by Jillian Neal
An Angel All His Own
By Jillian Neal
An Angel All His Own
Written by Jillian Neal
Cover Design by Ana Cruz of Ana Cruz Arts
Edited by Kim Huther
Copyright © 2014 Jillian Neal
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincident
Published by Realm Press
36 South Court Square
Suite 300
Newnan GA 30263
http://realmpress.net/
ISBN 978-1-940174-14-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014950370
First Edition
First Printing – November 2014
Gabby, CeCe, Wendy, Philippa, Lisa, Cherry, Claire, Ken, and Jan:
To all of the Angels in my life who have helped me construct the foundation of the house that Rainer is building. I could never have done any of this without you. I can never express to you how much you mean to me. I can only humbly say, “Thank you.”
Table of Contents
Hostile Negotiations
Eric
The Ways of a Vindico
A House
Where the Pain Resides
Brain, Not Brawn
Risk and Regret
Hard Evidence
Battle by Proxy
Gold
The Unappealing Past
It’s Complicated
Things Happen
Fitz and Fi
Deep
Noisy Reactions
Earned the Title
The Heart of Fionna Styler
Lock, Stock, and Barrel
The Castling Move
Check Mate
United In Time
Informative Night Off
Tipsy
The Proof Is In the Dip
Not Daddy’s Little Girl
Impetuous Desires
Intrusions
Confessions and Regrets
Moving On
Fourteen Days
With Her, For Her
Highway Bribery
Welcome to Haydenshire Farm
His Baby
Where You Are Going
Un-‘Will’ing Confessions
Claimed
Terrors of the Night
Sun Rise, Son Set
Oh, What a Beautiful Morning
The Ace of Hearts
An Angel in Action
Lost and Abandoned
Christmas Eve
Collision
Not Quite Christmas Dinner
Echoes of Home
Perfection
Words
Storms
Apologies
Not So Merry Christmas
Presents
Mile High
What Needs To Be Said
Don’t Count Your Cards
The Many Moods of a Woman in Love
Let’s Have a Ball
Requisition
Vitrio
War
The Man
A Demon’s Challenge
Contentment
The Taming
The List
Hostile Negotiations
~ Dan Vindico ~
With icy terror shooting through his veins, Dan exited the Crown Governor’s jet with Fionna’s fingers laced through his own. The fear was overwhelming. The tides of the unknown robbed him of breath.
Nervously, he let his eyes sweep the tarmac in his methodic, well-trained manner. No one was in the Senate. It was Saturday, and Governor Haydenshire’s plane was the only one arriving that morning. Though no one unsavory would be anywhere near the Gifted Senate, Dan couldn’t help but beg the ether that he could have her and somehow keep her safe.
Fionna could feel his trepidation in his energy strains. He was scaring her, but he couldn’t seem to gain control of his own emotions.
“I just need to grab a few things out of my office, and I’m going to take out one of our Expeditions. I can’t be seen with you in your car, honey. The Expeditions are so darkly tinted no one can see who’s driving it, and they’re unmarked. I can meet you at your house in a little while.”
This was how it was going to have to be. She’d vowed to him, just a few hours before, that she was fine with all of the precautions, but Dan hated himself for putting her through this. He hated himself for where his own selfish desires might take them. Amelia’s tomb pierced through his soul. The very soul Fionna had just mended. His entire body, his entire shield, rejected the image with acrid revulsion.
As they made their way towards the Pentagon, headed towards the Gifted Senate, Garrett Haydenshire’s scowl greeted them on the parking deck of Iodex. Fionna’s brow furrowed, but Garrett didn’t notice. His fury was directed squarely at Dan.
Finding the idea of letting off a little infuriated steam very appealing, Dan narrowed his eyes and felt his massive biceps flex of their own accord. Garrett rolled his eyes. It was in that eye roll that Dan realized that he was about to direct his frustrations towards one of his closest friends. His disdain for Garrett’s hold on Fionna kept him chafed and irritated.
“Fionna, go play with Em,” Garrett ordered as they made their approach.
“Do not order her around! Who the hell do you think you are, Garrett?” Dan was furious.
Fionna brushed a kiss across Dan’s cheek and shot a spiteful look at Garrett. “Be nice, both of you. I think I will go see Emily while you two talk. Let’s see if we can’t stop behaving like we’re two. And if you can’t do that, then perhaps when I get back, I’ll make you write ten times ‘I will be nice to Fionna’s boyfriend.’” She slid her beautiful sienna eyes, fixed in a glare, from Garrett to Dan. “And you can write ‘I will be nice to Fionna’s friends.’ And if that doesn’t work, then Fionna is not going to be nice to either of you.” She sounded angrier that Dan had ever heard her.
“Got it,” Garrett assured her.
Fionna moved towards Rainer and Emily, as they all entered the Iodex offices. Garrett followed Dan towards his private office, without invitation.
“Boyfriend, huh?” He let the door slam behind him.
“Yeah, that okay with you, or did I need to run my relationship updates by you first, Haydenshire?”
