uncomfortable. Between Nova's fiancé and her father, I suddenly had two people on a hit list that had stood empty for a dozen years.

  "If you clench your fists any tighter, you're going to break your fingers. If that man is such an issue, why not do something about him?"

  I turned and looked at JD. He had no idea how impossible his simplistic statement was. "Because bringing a motorcycle club shaped blow torch to the party isn't going to fix anything."

  "I don't disagree that there is a time for finesse and a time for brute force. However, if your woman is in danger, then I think you know what time it is." With that, he walked away and disappeared into the shadows as quickly as he'd appeared. I had no idea where he would go or what havoc he would wreak, but I'd have to let it go for the moment. It was time for Nova and me to have a talk.

  "Hey!" I whisper called after him into the dark. "Do you really want to help?" When no answer came, I wasn't entirely sure if he was still there. However, my gut said he was, so I continued. "You think your hacker can find me anything new on Ronin Kavanaugh outside the normal channels? I've exhausted what I can do with the FBI database."

  I received no response. Old man still had moves. Not that I would ever underestimate him. Decades as a co-president and then president to the MC showed that the man wasn't easy to outwit. His men didn't follow him blindly, because he would never tolerate that, but they did follow him faithfully because that's what he had earned. I shrugged to myself. I'd shoot him a text and see just how serious they were about helping instead of sabotaging this situation. I'd run out of resources through normal channels, it was time to take it underground, get my questions answered, and ask for forgiveness later.

  First, though, I turned my focus back to the woman on stage, she and I were going to talk. Or fight. Or fuck.

  Maybe all three.

  Whatever it took to get her to listen.

  Chapter 6

  Ronin

  * * *

  Of course the little minx had lied. I'd kept my questions for Nova simple, if not easy, and she'd given me a story that might have had some truth to it, with a heaping side of bullshit.

  Although my fiancée had done a damned good job of trying to convince me that her words were true. The tears had been an especially nice touch. She didn't consider herself an actress, but as it turned out, she was a damned fine one.

  Looking at her now, for example, she lorded over her staff like the beautiful, beloved queen she wanted to be. No one had a clue how precarious her life had become. As far as they were concerned, she'd built an incredible business that had exploded her into the stratosphere and they were happily riding the skies on her coattails. Without a single person realizing it was nothing more than a house of cards that was about to explode all over the Vegas strip.

  And I would be the one
to detonate it.

  I didn't understand why she needed this fashion show so much. She already had fame and fortune. Something she'd seemingly built on her own without a cent of her father's money or any other helping hand. I guessed it would be a boost to her already booming career, but when it came to her life, she had much larger things to worry about than whether the people in this town liked a bunch of expensive dresses. Her priorities were fucked, and they needed an adjustment as soon as possible.

  First, though, she would wow the world, and then I'd pull the rug out from under her.

  That tale she'd woven about her first husband having a heart attack the night of their wedding had rung as false as the bullshit she fed the cop. It hadn't been easy to keep a straight face either. When the lies began, I itched to make them stop. She had a lot to learn and soon enough she'd get it.

  A heart attack. What a joke. In retrospect, his actual death meant very little. The man had been a dick to everyone he came in contact with, including his family. The lack of confirmation, however, had left a gap in their organization big enough to cause serious problems. For five years, the family had fought to maintain their position as my uncle, slowly took over the organization. It had been a bloody, prolonged war, and finally, the time had come to lay my grandfather to rest once and for all.

  But her story didn't make sense. Arnald’s body had never been found. Which meant that her father had gone to great effort to hide and/or dispose of it. No one needed to do that for a heart attack. No, something far more sinister had occurred, and it was my job to uncover it.

  Our family had waited five long years for answers, and it wasn't until that dumbass Cullotta had offered up his daughter to our family—again—that we had finally brought the investigation to the forefront. This time, answers would be had. One way or another, and I didn't give a shit who had to die to get them. Including one pretty, little minx with a penchant for not telling the truth.

  "Afraid if you don't keep eyes on the little woman at all times that you won't be able to hold onto her?"

  A smile crossed my face at the sudden but not unexpected appearance of Rock Reed at my side. I figured he'd be lurking around still trying to solve whatever puzzle he needed solved and chasing after a woman who belonged to me now. Although approaching me like this reeked of desperation. At this point, he wasn't much more than a useless pawn in this game, but sometimes the pawn surprised you and made the game more interesting.

  "Showing support is not the same as stalking a woman who has made it clear she wants nothing to do with you. You would think there would be a better way to spend taxpayer dollars."

  That seemed to rankle the cop, as he clenched and unclenched his fists several times. It could be fun if the man decided to take a swing at me, but I doubted very much he would lose control here in front of a dozen witnesses. Now, were we ever to meet alone in a dark alley, I believed it would be a different story. I'd dug up enough on him to realize he definitely had a dark side. One never knew, maybe that meeting could happen.

  "What are you really doing here, Kavanaugh? We both know you don't give a shit about her."

  Despite his position as a federal agent, I appreciated his direct approach. People who couldn't or wouldn't speak their mind annoyed the fuck out of me.

  "You already know the answer to that. I'm sure even you understand the concept of family obligations."

