Angel (Made Men Book 5)
Page 1
Angel
Made Men, #5
Sarah Brianne
Young Ink Press Publication
YoungInkPress.com
Copyright © 2018 by Sarah Brianne
Edited by C&D Editing and Diamond in the Rough Editing
Cover Art by Young Ink Press
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 coincidental.
This work of fiction is intended for mature audiences only. All sexually active characters portrayed in this ebook are eighteen years of age or older. Please do not buy if sexual situations, violence, drugs, child abuse, and explicit language offends you.
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Contents
1. The Fallen Angel
2. You’re in Enemy Territory
3. ‘Not Exactly a Caruso’
4. The Spawn of Satan
5. A Nice Name … For an Unfortunate Girl
6. Chicken Nuggets Wait for No One
7. Channing Fucking Tatum
8. Dear Heavenly Father, If You Want to Keep Me A Virgin…
9. A Bullet with Your Name On It
10. Checkmate, Asshole
11. You’re Just as Fucked Up as The Men You Like
12. How Does It Feel to Know Your Days Are Numbered?
13. Murder-y Different
14. Rules to Live and Die By
15. Force of A Thousand Bullets
16. I’ll Find You
17. I Am and Always Will Bleed Luciano Blood
18. Shit That Only Happens in Romance Novels
19. I Could Show You Sometime, Sweetness
20. The Moment Right Before He Broke
21. You Fuckers Are Ugly
22. A One-Way Ticket to Hell
23. Hellevator
24. Two Kings in One City
25. Which Angel Was Her Angel?
26. Pamela Anderson Circa Baywatch
27. I Want Your Brother’s Number
28. Dead and Gone
29. A Match Made from Heaven and Hell
30. My Weakest Creation
31. The First Four Stages of Goodbye
32. And the Last
33. An Eternity Here, with You
34. A Man Who Was Made
35. Bad Boy Dreams Come True
36. Between Heaven and Hell
37. The Nightmares He Had Endured
38. A Monster Had Created Him
39. The Final Goodbye
40. An Eternity Like This
Outlast
One
The Fallen Angel
Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit.
There was a slight pep in her step as she got off the elevator and headed toward his office. To say she was head over heels and completely and utterly obsessed with the man she was going to see would be an understatement.
Stop it. He’s with Chloe now.
She stopped in her tracks, the pep in her step suddenly vanishing.
Lucca was with Chloe now, and though she was in love with the dark demon, he didn’t look at her the way he looked at his scarred beauty. In fact, he never had, and she doubted he had ever even seen the way she looked at him.
They’re perfect for each other ’cause … With a longing sigh, she quietly admitted to the universe what she hadn’t been able to before, “They’re soulmates.”
Since finding out Lucca and Chloe were officially a “thing,” she hadn’t been able to look at Lucca the same, knowing she wasn’t meant for him. Now, all she could hope for was to find a man who was made for her, a man who could make her forget all about Lucca, a man who could make her forget about the boogieman.
Pft. Yeah, good freaking luck with that.
Resuming her steps toward his office, the excitement gone, she told herself she would now and always at least enjoy the opportunity of being in his presence … and the view.
Others might fear being called into the boogieman’s office for the first time, but not her. It only enticed her. The dark, dangerous part of him was what drew her in more and more each day.
Seeing that his office door was open, she stepped right up to the doorway with a bright smile. “Hey, Lucca, you wanted to see …” Her voice trailed off when she noticed he was already talking to someone. “Sorry, I didn’t notice you were …” Her voice trailed off once more, but this time, it was because her breath had been taken away by the unknown man sitting in front of Lucca as he turned his head toward her.
Holy shit, he’s hot.
Her eyes couldn’t move from his dark orbs. They were black yet seemed like a light shone from behind them, turning them into a strange shade of dark gray. Drifting her eyes lower, she noticed a tattoo under his left eye, high on his cheek, consisting of four little dots that formed a diamond. When she slowly drifted her eyes farther down, she saw that his neck was completely covered in obscure tats as well. He was unlike anyone she had ever seen, too used to the well-groomed men who made up the Caruso mafia family. One thing was for sure. He sure as hell isn’t a Caruso.
Lucca’s dark voice echoed through the room with a hint of a smile in his words. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”
She hadn’t even realized she was holding her breath until she backed out of the doorway and turned around, walking to a seat outside the door.
Licking her now very dry lips, she couldn’t help turning her head back toward the door, hoping for a glimpse of the unknown man. She could hear Lucca’s muffled voice as he talked to the man who sat there without expression.
He had dark brown hair that was cut close to the skin on the sides, with longer hair that was pushed back on top, and a short, scruffy beard to match his bad boy aura.
Oh God, stop looking at him.
