He nodded.
“Now go handle your business.”
Head down, Dante lumbered back to the apartment building. Bones took his place and we sat for a moment, watching the area.
“I wouldn’t take the hit,” Bones said, breaking the silence.
Wondering what the hell he was talking about, I raised my eyebrows.
“If the boss put out a hit on you, I wouldn’t take it.” He climbed into the front seat and settled himself in. “I still got your back, Angel. No matter what.”
The girl I was interested in was a federal agent, the families were warring, and I just threatened to kill my little brother if he didn’t leave his girlfriend. My world thoroughly sucked, but at least I didn’t have to worry about Bones’s loyalty.
He held out his hand, waiting.
I tapped my fist to his, agreeing. “No matter what.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Markie
GUILT GNAWED AWAY at me Saturday night. Angel had done so many nice things for me and in return, I rejected him and sent him away. Feeling like the world’s biggest hag, I woke up early Sunday morning, pulled a dust rag out of the cabinet, and took my self-loathing out on Ariana’s apartment.
You did the right thing. It was bound to end. This is easier. Better.
So why did I still feel like crap? My chest ached. Instinctively, I reached for my phone and thumbed through until I found his number. I could call him and fix this. But it wouldn’t fix anything. In the end, it would make it worse.
Be strong. You’re better than this.
I pocketed my phone as someone knocked on the door. Just when I’d talked myself into not contacting him, Angel stood on the porch wearing jeans and a tight T-shirt that hugged his chest in all the right places.
Lord, have mercy!
My gaze traveled up to his uncertain smile. Then even higher to a nasty-looking gash on his cheek.
“What happened?” I asked, pulling him inside and checking out the wound. Bruising spread out from the cut, coloring his cheek in shades of blue.
His hand flew up to cover it, but I stopped him. “Stupidity.”
“Stupidity?” I asked.
“Clumsiness?”
Definitely a question. I arched an eyebrow at him, but he didn’t expand. Bones stood quietly behind him, not even looking at me. Frustrated, I sighed and pointed him toward the sofa. “Sit. I’ll go get something to clean it.” I hurried to the bathroom without waiting to see if he complied. When I returned, Angel was sitting and Bones was walking around the room with something in his hands.
“What are you doing?” I asked, pointing at the gadget.
“Checking for bugs,” Bones replied.
Bugs? I paused on my way to doctor up Angel. “Why would my sister’s apartment be bugged?”
Bones pocketed the device and headed toward the door. “It’s clean. I’ll be outside if you need me.” Then he left, closing the door behind him.
I sat beside Angel. “What’s with him?”
Angel shrugged, without looking at me. He stared at the wall in front of him, lips drawn in a frown, eyes hooded with hurt. My chest tightened at the sight, but I couldn’t change my stance on us. With nothing more to say, I treated the wound on his face.
“There you go. All clean and medicated,” I said.
I expected him to tell me why he was there or leave, but he just stared at the wall like it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. I wanted to talk to him, but didn’t trust myself not to complicate things further.
“Why are you here?” I asked finally.
Then he looked at me. His dark eyes seemed to drink me in like a man dying of thirst. I couldn’t take it.
“Angel, you should go,” I whispered.
“Why?” he asked.
The biggest reason lingered on the tip of my tongue, but I was too much of a coward to voice it. I was scared it would change everything between us, and terrified it would change nothing at all. I didn’t have the strength to fight what I felt for him, and needed him to leave so I didn’t have to.
“Why do you keep trying to push me away?” he asked. “It doesn’t make sense. Your whole objective should be to get close to me, but you keep pulling away. Why?”
I blinked. My objective?
Angel pulled something out of his jacket pocket and flung it onto the coffee table. Then he stood and started pacing.
It was a photo. I picked it up and saw my face staring back at me. I was sitting with someone… someone Angel shouldn’t know about. The invasion of my privacy made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “How did you get this? Have you been following me around?”
