Awakened by Sin (Crime Lord Series Book 4)
Page 40
“This is Theodore,” Angel said politely. “Say hello to Carmen, Theodore.”
When the man didn’t speak, Angel threw another dagger. This one skimmed his calf. Despite the fact that the blade cut to the bone, the man didn’t move. Apparently, he was beyond feeling anything at this point. She felt a burst of relief before Angel threw another dagger. This one landed right over his belly button. The man jumped, maiming his body even more as he struggled against the swords holding him in place. Rivulets of blood ran down his body before he sagged dejectedly against the swords, which shuddered under his weight.
“Hi.”
Theodore’s resigned greeting sent chills down her spine. She fought the compulsion to rush to the man’s aid. She wanted to believe that Angel wasn’t a psychopath, so she waited.
“Theodore here likes to drug, rape and mutilate girls,” Angel said as he flipped a dagger through the air. “His father is a powerful drug lord who manipulates the police and judicial system. He’s gotten Theodore out of a lot of charges. No one can stick anything to him. Yesterday, another body turned up. I decided to save the cops the trouble and take care of Theodore.”
Angel indicated a camera on a tripod she hadn’t noticed until then.
“I’m taking some shots for his father to remember him by. He’s the one who taught Theodore how it’s done. It appears the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Angel shrugged. “They’re into torture porn. I thought it would be poetic justice for him to go out the way his victims have. Our families go way back. Unfortunately for Theodore, his father’s in a maximum prison right now, so he won’t be able to able to help.”
Angel walked up to Theodore, who began to whimper. He placed his elbow on the hilt of one of the swords protruding from Theo’s chest. The man let out a god-awful scream that covered her body in goose bumps.
“I think Lucifer’s onto something with ancient weapons. Gavin ran Steven Vega through with swords. It inspired me, so I got some of my own.” He scanned her. “You look fancy. Hot date?”
She swallowed hard. “Not anymore.”
He shook his head ruefully. “You took your sweet time coming to me. It’s been almost a week.”
Angel called to one of his men who had a camera. Angel directed the shots from different angles and asked Theodore to turn his head this way and that for lighting and effect. The sound of Theodore’s whimpers made her feel as if she was going crazy. Theodore was a rapist and killer who was getting his just desserts, but … but it wasn’t right. She shivered and found Eli watching her. She remembered his comment when she entered—I hope you know what to do. He didn’t agree with what Angel was doing, but he didn’t stop it. Did he think she could?
“Angel!” Carmen snapped.
“What?”
His dagger landed in Theo’s eye socket, which knocked his head into the wall with a sickening thud. Theo’s head flopped forward. Blood slid from his mouth and pooled on the floor in front of him.
“I’m sure he’ll die any second now. I have some other guests, but I can postpone it if you want to do something?”
She averted her face. “End it, Angel.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ve made your point.”
She turned back to see that he had even more daggers.
“Finish it and we can do whatever you want.”
Angel paused with the cluster of knives in his hand like a steel bouquet of death. “Whatever I want?”
“Yes.”
The only sound in the room was of the soothing waterfall. Her legs quivered as she waited for Angel to decide. She imagined that Theodore was praying for death since it was clear that Angel wanted to draw this out.
Angel didn’t drop eye contact as he pulled a gun from the small of his back and shot Theodore without hesitation. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Theodore go limp and swallowed bile. Angel tossed his daggers on a white couch and strode toward her.
“Take the final pictures,” he ordered his men before he jerked his head at her. “Upstairs.”
She hesitated before she turned to follow. Mickey looked horrified, but he didn’t intervene. Angel jogged up the ostentatious staircase while she followed more slowly. Her mind was suspended in numb disbelief over what she just witnessed. As she reached the top of the stairs, she saw a hallway extending in each direction. She wandered down a hallway of closed doors and paused in the doorway to a massive master bedroom. She could hear the shower running. She sat on the bed and stared straight ahead.
The water shut off, and a minute later, Angel walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. He stopped in front of her and skimmed the back of his knuckles down her cheek. She didn’t react. The fingers slipped under her chin and tilted her face up. She focused on a water droplet that slipped from his hair and traveled down his face.
“Carmen.”
Their eyes collided. The cold began to fade as his manic energy reached for her, rousing her own. He kissed her. He went deep and opened his mouth. She copied, and his tongue stroked hers. She expected him to taste bitter with the metallic bite of blood. Instead, chocolate and mint filled her senses, seducing and enticing her. Contradictory, like everything else about him. He pushed her on her back without losing her lips. Water dampened her thin lace dress as his naked body imprinted on hers. His skin was hot, almost feverish. His hands were greedy and rough as they moved over her.
