Hell On An Angel (Fated Love Book 2)

by Lauren Firminger

  He had always called me his snowflake because I was untainted by all the bad crap and despite the storms that had come my way, I didn’t let it bring me down. He told me there was something beautiful in my strength to rise above the pain. I turned to look at the hotel. I couldn’t go back if he was there. Not until I got my shit together. Taking off my dress and dropping it and my phone in the sand, I kicked off my thongs and walked out into the water. The water would be my escape.

  I don’t know how long I was in the water for before a chill came over me. Turning back to the beach I saw someone sitting by my stuff. I couldn’t see who from this far out, but I knew soon enough I would have to face the music. Swimming back to the shore, I ran my hands through my hair and walked up the sand. I let out a small sigh of relief when I saw that it was Morgan, but it was short lived because it meant I had to tell him what the hell that was about. This was entirely too much crazy for him to deal with. He was going to be glad to see the back of me.

  As I got closer, he stood up and held up a towel. “I thought you may need this.” I gave him a small smile but before I could take it from him, he moved to wrap it around me and wrapped me up in his arms. Closing my eyes, I laid my head against his chest and let him warm me while I tried to push down the emotions that were bubbling to the surface. Before I could stop it, a sob escaped me. Morgan’s grip tightened a little.

  “It’s okay to let it out, Angel.” His words opened a floodgate that I just couldn’t stop and I let it all out.

  Once the tears had run dry I pulled back and looked up at Morgan. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

  Morgan gave me a small smile and ran his thumbs under my eyes brushing away the tears before pressing his lips to my head. I closed my eyes at the contact. “Never be afraid to let it out, and never be sorry for tears. Tears I can handle.” I nodded softly and opened my eyes and met his. “Let’s go get some food. Nothin’ beats comfort food.” I pulled back just long enough to put my dress back over my head and pick up my phone. Slipping my feet into my thongs, Morgan took my towel from me before wrapping his arm back around me, keeping me tucked into his side tucked into his side. Laying my head against his chest, we made the short walk down to Cavill Ave. We didn’t speak along the way, and I was trying to work out if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe he was just letting me get my thoughts together or maybe he already knew and Tim was gone. A little voice in the back of my mind told me that if it was the latter he would have told me straight away. I led Morgan to my favourite cafe and took a seat. Picking up the menu, I tried to pretend to be interested in food, but my stomach was in knots and I wasn’t sure if it would stay down.

  The waitress came over to us and Morgan put in his order. I looked up when he was done and the waitress couldn’t have been more obvious about lusting over him. I let out a snort, and her head whipped around to me.

  “I’ll have the same.” I motioned her away with my hand. She took the menu’s and disappeared. I sat back in my seat and Morgan took my hand and sat there with a shit eating grin on his face.

  “Aw, Angel has a jealous streak. That’s cute.”

  “Yeah, well, Angel is about to become fucking adorable…” He chuckled softly and ran his thumb over my hand. I looked down at our hands and asked the question in the back of my mind. “Is he still there?” I heard Morgan sigh.

  “Yeah, Angel, he is. You wanna talk about what that was?”

  I chewed my lip and as much as my head screamed no, he had a right to know, I guess. “That was ten years of pushing down pain I refused to let myself feel over losing the guy I thought was the love of my life.” He let out a breath and I looked up at him.

  Looking into his eyes, I told him everything. From Tim, to Josh, to the dream, right up until now. I told him about my dad and my Uncle. I didn’t stop until the man across from me knew as much as the one waiting back at the hotel did. The whole time he kept his hand in mine, his thumb rubbing over my skin and silently told me that he was here.

  Right now, that was what I needed.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Ghost

  It had been ten years since I walked into my house and found it completely empty and Mom and Dad waiting on us kids so we could get the first flight out. I had no idea it was happening, and the looks on Matt and Gracie’s faces told me that they didn’t either. That was dad, though. He knew months in advance and we only found out when we needed to know. I didn’t even have time to call or text Maddison and tell her what was happening because Dad had disconnected all our phones and internet. I wished I had turned and run from that house and gone to Maddison’s, or stood up to him, or just anything but get on that plane and leave her behind.