She quickly snapped her head forward, knowing he was nothing but bad news for her. No way in hell would her family let her get within a five-foot radius of him. Hell, her brother was probably on his way here right now—she swore he had a radar that told him every time she looked at an attractive man. She didn’t blame him. The ones she was attracted to were all mostly psychopaths.
She couldn’t help turning her head to look at him again, seeing that his tattoos got lost under his dingy dark clothing, only to reappear to completely cover his hands.
Yep, he’s a psychopath. The pain this man must have endured to cover the little bit of skin she could see made him one.
Clenching her hands together, she closed her eyes tightly and began to pray. Please, Lord, help me not fall into the Devil’s trap.
“What are you doing?” Lucca’s voice broke her feverous praying.
“I was …” She quickly stood up to face the gorgeous demon, only to look behind him to see the tatted man picking up a gold ring off Lucca’s desk.
As he started to slide it into his pocket, his dark gray eyes turned to see her cholate ones watching him. Finally, an expression passed his face, but it wasn’t the oh-shit-you-caught-me one you would think he would give her. Instead, as he finished sliding it into his pocket, it was like his dark eyes dared her to tell on him.
Looking back at Lucca, she opened her mouth, shocking herself at what came out of it next. “N-nothing. I wasn’t doing anyt
hing.”
Going back to his desk, Lucca nodded to the thief. “I’ll see you later, Angel.”
Angel? Jeez, she was in trouble with a man like him who had a name like that.
If he hadn’t just stolen something from Lucca fucking Caruso, she might have taken it as a good sign that he wasn’t a trap from Satan himself. But since he did have the big-ass balls to steal from the boogieman, it was a sign from God telling her to stay very fucking far away from him, reminding her that Lucifer had been a fallen angel before becoming the king of Hell.
God, protect me from this man, she prayed as he slowly walked toward her like a beautiful, dark angel, his eyes piercing through to her soul.
Her breath caught in her throat again when he lifted his hand, putting a long, tatted finger to his lips, the quietest “Shh” passing them only for her to hear.
Fuck, I’m doomed. No amount of praying was going to save her. God sure as hell wasn’t saving her from the fallen angel before her, or from herself.
She turned her head, following him with her eyes as he passed her before disappearing.
She couldn’t help feeling a strange sensation, like a piece of herself left with him, and a piece of him stayed with her. As if when he passed her and slightly grazed her arm, he took a piece of her aura, while she took a piece of his. It had taken her breath away and brought it back in a huge wave. Now she was unable to catch it.
Lucca’s brow rose, his same dark voice with a smile echoing once more through the dim room, asking, “Adalyn?”
Two
You’re in Enemy Territory
Trying to shake off the thought of the man who had just stolen a piece of her, she turned back to Lucca, trying to pull herself together. “Yes, sorry. Um, you wanted to see me?”
Lucca stared at her for a moment, the amused look on his face never wavering. “I did?”
“Yes …?” Adalyn stared back at him in confusion. “You asked me yesterday to come by your office at noon.”
“Must have slipped my mind,” he said simply as he leaned back in his chair. “I’m taking Chloe out to lunch in thirty minutes, and I have some work to get done before then, so if you don’t mind.”
Her mouth dropped open, and her brows furrowed, even more confused as she started to head out the door.
“Have a good day, Adalyn.” The smile in his voice gave her a bit of a chill.
“Y-you, too.”
Walking away from the strange encounter, she wasn’t exactly sure what had just happened. What the heck?
She began her journey back the way she had come, heading toward the elevator. Why did he want me here in the first place if he was just going to shoo me awa—
“Ahh—”
A light scream had started to escape her throat, but it was quickly interrupted by a firm palm covering her mouth while she was pulled into a dimly-lit cleaning closet.
Adalyn looked up at her captor, who was pushing her against the door she had been swiftly pulled through. Staring at the angel before her who held her body spellbound, she could see this was no angel of the light; this angel was of the dark, and his eyes held a promise of wickedness unlike any she had seen before.
“You’re not going to scream, are you?” he asked coolly, already removing the tatted hand from her mouth, which indicated his words weren’t really a question but an observation.
“How did you know I wouldn’t?” Her brow rose. Any other girl he would have pulled into this closet would have in a second.
Angel’s dark eyes traveled over her face. “Because you’re not scared.”
It was true; she wasn’t.
She was unable to keep her eyes off the fascinating man. “And how do you know that?”
A smile started to upturn one side of his lips. “You came into Lucca Caruso’s office, skipping and smiling, so you’re either really fucking stupid or you don’t scare easily.” With the hand holding her wrist, he began traveling slowly up her arm. “Let’s find out, shall we?”
Adalyn stood dangerously still, wondering what he was going to do, until he stopped his hand over her throat, his thumb catching her pulse.
