Adalyn looked at the faces of the Caruso men, knowing what she meant and why Joey wore such a hateful expression. They all think he did it.
“I’m standing here because I didn’t do it,” Angel told not only her but Joey, the other Carusos, and a somber Lake and Elle.
“That’s what my brother says.” The tall, leggy blonde looked him up and down. “For now, anyway.”
The distaste on the Carusos’ faces only grew. You could practically feel the heat of their fury radiating from their bodies, while Angel somehow looked cool and calm.
Maria’s heels clicked along the pavement as she walked up to him. “God help you if you had anything to do with it. I’m sure Joey’s hands are itching to kill his cousin’s murderer.”
A low growl came from Joey. “I can’t wait.”
On Maria’s lips was a smile that was almost evil as she and Elle walked away, heading to their classes with their guards. That left the rest of them to walk to their first class.
She’s batshit crazy, isn’t she?
Starting to walk, she was slightly shocked when she was lightly pulled back by the arm to walk a bit behind Lake and Joey. Angel then pulled her in closer, whispering for only her ears to hear.
“I need to talk to you … alone. Say you want chicken nuggets from the food court and make sure your friends don’t follow.”
“Okay,” she whispered back with a chill from his harshness as he dropped his arm from her and put distance between them once again.
She didn’t know what he wanted to speak about, only able to assume it had to do with Joey. Nevertheless, a part of her had to know. Was she dumb to agree to it? Probably. But nuggets were involved, and that was all she needed.
As they reached the classroom, from Joey’s fierce expression, she could only wonder if Angel would still be living and breathing when she came back out. Before heading in, she silently gave him a good freakin’ luck face.
The second the girls touched their seats, they began talking, with Adalyn leaning over first.
“I need another favor.”
“Oh God, not again,” Lake groaned, unable to keep any more secrets from Vincent.
“I just need you to not want to get chicken nuggets so I can speak to Angel alone, because I don’t think Joey is going to give us many chances,” she spoke quickly, as if the favor wasn’t a big deal.
“Adalyn, do you think that’s safe?”
“He’s not going to try anything in a public place. If he does, I’ll scream.”
Lake nodded, knowing full well she was capable of that. “Do you think he did it?”
Adalyn didn’t answer right away, carefully thinking hard about whether he did or not. “I don’t think he did.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound very convincing!” Lake whispered harshly.
“I can’t say for certain because I wasn’t there, but my gut says no. It really doesn’t make sense for him to kill Tom. That’s too obvious, if you think about it.”
Lake was silent, thinking about her words, clearly knowing what Adalyn said made sense. “I hope for your sake he didn’t.”
She was confused. “My sake?”
“Yes, because you like him; I can tell.” Her best friend stopped her before she could object. “And someone as hot as him shouldn’t be wasted. Did you ever find out if he can ride a skateboard?”
She began to laugh, figuring it might be more for Lake’s sake than hers. “No, but something tells me I shouldn’t tell you if I find out he can.”
“I think I’d hate you forever if you kept that vision from me.”
I actually wouldn’t blame you.
“But do me a favor?” Lake asked.
“What?”
“Don’t tell me if he can’t.” Anyone could practically see Angel riding the skateboard in her eyes. “You’ll ruin it.”
The girls continued to talk about Tom’s death during class and throughout the day, trying to figure out who could have done it. One thing was for sure; it didn’t look good for Angel or his family.
With their morning classes over, they headed to the cafeteria to meet up with Elle and Maria, finding them both eating salads today.
“Is Maria rubbing off on you, Elle?”
“It’s good to have a salad every now and then,” Elle told her, but the way she was staring at it, Adalyn wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince her or herself.
“Yes, a big, hearty salad with chicken, not a side salad,” Adalyn corrected her.
“Yeah, I’m gonna get a cheeseburger.” Lake gawked at a student who had just sat down with one.
Elle looked over to see what she was staring at. Unable to resist, she said, “Can you grab an extra one for me?”
With them all laughing but one, Maria looked over at her in disappointment. “Weak.”
“Don’t worry, Elle.” Adalyn smiled at her. “I’m weak, too, because I’m going to get chicken nuggets. You all have fun.” She quickly turned to leave with Angel, hoping it would be left at that.
“Where do you think you’re going, Luciano?” Joey’s hard voice was the one who stopped them.
“Taking her to get her nuggets,” Angel answered.
He put a hand on Angel’s chest, stopping him. “I don’t fucking think so.”
“Lucca assigned me to her.” Looking him dead in the eyes, he kept his voice even. “She’s my responsibility.”
The girls all sat there, stunned at what was unfolding before them. I like this Angel.
“I’m not leaving you alone with her.”
“Then follow behind us.” Angel pushed forward, forcing Joey’s hand from his chest.
“I wouldn’t even give you the credit card to pay for her food,” Joey practically spat at him.
“Don’t. I’ll pay for it.” He shrugged, still walking away.