  I stared up at ceiling of my hotel room and thought about the look on Maddison’s face when she stopped and saw me standing there. It was like she had seen a ghost. Any other time and I would have laughed at the irony in that. Hearing a knock on my door I groaned. I was half tempted to ignore it, but the other half of me hoped that it was Maddison on the other side of the of the door. Getting up off the bed, I walked over to the door and opened it.

  “Don’t look to happy to see me.” The disappointment of opening the door and seeing Lucas there must have shown on my face. Stepping aside, I motioned him to come in and closed the door behind him. “So. You know Maddison.”

  “Whatever gave you that idea,” I deadpanned. He rolled his eyes and moved to make himself comfy in a chair.

  “Want to explain what the hell that was about?”

  “I’m sure your boy Morgan will fill ya in when Maddison tells him the whole story.”

  Lucas raised a brow at me. “I would rather hear your side of the story first, so I know if he has all the facts before he wants you gone.”

  I sat down on the end of the bed and rubbed my hands over my face. “Why? Wouldn’t it be easier if I wasn’t here?” I asked.

  “Maybe, but then I have to hire someone else and I just can’t be bothered with that.”

  “Geez, thanks.”

  Lucas laughed and shook his head. “You are here on my request. I know your track record, and you are the best security guard there is. Morgan may not like it, but he will deal. Now, spill.”

  “Gossip much?”

  He grinned at me. “I am lacking juicy shit in my life. Now get talking.”

  “Wait, shouldn’t you be with Morgan and Maddison?” Lucas rolled his eyes again. At any moment I was sure they were gonna roll out of his head. “I have eyes on him. He doesn’t need to know that. Now, just fucking talk.”

  “Okay, Dr. Phil. Keep your fucking shirt on.” Lucas just snorted. I got up and moved to the balcony and Lucas soon followed me, bringing two beers with him. Raising a brow at him he held it out to me.

  “He’s covered. Just take it. You aren’t on duty till you have slept anyway, so drink up, sunshine.” He winked at me and I took a swig of the beer I took from him.

  Swallowing my mouthful, I leant against the balcony railing and looked out at the water. “I am probably one of the few people who knows Maddie better than she knows herself. Jasmine would be number one. They were born like a few minutes apart and have been inseparable ever since.”

  “You’re stalling.”

  Shooting him a look, I took another swig from my beer. “I remember the first day that I met her. She was in one of my classes in our senior year. Maddison and Jasmine walked in arm in arm and stopped dead in front of me. I was apparently in her seat. Being the cocky bastard I thought I was, told her she could sit on my lap if she wanted it that badly. Of course she walked away, but she had gotten my attention. Her blonde hair in curls and those tight jeans were never far from my mind. A teenage boy’s wet dream. Well, mine, anyway.” Lucas groaned beside me and drank half his beer down.

  “After that, I did whatever I could to be near her. Even changed a few of my classes to ones she was in. Not that she knew that, of course. Still doesn’t to this day.” I took another drink and swallowed the lump in my t
hroat. “She was so much smarter than me, so I would try and cheat off her in class. I knew the work, I just wanted to get her attention. After bugging her enough, I got her to agree to tutor me. From there our friendship built pretty quickly. Then I asked her out. She turned me down, but she wasn’t serious. I planned this picnic and told her where I would be if she changed her mind. She showed up looking amazing and that was it. We started dating, and I fell hook line and sinker.” I took a long drink from my beer.

  “So, what happened?” Moving to sit beside Lucas, I sighed.