  The sharp swivel of his head in my direction told me that I'd hit on something rather sensitive. Interesting. Now I would have to look more into the family of one Rockford Reed, FBI agent. I had already encountered his brother Houston at Nova's birthday party, but his reaction told me I'd missed something else.

  "You really expect me to believe that the most notorious mob enforcer on the East Coast as well as one of the most well-known wealthy playboys is suddenly going to settle down with a woman he doesn't know and what, start having babies, because your daddies say so? Sounds a little too punk, even for you."

  I ground my teeth to keep from blurting something too telling. He obviously wanted to push my buttons. Little shit probably knew more about me than I cared for. This was why Nova had no fucking business messing around with him. We did not need this kind of heat knocking on our door at this juncture. I couldn't let him interfere with my mission here.

  Instead of lobbing more sarcasm that would only fuel his fire, I remained silent. There was a time to play with and a time to study your opponent. This felt like the latter.

  "If you marry her, I'm going to make it my new life's mission to take you down. She deserves better than someone like you."

  I barked with laughter. "You don't like to play it very close to the vest, do you? You might as well have beat your chest and called her yours. How cliché."

  He shrugged. "Only stating the obvious. Letting you know we are not done."

  My laughter died. "When I marry her, I'm going to take her back to New York and lock her in my penthouse where she'll become nothing more than my sex slave, since she so obviously enjoys a kinky fuck. She'll serve me at my whim and wait like a good girl for when I call. And you know what? She's going to fucking love it. So much so that she'll beg for more and more and more until I've used her up and ruined her for anyone else. Maybe then, I'll send her back your way. You can see then if she's still good enough to hold your attention. Not likely would be my guess."

  I kept my gaze on Nova as I let my tirade do its thing in his brain. I didn't have to see Agent Reed's face to know how angry I made him. I could feel the emotion vibrating off of him. I had probably gone too far, but he had pissed me off. I didn't appreciate him sticking his nose where it didn't belong. If he thought he was going to continue to dip his fingers in my fucking cookie jar, I was going to cut them off.

  It might be the only way he'd learn that he couldn't win with me. I was not beneath him, nor were we on some sort of level playing field. As far as I was concerned, the only reason he was here was because I allowed it.

  "Now we're done."

  With no need for a response, I took a step forward with the intent of heading backstage where I could wait for Nova in relative quiet. I had phone calls to make and business to conduct. I'd had my fill of—

  A hard grip on my arm stopped me. I swung back, jerking free from his touch. "Don't fucking touch me again," I hissed, rage seething from every cell in my body. "So far, I have allowed your interference because it has been entertaining, but trust me when I say, you do not want me as your enemy."

  "I don't give a shit what your agenda is for me," Agent Reed seethed. "But if you fucking touch her, you. Are. Dead."

  Chapter 7

  Nova

  * * *

  As I flipped through my massive to-do list on my tablet, the nervous butterflies in my stomach once again revolted. There were too many outstanding details to deal with. A few of the dresses needed last minute adjustments, the seating chart had gone to shit because of some guest list changes, and there were a pile of new interview requests that I needed to contend with immediately. And that was just a few things of many more just like them. The demands of an event like this were overwhelming.

  And there was everything going on that had nothing to do with this show. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and held it. There wasn't time for a breakdown today. Probably not tomorrow either, since I still needed to get out of this wedding and figure out how to contact my sister. And then—

  "Hi."

  Every muscle in my body froze at the sound of that one little word coming from behind me. The tears I'd just beaten back threatened all over again. "Rock," I whispered, feeling both terror and enormous relief at saying his name.

  "We need to talk."

  Now there were four words that could knock me out of this stupor. "No, we don't" I kept my face buried in the document in front of me, refusing to turn around and look at him. I may not have read a single word, but at least I wasn't looking at him. The pain of his betrayal was far too fresh. "I can't," I added. "There are a million de
tails for me to deal with today and you cannot be one of them. You just can't."

  Everything else in my world might be falling apart around me, but by God, this show would not be one of them. I would get through this day intact if it killed me. I dropped my chin to my chest at my poor choice of words. I was living in a nightmare and I needed someone to wake me up from it. Someone whose name was not Rock Reed.

  "If I didn't think it was a matter of life and death, I would wait."

  "No. No. No." I shook my head, trying to ignore how good he looked standing in front of me with that familiar look of yearning on his face that always brought me to my knees. He always took charge and demanded I acquiesce, but in return, he always gave so much more than he took. "You can't come in here and do this to me right now."

  He stepped forward and gripped my shoulders, pulling me close enough to smell the aftershave he wore that, when mixed with his scent, was enough to drive me wild all on its own.

  "I wish I could have told you who I was from the beginning. I really do. Hurting you was the last thing I wanted to do."

  Hearing those words tripped something in my chest, that piece of me that I needed to keep locked away. Not that it mattered. It couldn't. Not when I couldn't see past the pain sliding through my body like an oil slick that coated everything with a blackness that was guaranteed to kill.

  "You can't do this," I repeated, hating how feeble my protest sounded. "We aren't together anymore." I tore free from his grip and turned my back on him. "Not that we were ever together together, but you know what I mean."

  He stepped forward again, this time not touching me, but leaving me no less unnerved as the heat emanating from his big body seeped into my needy skin.