Practically laughing, Joey couldn’t help getting one last dig in. “Your money is dirty.”
Angel stopped. Turning around, he came up to Joey, chest to chest, his voice holding a deadly tone now that his family had been brought into it. “Exactly what makes you think your money is clean?”
Adalyn knew what he meant by that. The Carusos didn’t earn their money one hundred percent legally either.
“It’s cleaner than your family’s fuckin’ gun money.”
“Dirty money is dirty money. And unfortunately for you, you’re just as dirty as me.”
Joey put his face closer to Angel’s. “How do you sleep at night when you hear a kid was killed by a gun your family sold?”
Adalyn’s eyes grew wide. She knew the look that was coming upon Angel’s eyes. She needed to get him away now.
Putting a hand on his arm, she pulled to snap him out of it, thankful when he finally started to walk away.
“Get your fucking hands off him,” Joey snapped. “No one’s going anywhere. You can either eat a hamburger or a salad like the rest of them, or don’t eat at all. I don’t really give a shit.”
“Like I said, she is my responsibility, so do not speak to her that way,” Angel threatened as he pushed Adalyn behind him.
“I can speak to her however the fu—”
“Actually, you can’t,” a soft voice interjected. It wasn’t until they all turned their heads to Maria that she continued, “You need to leave now.”
Oh shit.
Everyone’s face, including Angel’s, had the same oh shit expression that had just filtered through their minds.
There were several awkward moments of silence before Joey managed to nod, then left the cafeteria. You could practically see the steam coming off him from the sheer embarrassment of having the Maria Caruso call him out and there was nothing he could do about it.
“Adalyn?”
Swallowing, she looked over at the mafia princess, who unmistakably ruled all. “Yes?”
“Sit down and eat a burger,” she said with a snap of her fingers.
One thing Adalyn wasn’t … was stupid. “Okay.”
Fourtee
n
Rules to Live and Die By
Adalyn and Lake were in the restroom later that day, drying their hands, when someone who definitely wasn’t a woman came through the door.
“What the hell?” Lake sputtered, looking in the mirror at his reflection.
“Angel, are you crazy?” Adalyn yelled, looking around to see if anyone else was in there.
“Probably,” he told her before looking at Lake. What came out of his mouth next wasn’t a request but a demand. “I need you to do something for me.”
“What?” Lake answered nervously.
“Watch the door and tell me if that prick starts to come back.”
The girls looked confused for a second. Then Lake figured out he meant Maria’s bodyguard, who had taken Joey’s place. “You mean Todd?”
“Yeah, him. I think he’s trying to fuck some professor, but I need that door guarded.”
Okay, maybe Todd is a prick.
Feeling apprehensive, Lake looked at her friend, not knowing if this was a good idea. When Adalyn nodded, though, she gave in, knowing she would be right on the other side of that door if anything happened in there.
Once the door closed with Lake’s departure, Adalyn watched Angel move, expecting him to stop in front of her, but he didn’t. Instead, he slowly began to walk around her, circling her at a creep-like pace while his eyes danced all over her body. With a chill on her skin, she started to get the feeling she was becoming his prey.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
This time when he went behind her, he lightly scooped some tendrils off her shoulders, bringing them to the front. “Why aren’t you afraid of me? Even right now, when you should be, you’re not.”
Her tongue poked out as she licked her bottom lip while thinking about his words. He was right. Her skin might have gone cold, and nervousness rang in her voice from watching him pace around her, but it wasn’t from fear. It was from being awakened. However, she couldn’t tell him that.
“You just don’t scare me.”
“What if I killed Tom?” Those words seemed to echo throughout the room.
Locking her eyes on his when he rounded the front, she went scarily still. “Did you?”
“I’ve done a lot of bad shit, sweetness.” He opened his shadowed eyes to show her that he wasn’t a man of many morals. “But killing Tom wasn’t one of them.”
The tingle in her skin only heightened. She couldn’t explain how or why, but she just knew he was undoubtedly telling the truth. It was like her soul was telling her.
Angel moved in closer, this time stopping right in front of her. Adalyn’s breath vanished when he touched her heavy bottom lip with a long finger and began massaging and teasing the sensitive area. Taking one last step forward, he pressed his body against hers as he murmured darkly, “You’re lucky you saved my life by stealing the ring.”
Her body was screaming now. She couldn’t fully comprehend what he was saying. “H-huh?”
A slight smile parted his lips from knowing the effect he had on her. “They searched my room last night and found nothing, because of you, sweetness.”
Adalyn didn’t know if she should be proud about that fact, but in this moment, in some fucked-up way, she was.
What is he doing to me?
“I guess”—Angel moved his hand down to firmly grab her chin, lifting it high and making her get on her tippy-toes—“I wanted to say thank you.”
His warm voice was the last thing she heard before he brought his warm mouth down on hers.