  “My father happened. Maddie and I had just slept together for the first time. Like, literally the night before I left. I get home on cloud nine and the house has been packed up and my parents were waiting on us kids. We were on the first flight out of Sydney, and I was sent off to Military school. I was kinda glad about that. Meant I didn’t have to see the asshole. He disconnected all our phones, saying we had become too spoilt and selfish and he was going to teach us a thing or two. I tried to call her when I got to the academy, but time zones meant she missed it. I wrote, but they always got sent back. So, as much as it killed me, I let it go. She needed to move on, so I let her go. After the academy I joined the army and a couple of years ago I got injured over in Afghanistan and was discharged. That’s when I started up ‘Ghosting Security’ and it’s where my focus has been since. Of course, I thought about her every day, but I thought she would be married with kids now, so I never contacted her. Never stopped loving her, though.”

  “How long has it been?”

  “Ten years.” I downed the last of my beer and sat back. What. A. Clusterfuck.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Maddie

  Morgan and I had gotten back from the cafe, and I was feeling a little better. Until he told me I should talk to Tim. I was prepared not to speak to him, but Morgan was determined to stand his ground on this one.

  “Angel, I can send him away AFTER you talk to him if that’s what you need, but it's been ten years and you still feel somethin’. Please, just talk to him.”

  I let out an annoyed huff and moved past Morgan, walking out onto the balcony. Closing my eyes in an attempt to get a handle on the emotions I was feeling, I let out a breath and heard his voice again. So, apparently the universe hadn’t dealt enough blows today, the hotel has put Tim in the room next to mine and Morgan’s. Rubbing my hands over my face, I heard him telling Lucas that he’d written to me but they always got returned to him. What was that shit? I hadn’t seen any damn letters from him. I was about to call bullshit, but decided against it. If he wanted to paint himself hard done by then fine.

  Moving back inside the room, I headed into the bedroom and took out my workout gear. After getting changed quickly, I grabbed my iPod and headed for the door again. “Maddie?” I turned to see Morgan with a raised brow. His eyes trailed down my body and he groaned.

  “I’m going to the gym. I’ll be back.” He frowned and nodded. I pulled the door open and came face to face with Tim. I rolled my eyes and pushed past him. I headed for the elevator. He was a couple of steps behind me, though but I knew once I stepped foot in the elevator, I would be alone.

  “Maddison, please, can we talk?”

  “Nope. You’ve had ten years to try and talk to me, Tim. I don’t want to hear it.” I hit the button and prayed that the elevator would hurry up.

  “Please, it’s not what you think.”

  “Didn’t I just say I don’t want to hear it? I don’t want to hear ‘I wrote you every day for a year’ crap like you have just stepped out of the pages of “The Notebook”, Tim. I just want to get through our time with you here before we go back to the States and Morgan gets his guys back so you go back to whatever hole it is you crawled out of.”

  The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Stepping inside, I glared at him and hit the button for the floor with the gym on it. When the doors closed, I took a breath and tried to keep myself from breaking.

  Stepping out when I got to my floor, I took a deep breath and headed for the gym. Giving them my room number and getting a towel, I moved over toward the treadmill and laid the towel over the arm of it. I put on my workout playlist and rolled my neck as “Room to Breathe” by You Me at Six came on and I started running. I didn’t slow down as it changed to “Numb” by Linkin Park, I pushed myself that little bit harder. By the time I got to “Bleed It Out” by Linkin Park, I was running at full speed.

  After twenty minutes more of that, I slowed it down and tried to catch my breath. I was wiping the towel over my chest and around my neck when a 6ft 4, tattooed wall of muscle came up to me.

  “Looks like you could use a drink, baby girl.” I raised a brow at him. He looked down at the bottle in his hand “I promise the seal is still unbroken.”

  I took the water from him and took my earbuds out. “Thank you.” I had to look to make sure he was in fact telling the truth and opened the water and took a mouthful. “I guess I was in a hurry to get out of my room.”

  “Can’t have a pretty little thing like you dehydrating, now can we?” He winked at me and I laughed as I got off the treadmill.

  “This work a lot for you?”