She felt as if she was in free fall. Her mind whirled with need and fear. She couldn’t get her bearings or think straight as the feel of him seeped into her starved soul. She raked her nails down his naked back. He grunted in approval and dragged her dress over her hips. She felt her thong snap and then a thick dick burrowed between her legs. Her eyes flew open, and she ripped her mouth from his.
“Angel!”
“I don’t want to hear it,” he growled as he tugged on the cups of her dress, freeing her breast, which he took in his mouth.
“I …” she gasped as he sucked hard, sending a thunderbolt to her pussy. “Angel, no!”
His head snapped up. “What?”
“We’re not doing this.” She tried to wriggle out from under him, which wasn’t happening without his permission. She could feel his cock pulsing between her legs. She came here knowing that he would fuck her silly, but she couldn’t follow through, not after witnessing Theodore’s death.
His eyes were narrow slits of heavenly blue. “You said we could do whatever I want.”
“Yes, but I have to agree.”
“What the fuck are you playing at?” he demanded.
“You’re high on the kill, and you want to fuck.” She couldn’t suppress her shudder. “You can get another girl. I just needed you to end it.” She tried to wriggle out from under him, but he wasn’t moving.
“You played me.”
She stilled. The lack of inflection made her heart race. Stripped of the façade, Angel was just as imposing as Gavin. Even more so because she didn’t know his limits.
“Get off, Angel.” Her voice wavered, betraying her nerves.
Like a predator sniffing out easy prey, he planted his fists on either side of her head, caging her.
“What are you going to do if I don’t?” he whispered.
“Scream.”
“You think any of my men would help you?”
Probably not. She glared at him. “You’re not so butt ugly that you couldn’t get another woman.”
“We put this off long enough.”
His face was hard and carnal as he stared down at her. He held her gaze as his hand skated down her body. She bucked as his hand slipped between her legs. She gasped and reached down to grab his thick wrist.
“Wet, but not enough,” he said.
He stuck his fingers in his mouth. Her breath left her lungs as she watched his eyes close. When they opened, they were a shade darker.
“You’re perfect.”
He sat up. She panted beneath him as his penis rested against her stomac
“You came here for this,” he stated.
She opened and closed her mouth.
He leaned down until his face was inches from hers. His good looks could deceive anyone into believing he had a heart of gold instead of one dark as sin.
“The moment I saw you, I knew we would end up here,” he said, his lips brushing hers as he spoke.
She quivered beneath him.
“You came here so I could give you this.” He rubbed his cock against her pussy. “What’s the problem? I know you’re not squeamish about blood or kills.”
His head dipped, and he kissed the corner of her lip and then trailed to her neck. Carmen stared up at the ceiling and tried to block out the physical pleasure. His hips moved against hers. The urge to spread her legs and take him warred with the urge to protect herself. If she fucked him, it would be over. But … something in her knew if she did that, it would change something fundamental in her. Something Lyla mentioned about Gavin cheating, about him pouring his darkness into whores slipped through her mind. If she played the whore and absorbed Angel’s darkness, would she come to crave it even more? Would she become an addict for what only he could give her?
He nuzzled her throat. “This necklace is in the way.”
Her eyes opened as he tossed the necklace on the mattress. She stared at it as he stroked her.
“What do you want, Carmen?”
The tidal wave of emotion she’d been trying to hold at bay swamped her. “I want to be happy,” she whispered.
“What will make you happy?”
“I want my life back.”
The sob caught both of them off guard. Grief gripped her heart and squeezed with a vengeance. She was dimly aware of Angel’s cheek brushing hers as he lifted his head.
“Carmen.”
She frantically flapped her hands in front of her face, but that didn’t help one bit. “I-I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“Fuck.” Angel rolled off and settled on his back beside her.
“I-I—” she stammered and tried to get a hold of herself. “I want …”
She didn’t know what the fuck she wanted, not anymore. She didn’t expect to be lucky enough to have two great loves in her life, but with Marcus, she’d begun to believe she found someone who understood her eccentricities. That belief had been destroyed tonight, and when she visited the one person she thought would understand her, she realized she wasn’t ready for his level of dark. Her instincts had been right all along. She didn’t want to get involved with a crime lord. A part of her still wanted the white picket fence and a little Nora of her own. She wanted a man to go on the road with, a man to laze on the beach with. That wasn’t Angel, which left her with nothing. No safe place, nowhere to lick her wounds. Tonight had shattered her delusions and made her face cold, hard facts. She was well and truly alone.
“Why did you come here tonight?”
The calm tone made her peek at him. He lay beside her, as naked as the day he was born, hands folded on his stomach. She wanted to get the hell out of here, but that might incite him to chase, so she settled beside him, her shoulder touching his.
“I came to have raw, dirty sex,” she said.
“And you cried instead.”
“I wasn’t expecting you to be playing with a human for target practice,” she grumbled as she swiped at her eyes.
“He broke it off?”