Garrett’s eyes flashed furiously.
“Hey, why don’t you stop being such a douchebag? I’m not interested in Fionna.”
“Good,” Dan shot back.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Why are you here?”
“I’m here because she is one of my best friends, someone who’s had a thing for you for a long time, Dan. I don’t want to see her get hurt by you or because of you. And you’re an asshole! I’ve been there. I’ve been the guy sitting on her couch with her curled up in my lap, sobbing over guys who don’t mean half as much to her as you do. Just in case you haven’t noticed, over the last ten years, you haven’t had all that good a track record with women. Fionna is not the kind of girl you fuck and leave. Do you hear me?”
With every bellow from Garrett Haydenshire, he moved dangerously closer to Dan. The energy of their shields pulsed with their ire. Dan’s fists tightened in anticipation. Garrett matched his stance.
“I know that, and I have no intention of leaving. I plan to be with her until she orders me away. Now, get the hell out of my office, and stay the hell out of my life.”
Garrett gave an arrogant, dismissive laugh.
“I don’t think so, Danny. Because, when you freak and break her heart, I’m the guy who’s gonna get to clean up that mess.”
Dan’s jaw clenched as he tried desperately to will away the deep desire to sink his fists into Garrett Haydenshire’s face. He settled for shoving him away. Unmitigated rage flashed in Garrett’s eyes. He recovered quickly.
“Keep your hands off of me, Dan.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I have no intention of breaking her heart, ever.”
“Yeah,” Garrett rolled his eyes. “Sorry if I have a hard time believing that, but I love her. Just as much as I love Em.”
“Oh yeah?” Dan menaced. “Well so do I, only a hell of a lot more than I love any of my sisters.”
Stunned disbelief washed over Garrett as his mouth hung open.
“Are you serious? Are you shitting me? Did you tell her that? Because you can’t just walk away after that.”
Fury surged through Dan’s veins as he lunged at Garrett. He grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, nearly pulling him off the ground.
“How many times do I fucking have to tell you I’m not leaving?”
It took Garrett a full minute to will enough composure not to take a swing at Dan.
“You gonna marry her, then? Because that’s what she wants. That’s the kind of girl she is. That’s what she deserves.” Garrett’s frenzied demand did nothing to make Dan believe that he wasn’t interested in Fionna.
“I am well aware of what kind of girl she is, and of what she wants. I may not be getting down on one knee today, but I’m definitely considering it. Few things I have to take care of first,” Dan stated firmly. He never dropped his eyes from Garrett’s baleful glare. He allowed himself one millisecond to wonder if Garrett was as shocked by his words as he was. He ordered himself to release Garrett’s collar and to take a step back. He’d just gotten himself suspended for two weeks for losing his temper. Fighting with the Crown Governor’s son certainly wouldn’t make anyone believe that he’d learned his lesson, but Garrett was pushing all of his buttons.
Garrett studied Dan like he was some kind of alien species.
“I’m speechless.”
“’Bout damn time.”
“Not good enough.” Garrett shook his head. “What happens when you start to freak, or she says or does something that makes your world start to spin off its axis?”
“You know, Haydenshire, you’re really starting to piss me off. She’s already spun my world off its axis, and it finally feels like it’s where it should have been for a long time. So, take a walk.”
“I’ll walk when I’m finished, and when I’m damn sure you’re not gonna get my best friend killed. You didn’t do so well with that the last time you thought you were in love.”
That was it. He’d gone too far. His demons resided far too close to the surface for Dan to handle that blow. In a quick, solid move, he leapt. Every muscle in his body was poised to strike.
Their shields went to war. Fierce, green energy sizzled in the air between them. It fought to pry them apart, as Dan landed a punch in Garrett’s chiseled abs. Garrett groaned but took a swing at Dan’s face.
Dan spun out of the way just in time, but Garrett’s fist clipped his jaw with a nasty pop. He felt his shield parry Garrett back again, but Dan wanted another impact. Cursed with abject rage, he waged war against his own shield, against the truth of Garrett’s statement, against the man who had far too much claim on Fionna, and against the hellish reality that he had no choice but to exist within.
A low, guttural growl burst from Garrett, as Dan’s fist met his face, but he wasn’t going down. Garrett came right back, and Dan crouched into the hardened blow that forced his breath from his lungs.
“Stop it!” Fionna’s voice pierced through the throbbing acrimony that had filled the room. “Stop it, now!”
By weight of the demand, they backed away from each other. Dan gripped his jaw, but refused to give into the pain. Garrett’s eye and cheekbone were swollen, but he made no attempt to heal them.
Fionna moved between them. Her face was a mix of exasperation and parental bewilderment.
“What on earth? You’re friends! You’ve been friends since elementary school. You run Iodex together!”
“I run Iodex…alone.” Dan corrected her.
“Here,” she moved to Garrett, cupped her hand, and tenderly cradled his face. Swallowing back vomit, Dan watched her energies heal Garrett Haydenshire. She turned to Dan.