“Strong … and steady.”
It was hard for her not to melt into his light grip. Bad boys were her weakness, and fuck if he didn’t seem like the pinnacle of one.
Trying to stay collected being this close to him, she licked her dry lips. “Well, you must not scare easily either, considering you stole from him.”
The slight smile on his face seemed to vanish. “I took something that didn’t belong to him.”
“Does the ring belong to you?”
He reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out the gold ring that bore a horseshoe surrounded by diamonds. He stared at it for only a moment before placing it back in his pocket, returning his attention to her. “No, it belongs to a friend.” His voice cold and sharp, it was more than obvious he didn’t care much for talking.
“Okay, then.”
“So, you won’t tell?”
“I meant I believe that it actually belongs to your friend”—a smile now came to her lips—“not that I wouldn’t tell Lucca.”
Maybe I shouldn—
She saw the lightness behind his dark eyes flash as he used the hand on her throat to force her to look up at him even more. At the same time, he moved his face and body ever so close to her, until there was hardly any space left between them. Then he dropped his voice to a dangerously low tone.
“I don’t think you see that I’m the one with the upper hand in this situation, sweetness.”
Now her heart raced, and she knew very well he could feel it under his grip, but it wasn’t from fear. No, it was from what he was doing to her uncontrollable body. It was putty in his hands, and if she didn’t get out of here and far away from him soon, the bad boy would find out exactly what kind of upper hand he had with her.
“You’re not going to hurt me,” she told him with just as much certainty as he had told her she wasn’t going to scream the second he pulled his hand away.
Something in him changed again, bringing the half-hearted smile back to one side of his lips. He brought the hand that wasn’t over her throat up to her face, running his long, cold, tatted fingers down the side of her cheek to gradually sweep her thick brown hair behind her left ear. He kept pushing until the locks fell behind her left shoulder, exposing her tanned skin. When he then began to lean down, she would have sworn he was going to kiss her exposed shoulder. Instead, he stopped and turned his mouth to her ear, getting so close that, when he spoke, his scruffy beard tickled it. “You sure about that?”
Adalyn bit her lip, trying to fight the warmth that was rising in her belly. She really, really needed to get away before she did something she would soon regret … Most likely regret.
“You hurt me, and you’re dead. Considering you’re not a Caruso, you’re in enemy territory. You’ll be in much bigger trouble hurting one of their women than if you were simply stealing a ring.”
Angel backed up only an inch, telling her he knew she was right.
She turned her head slowly, wanting to look into his dark depths once more before she had to leave.
“Don’t worry; I’ll keep your secret. But you’ll owe me.”
He spanned his hand along her throat, stretching her neck up farther. “Sweetness, I’m the last person you’d want owing you.”
She could hear the hint of a threat in his tone, but it didn’t stop her. Too enticed by the angel, she whispered, “Something tells me I do.”
“I was wrong about you.” Letting his eyes travel all over her, he finally dropped his hand from her throat as he took a step back. “You are stupid.”
She guessed a part of her should have been hurt by those words, but she couldn’t deny the fact that she must have been stupid for not screaming when he had removed his cold hand from her mouth.
When she twisted the doorknob and cracked the door open, the light from the hallway began to illuminate the s
hadowy man, causing a dim halo to outline his body. She couldn’t help smiling as she stepped out and started closing it, causing the halo surrounding him to slowly disappear.
“Probably, but I wasn’t the one stupid enough to steal from a Caruso.”
Three
‘Not Exactly a Caruso’
The next day, Adalyn waited in the fall air for her ride to pick her up and take her to the college. It was always a black Escalade, driven by a Caruso goon, holding her best friend, Lake, as well as Elle and Maria. Another Cadillac always followed them, full of other goons who would guard the girls throughout the day.
Ever since a break-in at the casino hotel, the Carusos no longer took chances, especially with their women. She also figured, by the time Chloe attended college with them next semester, there would most likely be two cars carrying Carusos to protect the underboss’s girl.
There was definitely a hierarchy of protection between the girls. At the top was Maria Caruso, a.k.a. the mafia princess. Maria was the daughter of the boss and sister to Lucca and Nero. She was to be protected at all costs. Otherwise, you were certain to die a miserable death … if they got to you before you were able to commit suicide out of failure. Next on the list was Elle, being Nero’s girlfriend with one bodyguard to protect her. And then there was Adalyn’s BFF, Lake, who was the daughter of a soldier and Adalyn’s stepbrother, Vincent’s, girlfriend, who happened to be the consigliere’s son. Now, since she and Lake shared all the same classes, they happened to also share a bodyguard. However, she knew the bodyguard was there to protect Lake more so than her. And that was where Adalyn’s name fell on the list—dead last.