Angel stopped pacing and faced me. The expression on his face was cold and unreadable. “That’s all you have to say about it?” he asked.
“Angel, this is none of your business. You had no right to—”
“No right? Do you understand the position you’ve put me in? The position you’ve put my family in? I trusted you. You made me want… something. Something real. And the whole time you were lying to me?”
Lying? Had I lied? No. I just hadn’t told him everything, which was perfectly acceptable for the beginning of a relationship. Nobody just walked in and dumped all their drama on the other person. So why did his accusation make me feel so bad? Maybe I had lied. But there was a reason for it. Surely he’d understand.
“Was any of it real?” Angel asked.
His hurt and anger washed over me, and I opened myself to it, knowing I’d caused it. I’d been stupid to listen to Ariana. Stupid to think I could dabble in a relationship and not give myself fully. Stupid to believe no one would get hurt. I’d wounded us both, and for what? A couple of dances? A few great kisses? A selfish moment of bliss? Was it worth the pain I now saw in Angel’s eyes?
His expression hardened at my silence.
I stood, wanting to go to him, but stopped myself from stepping forward. This was my chance to release him for good. I bit my lip and locked down my emotions, knowing it was better this way.
“My father knows about you,” Angel said, his voice softer, quieter.
Okay.
“He’s ordered me to bring you to dinner with the family tonight.”
I opened my mouth to tell him what a horrible idea that was, but he was suddenly in my personal space, his hand brushing against my cheek.
“I know it wasn’t all a lie, Markie. Helping Max, working with the kids at the orphanage, the dancing, the way you kissed me… no way that was all a lie. You showed me the real you, and I want it. I want you.”
His breath was warm against my lips. I wanted to close my eyes and lean into him, but that would be sending the wrong signal. We couldn’t be together. There was no future in it.
Forcing myself to stay strong, I whispered, “I’m not going to dinner with your family.”
Angel sighed. “It’s not optional. If you don’t come, very bad things will happen to you.”
That woke me up from my stupor. I pushed away from Angel and asked, “Are you threatening me?”
He watched me without saying a word.
He had threatened me. Wow. I couldn’t believe it. It felt like a slap across the face, waking me up to see how wrong I’d been about him. I’d felt guilty about the pain I’d caused him, and he had the nerve to threaten me? I didn’t care how hurt he was or how rich and powerful his family was, he couldn’t go around threatening people when he didn’t get his way. And to think I’d almost fallen for the guy!
“You need to leave, Angel.”
He looked from me to the door, and then back to me. He wasn’t going to leave. Ariana was asleep in her room, but even if I woke her, there was no way the two of us could force him out. Especially not with Bones right outside the door. If I couldn’t get Angel out of the apartment peacefully, we’d probably end up on some Lifetime special, warning girls about dating charming, well-dressed guys.
“Please, Angel, just go,” I begged.
; His expression softened. He was once again the Angel I’d danced with on the beach. The Angel who’d shaken Max’s hand and put him up in a hotel. He nodded and stepped past me, heading for the door. Hand on the doorknob, he froze.
“Markie, you don’t understand. This isn’t me. It’s my family, and they don’t threaten. I’m trying to give you a warning here. If you don’t come to dinner with me, they will come for you.” His eyes found mine. They were so full of raw emotion, they made my breath hitch. “And I… I care about you and I will try to stop them. It will end badly for both of us. Not only us, but those closest to us.” His gaze flickered back to Ariana’s room. “I’m sorry, but we have no choice. I’ll be here at four-thirty to pick you up. If you care at all about me—about Ari—you’ll be here.” Then he walked out.
Seconds later, Ariana emerged from her bedroom wearing only her bra and panties with her phone and her clothes in her hands.
“Ohmigod, Markie, Bones has been blowin’ up my phone. You’re going to dinner with the Mariani family tonight. You have to.”
I was about done with people telling me what I had to do, but I couldn’t speak. My sister’s safety was at stake.