The words raked at her. “Pretty much.”
“Bound to happen.”
She blew out a breath. “Yeah.”
“How’d he do it?”
She sat up. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
He grabbed her arm. “That’s the least you could do for crying in my bed.”
She glared at him. “I kneed a potential business partner in the nuts.”
He stared at her for a few beats of silence and then, “Why?”
“Apparently, he’s going to be the next powerful man in the city, and since that’s what I go for, I should know my place, which is at his feet.”
There was a lot of activity going on in his eyes, but he didn’t speak.
“Marcus told me to leave.”
His grip tightened. “He didn’t beat that guy’s ass?”
“He didn’t care what he said.” She let out a shaky breath and stared at his ripped body. “Maybe we should still fuck.”
“I’m not into women with blotchy faces.”
She let out a weak laugh. Somehow, the laugh transitioned into sobbing.
“Fuck.” Angel pulled her down beside him and tipped her against his side.
She buried her face against his chest and cried her heart out. She was lost in a sea of emotion. The feel of his skin and his steady heartbeat were the only things that kept her from losing touch with reality. She clutched him while his fingers moved through her hair. When the tears ceased, she lay slumped against him with her head throbbing.
“There’s nothing worse than a woman’s tears,” he said.
“I’m sorry.” She shouldn’t be apologizing since it defused him. “I don’t know what got into me.”
“I do. Did you tell that fuck you love him?”
She stiffened. “I don’t love him.”
“Women don’t cry like that for men they don’t love.”
“I’m just having a bad week,” she said hoarsely.
“When you’re over your bad week, we’ll fuck each other’s brains out. You’re not into it tonight, so I’m going to get back to work. You done with the crying jag?”
“Yeah.”
He rolled away and disappeared into the bathroom. She took in his beautiful body before it disappeared. Crisis averted by tears. Who knew that would work on Angel Roman? She took a deep breath and scooted to the edge of the bed. She stuffed her boobs back into her dress and then pulled the short skirt down. Her thong was ruined and no longer wearable. The necklace sparkled in the midst of rumpled bedsheets. She hesitated before she reached out and grabbed it.
Angel came out of the bathroom wearing a pair of jeans and a white tee. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
He tipped his head to the side as he surveyed her. “I haven’t known you long, but I like what I see. If Fletcher isn’t giving you what you need, don’t waste your time.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be an issue anymore.” The look on his face when he told her to leave was burned into her mind.
They left the bedroom and started downstairs. Mickey was waiting for them. She could only imagine what she looked like since he sent Angel a murderous glance. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, she instinctively looked back at the living area, but Angel grabbed her arm and escorted her through the entrance hall. She glanced at her reflection and saw that she had mascara smeared over her right eye and her eyeshadow was completely gone. She looked pathetic and lost.
Angel walked her to her car and opened the door. She stared at him, unsure how to feel over what happened.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I’m going to keep entertaining.”
“But he’s dead.”
“I have some friends in the basement.”
She shuddered. “Be careful.”
“Always.”
She went on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry.”
He cupped her nape. “I can still taste you.”
“You shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered.
He searched her face. “You can still change your mind.”
“I need to get my head straight.”
He smoothed his hand over her back. “You could be my one. You know that, right?”
She wanted to deny it, but she wasn’t into lying to herself. “We would make each other crazy.”
A spark of humor lit his grim eyes. “That’s how life should to be, right?”
Her intuition told her that Angel was nowhere near ready for a relationship. They were two lost souls. Two halves of the same puzzle piece wouldn’t make a whole. She needed a yin to her yang, and although he might be a fun alternative, Angel Roman wasn’t it.
“We would make each other miserable,” she predicted and gave him a hug. “But thanks.”
He slapped her ass as she got into the car and leaned into her window when she rolled it down. “Call me if you’re feeling suicidal or want to fuck, yeah?”
She shoved his face out of her car and drove off the property with Mickey on her tail. She wasn’t going back to Marcus’s house. She wasn’t in the mood to be berated, and she was too fragile right now for a knock-down, drag-out fight. She needed time to build up her walls. Maybe she wasn’t ready for a full-on fuck, but she still needed to be around her type of people.
25
Carmen parked in the back parking lot of the Red Diamond.
“What the hell is going on?” Mickey demanded as he materialized at her side.
“Girl stuff,” she said as she tucked the necklace and her clutch in the glove compartment.
“Maybe I should call for reinforcements,” Mickey said as he pulled out his phone. “Marcus is calling.”
She slapped the phone out of his hand. “Don’t you dare answer that!” She stooped to pick it up before he could and turned it off. “I just need some time. No big deal.”
“No big deal,” he repeated slowly. “We’re at a strip club.”
“Gentlemen’s club,” she corrected automatically and tossed his phone in the car before she locked it.
“You slept with Angel.”
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