“Are you hurt?” She moved closer to study him. He reveled in the concern.
“I’m fine.”
“Uh huh,” she made the same move with her hand and touched his jaw. She shook her head. “It’s cracked. Just stay still for a minute. Let me take care of you.” She closed her eyes, and Dan couldn’t help but take her intoxicating energy with greed. It was the most astounding feeling in the world. She was his. Their rhythms combined readily, due to the sheer number of times he’d had her in his bed in the last week. His shield lit in delight. Their rhythms spun in a soothing, united, pulsing hunger that, to Dan, said one should never exist without the other.
With an audible huff, Garrett scowled. “If you two’d like to stop fucking in front of me, that’d be great. And I, for one, would love to hear how you plan to keep her safe. When I set you up, I had no idea this would happen.” He drew a deep breath and lost a great deal of his earlier furor. “I want you to be happy. Well,” he amended, “I want her to be happy. She’s wanted you for as long as I can remember, but how do we keep her safe?”
“You are aware I’m right here, right?” Fionna sighed.
“I’m not an idiot, Garrett.” Dan couldn’t quite help but rub his recently mended chin. It still ached. Fionna hadn’t been quite able to finish soothing him before Garrett’s remark had embarrassed her. “She knows we can’t be seen anywhere together.”
“Yeah, that’ll work. So, you’re just never gonna want to go out to eat, or to take him shopping, or to the movies. You’re gonna stay holed up at his house, and what, let him fuck you for entertainment?”
“Watch your mouth!” Dan’s vengeance reared again.
Fionna shook her head and shot Dan a warning glance.
“Garrett, I really am in love. I know you’re worried about me, but we will find some way to make this work. I don’t need fancy dinners or shopping partners. I own all of my favorite movies, and the pizza guy and the Chinese take-out guy know where I live.”
“I still get to come over and hang out, right?” Garrett’s defeated question spoke volumes.
“Of course, that is assuming you two don’t get in another fist fight in my living room.” Fionna turned back to Dan. “Garrett is not interested in dating me. We’ve been best friends for years. And if you’ll take a deep breath, you’ll realize that I’m probably pretty safe with him. I mean he is only outranked in Elite by you.”
Dan did not agree. His mind raged against the very idea, but he forced his head to give a dejected nod.
“What about Eric?” Garrett quizzed.
“What about him?” Fionna sank down in Dan’s desk chair and crossed her arms over her chest with a frown.
“Who’s Eric?” Dan wasn’t certain who to demand the answer from.
“He’s been bugging her.” Garrett informed Dan. “She went with him to Dad’s inaugural ball. He took her home, and she left him on her doorstep without even a good-night kiss. He wants another shot. He’s planning on running on an independent ticket for Peterson and Dad’s open seats on the board, even though he’s way too young. He’s a prick, and he doesn’t like to hear the word ‘no.’ We may have to do something about him.” His statement was an obvious test.
“Still sitting here,” Fionna quipped in
dignantly.
“Trust me; I’ll take care of it,” Dan vowed.
“Yeah, well, be careful before you let your fists do the talking, because his dad owns a portion of the Angels. You let your temper loose again, and it could be enough to get her in trouble with the owners.”
“I said I’d take care of it.” His fury with Garrett began to slip away, as concern for Fionna settled in its place.
“Yeah, and how are you gonna do that, Danny? Thought no one could know you’re together.”
With his mind desperate to find an answer, Dan reached and took Fionna’s hand. He needed her close. He needed her in his arms. Her sweet grin delighted him as he spun her, pressed her back to his chest, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Just to spite Garrett, he kissed the top of her head and inhaled deeply of her heady island scent.
“Doesn’t bother me, Dan. I want you together. If you’d get your head out of your ass, you’d realize what I’m offering. Hell, I’d love nothing more than for you two to make this work. I am the one who got you here.” He threw his hands out to Dan and Fionna as they cuddled together.
“What are you offering?” Fionna was intrigued.
“Tell everyone you’re dating me.” Garrett instructed. “As you pointed out a few minutes ago, Dan and I do a lot of stuff together. We can all go out, hang out, you two could semi-date, and no one would ever know. Chloe, Emily, Sasha, whoever, can come with. And let me handle Eric; nothing would make me happier.”
“Eric doesn’t sound like the type with Interfeci connections. If he decides he’d like to tangle with either of us, I’ll take care of it.” Dan was loath to agree to Garrett’s plan, but he couldn’t help but admit it was an excellent suggestion.
“So, you, Garrett Haydenshire, who will never allow anyone to claim him, are going to willingly agree to let people think we’re dating?” Fionna’s disbelief seemed to offend Garrett.
“No one who really knows me will believe it, baby, but it’ll be enough for Nic and the boys, and those are the only people I’m worried about.”
She spun and turned the full power of her pleading, sienna eyes on Dan. “He’s right. That is what we should do. We can be together more this way, and no one would ever suspect.” Her tone took on a desperate edge that doused his stubborn defiance.