She stopped walking long enough to lean against the wall and pull her jeans on. “I don’t think you understand the severity of the situation. You’ve been invited by the family boss. Nobody says no to him. Nobody.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that. What are you doing?”
The look she gave me openly questioned my intellect. “Getting dressed.” She slid a shirt over her head. She stomped her barefoot way over to me and showed me her phone. “This is Angel’s ex-girlfriend.”
I glanced at the photo. Dark hair, long dark lashes, a smile that held both challenge and promise, thin, very beautiful. “So?” I asked.
“She’s missing. She’s been missing for a long time. Well over a year now.”
“Are you saying Angel made her disappear?” I asked, mortified.
“No. Listen. Angel is the guy you think he is, but his dad… his dad is a scary son of a bitch. People who tell him no disappear and nobody finds them. Bones says this isn’t just about you. Angel will be in deep shit if you don’t show. You need to do what the boss says.”
“You’ve been talking to Bones a lot,” I said, mulling her words over in my head.
She blushed. “Yeah. He’s a nice guy. Fine, too. But don’t change the subject. Tell me what’s going on with you and Angel. You said you had a great time at the beach, then you freaked out and rejected him last night. Now you really think he’s trying to manipulate you into going to a family dinner with him? That doesn’t sound like the Angel you’ve been telling me about.”
I sighed. It didn’t sound like the Angel I knew, either. “I can’t go, Ari. I don’t have anything to wear.”
A smile tugged at my sister’s lips. “Easily solved with a little shopping trip. What the hell do you think I’m getting dressed for?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Markie
ARIANA DRESSED ME in a pale pink dress that hugged my upper body and fell in layers past my knees. Then she put my hair up in some sort of complicated braid with feathers weaved throughout it and pronounced me beautiful.
“This isn’t too fancy for a forced dinner with the fam, is it?” I asked, eyeing my reflection in the mirror. “I kinda look like I’m heading to prom.”
“That’s right, get all that snarky crap out now, because you need to be sweet and charming when you meet Angel’s father.”
“When am I not sweet and charming?” I asked.
“When you’re in the presence of snobby rich people who think they’re better than everyone else. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea, after all. We should probably ditch the dinner and go into hiding.”
Ariana’s idea had serious appeal, but before I could give it too much thought, Angel and Bones were knocking on the front door. Ariana hugged me and reminded me to be careful before practically shoving me out her door.
“You look nice,” Angel said. “Thank you for doing this.”
“I don’t have much choice, do I?” I asked, walking past him toward the Hummer.
The drive was quiet and tense. After what seemed like an eternity on the road, we pulled past two security gates into the driveway of what could only be referred to as a mansion. Tough-looking big guys in suits lined the driveway, looking threatening. That’s when I realized I was in way over my head.
Angel got out of the car. I started to open my door, but Bones grabbed my shoulder, holding me in place.
“Angel has a really nice family. Don’t trust any of them, you hear me?” he asked.
Okay, that’s contradictory.
“You hear me?” he repeated.
I nodded.
“Answer their questions, but don’t volunteer any information. We’re gonna do our best to keep you alive, but you need to help us out. Okay?”
To keep me alive?
That sounded ominous, and a little over the top. I nodded again.
Angel opened my door and offered me his hand. Because I was wearing three-inch heels and was in danger of rolling an ankle and breaking my neck, I took it. He led us into the house, where he introduced me to Nonna, his grandmother. She clicked her tongue and muttered something under breath while eyeing Angel’s cheek.
“It’s fine, Nonna, doesn’t even hurt,” Angel assured her. “Markie cleaned it out and doctored it up for me.”
She didn’t ask how he’d gotten it, which was strange. But before I could think too much about it, Nonna took me under her arm and led me into the kitchen where she introduced me to the rest of the ladies. They all hugged me, some kissed my cheeks and went back to their work. Nobody asked how I’d met Angel or how long we’d been together, or any of the other questions families usually asked. Before I knew it, I was finished in the kitchen and Angel was whisking me toward the back door.