  He gave me a sly grin. “Not as much as you would think.”

  “Shocking.”

  “It’s gotten you talking, so that’s gotta be a win for me.”

  I couldn’t help but to grin around my water bottle as I took another drink. “You didn’t come over with a cheesy pickup line so it’s an automatic win.” Putting my water bottle and towel down, I moved to the boxing bag and put the gloves on. Normally I would carry my own, but they were upstairs with most of my stuff. Feeling my body becoming tense again, I rolled my neck and stepped up to the bag. I started with a left jab as hard as I could then a right just like my old instructor had taught me.

  Feeling someone coming up behind me, I looked and saw my tattooed wall again. Feeling his hand placed against my stomach, he spoke softly into my ear. “Use this as your centre.” His free hand ran down my arm so that I was aiming differently before it moved to rest on my hip. “Now try.”

  Before I could react to this complete stranger touching me, he was gone and I heard commotion behind me. Spinning around, I saw Lucas trying to keep Tim from killing what’s-his-name and Morgan moving towards him. In that split second, I knew someone needed calming down, and I would have to decide who. I threw the gloves off and moved to Morgan, placing my hands on his chest.

  “Babe, let’s go.” Morgan stopped and looked down at me. The look he gave me was cold. I looked over to see Lucas and Tim no longer struggling. Tim stepped toward me and Morgan, and I shook my head. He stopped for a minute before moving to put his hand on Morgan’s shoulder and steering him from the room. I looked back over at the tattooed muscle man and sighed. That was gonna cost me.

  It was a quiet and awkward trip back up to the rooms. Morgan was clearly pissed, and Tim just wanted off this elevator. When the doors opened, Tim got off first followed by Morgan and I then Lucas. Once we got back to the room we lost our shadow, but the silence remained. When Morgan went into the bedroom, I shook my head and took my iPod and went out to sit on the balcony. Hitting shuffle, I closed my eyes and laid my head back. The first song that played was “Turning Tables” by Adele and I felt myself relax. It was a strange song to relax me, but it was always something that had been in the back of my mind since I heard it. Some of the lyrics always reminded me that I was enough and to never let anyone have the power to destroy me that way again. I should have been more upset about Josh and Ellie, but it honestly wasn’t the worst pain I had felt. I looked up as the balcony door opened and saw Morgan step out.

  Turning my iPod down lower, I took one of my earbuds out. “You want to explain what that was about?” I asked.

  “Me? I wasn’t the one down there flirting with another guy, Maddison.”

  “Neither was I, Morgan. He was flirting with me. I didn’t reciprocate.”

  “You didn’t stop him, though!
”

  “What was I supposed to say, Morgan! I have a boyfriend? News flash. I don’t.”

  The look on his face was worse than the cold look he gave me downstairs. “It’s him, isn’t it?”

  “It’s who?”

  “Tim. Since he got here, you’ve changed!”

  I let out a harsh laugh. “How would you know, Morgan. You have no idea WHO I really am. You have known me five minutes! Do NOT go throwing everything I told you back in my face.”

  Morgan turned his back to me and gripped the railing before dropping his head. “What is going on here, Maddie.”

  “You are being a controlling ass, and I learned a long time ago not to let any man run my life.”

  He shook his head and pushed off the railing. Without a word he went back inside and walked out the hotel room door. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was the last time I would see him…

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Ghost

  Walking Maddison and Morgan back to the room was awkward as fuck. I could feel the tension between the two of them, and it made me wonder just how long they had been together. The Maddison I knew, when she was seeing someone, and then she was all in. What happened downstairs never would have happened, and I knew just how much of a firecracker she could be. Once I checked that Morgan was secure, I went back to my room. Mistake. I heard Morgan and Maddison fighting on the balcony, and when I was brought into it, I cringed. I knew I crossed the line putting that guy on his ass, but at the same time I wasn’t sorry. He had his hands on Maddison, and that made me see red before we had even gotten together.