Young squeals of laughter came from the hallway, followed by a great whooshing noise, and suddenly two little kids were attached to Angel’s legs like two overzealous Chihuahuas.
Rachele, Angel’s stepmother, looked over the kitchen bar, saying, “Luci, you’re wearing a dress! Stop that right now, young lady.”
The dark-haired little girl released Angel’s leg, crossed her arms over her dress, and stuck her bottom lip out. “I’m just telling Angel hi, Mom.”
Angel picked her up. “Well, hello there, beautiful. I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Markie. Markie, meet my youngest siblings, Luciana and Georgio.”
“Luci,” the girl corrected holding out her hand to me. “Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Markie.”
Black curls, big dark eyes, olive skin, pouty lips, Luciana was adorable. “The pleasure is all mine,” I said, squeezing her little hand.
Georgio stood, smoothing down the front of his dark slacks. He placed himself at my feet and said, “My friends call me Georgie.”
I squatted down so I was eye level with him and offered him my hand. “Good to meet you, Georgie.”
He flipped my hand over and kissed the back of it. It was so sweet it almost made me forget I was forced to be in that mansion meeting those people. “Aren’t you the little charmer?” I asked.
“I am a gentleman,” Georgio said by way of explanation. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go help my father now.”
“Yes, of course.” I inclined my head, biting my lip so I wouldn’t laugh.
The gentleman gave me a slight bow before making his departure.
“He’s so weird,” Luciana groaned.
“That wasn’t weird. It was sweet,” I said, returning my attention to Luciana. “And you are very beautiful. I love your dress. Teal complements your skin tone very well.”
“Thank you.” She reached out and touched the feathers braided into my hair. “These are pretty.”
This was an exchange I could handle. It felt natural and I wasn’t worried that anyone would make me disappear like Angel’s ex-girlfriend. “Why thank
you.”
“Markie needs to meet Father, Luci,” Angel interrupted, gesturing toward the back door.
“Great, I’ll come with you.” Luciana slid her little hand into mine.
The women in the kitchen seemed surprised by this, but I wasn’t. Children usually felt comfortable around me. It wasn’t uncommon for random kids to walk up and ask me my name. I’d read somewhere that children were better about following their instincts, and this was why. They instinctively knew I wouldn’t do anything to hurt them. And I wouldn’t. Even if their dad was a horrible person.
Luciana’s hand in mine seemed like an endorsement of sorts. Feeling safer and better than I had since I’d entered the mansion, I let her lead me out the back door to a group of men standing in front of a barbecue grill.
A big man who looked like an older, bigger version of Angel was waving a pair of tongs around as he spoke. He saw me and paused, midsentence, dropping his gaze to the girl holding my hand. He tensed.
“Hi Daddy,” Luciana said.
“Luci, tell me who you’ve got there.”
Luciana smiled up at me. “This is Markie, Angel’s friend.”
“Thank you for the introduction, Luci. Now, doesn’t your mother need help in the kitchen?” he asked.
“Yes, Daddy.” Luciana’s shoulders slumped. Then she made me promise to sit by her at dinner before scurrying off.
I watched her go, and when I turned back around, all of the men who’d been surrounding us had moved away. Angel and Bones were off to the side, hanging back.
Angel’s father watched me, making me feel like prey locked in the gaze of a very big predator. For someone so eager to get me there, he sure didn’t seem happy to see me. “Hello, Markie.” He offered me his hand. “You can call me Dom.”
I swallowed back my fear and shook his hand. Goose bumps sprouted across my flesh. “Hello, Dom. Nice to meet you,” I lied.
He gave me a crooked smile, telling me he’d seen through the lie. “Beautiful young ladies are always welcome around here. Come now, let me introduce you to everyone else.”
He led me around the group, filling my head with names and stories about each person while making my skin crawl from the tension between us. I could feel Angel and Bones watching us, waiting.
Making Angel (Mariani Crime Family #1) Page 20