It was a simple kiss, almost innocent, yet it had a roughness to it that shook her to her core. It was like true, utter, sweet bliss; the kind you didn’t know existed until you were frightened to death of it ending. It was a feeling she shouldn’t be having with a man like Angel and with a kiss like that, which made it the most intimate and beautifully breathtaking thing she had ever experienced.
One that would be impossible to ever forget because it was …
Simply perfection.
Pulling his lips away from hers, he held her right where he wanted her, keeping a firm hold on her chin, not letting her drop from her toes just yet. There was one last thing he had to say.
“You may have just saved your own life, sweetness, or you may have just cost it.” With that, a hazy Adalyn was released.
She watched him walk away, her mind slowly coming back online. She didn’t know if he meant taking the ring had saved or cost her her life, or …
If it had been that kiss.
Shit.
That wasn’t what he had planned—to kiss her like that—but she had been so pliable, so submissive underneath him. How she craved a man without morals, one who was evil, corrupt, a man … like him.
Never before had he met anything like her. Someone who wanted those qualities in a man yet was the complete opposite herself. Adalyn was pure and fun, but inside, she had a side to her that was desperate to get out. A side that he was capable of bringing out. A side that he had never experienced before because the women he had dealt with were either evil on the outside or too good on the inside.
He could be his true self with her, but it was a commodity that would only come with a high price tag.
There were certain things Luciano men were never supposed to do, a list of rules to live and die by, and kissing her, a Caruso, was on the “do not do” list. One thing was for sure now …
There will be hell to pay.
Fifteen
Force of A Thousand Bullets
One … Two … Three … Four … Angel didn’t know how long it had been since the closet door had been closed.
Five … Six … Seven … Eight … All he knew was that he was hungry, thirsty, and in pain.
Nine … Ten … Eleven … Twelve … And even though it was pitch-black in there, he felt like the already tiny space had somehow grown smaller and smaller with each passing hour.
Thirteen … Fourteen … Fifteen … It was almost like a game to see who would crack …
Crack.
… first. To see who would break …
Break…
…Before Angel could even awaken enough and move from his bed, one of the masked men was dragging him out of it. The noises he had been hearing was his door being busted in, but his nightmare had been just too strong to be drawn out of it. By this time, it was just too late …
Three men wearing black ski masks were all he could see before he put his arms up to protect his face.
Lying there on the floor of his hotel room, he took the beating of a lifetime.
The obscenities that were thrown around were ones he had heard since birth.
“You fucking piece of shit.”
“All you Lucianos are the same.”
“Lazy motherfuckers.”
“Nasty, tatted bitch.”
All words that he had heard repeatedly, words that had been etched on his skin like the tattoos that had been imprinted on his body. Except they went deeper than his tats. They scratched scars into his soul.
There almost wasn’t one part of his body that hadn’t been hit by the time the masked men stopped to catch their breath. A normal person would have passed out from the pain, but it only made him feel more alive.
“We should have killed every last one of you with your sick fuck of a father.”
Angel began to laugh madly through the pain of his injuries as he stared up at the man who had been the most vocal. Remembering that voice, he knew exactly who it belonged to.
“Do you really think you’re hiding from me with that mask? Why don’t you fucking take it off and face me like a man!” He spat on the ground, blood hitting the man’s shoes.
Taking off the mask revealed an intense Joey, who gave him a promise of a lifetime. “I’m going to kill you one day. I’m going to kill every last one of you until the Luciano name doesn’t exist.”
Any gray in Angel’s eyes vanished to the black orbs that now pierced Joey with a force of a thousand bullets that dared
him to keep his promise. “We can’t fucking wait.”
Hearing a noise, Joey slid his mask back on before he and another masked figure headed for the door. The last one, who seemed to be the biggest assailant, stayed back a moment longer to tell the battered Angel one thing.
“I didn’t come here for Tom,” the devoid voice said as he bent down to take Angel’s neck in his hands, his grip slowly beginning to squeeze tighter and firmer “This is for Drago.”
With his life fleeing, Angel began to file away every detail he could about the man: his size, his voice, his eyes …
… Until it all disappeared.
When the Escalade pulled up to her house the next morning, Adalyn’s heart sank so deep it almost brought her to her knees. She instinctively knew something was wrong.
It was crazy how something that used to be so normal could now feel so wrong. She thought she missed being picked up in the Escalade with the other girls, but it turned out she didn’t at all. Turned out going back to what once was seemed to crumble her future.
Sixteen
I’ll Find You
“Have you heard anything?” Adalyn’s eyes practically begged Lake to know something, anything. Her soul told her that he might be in trouble, which frightened her, and after asking around and going to his hotel room, she came up empty.
It had been three days since she had last seen Angel. Three days since that kiss of a lifetime. And even though she was probably better off without ever seeing him again, she couldn’t help wondering what exactly was happening between them. Finding their “little game” enticed her more than anything ever before, she didn’t want it to end so soon.
All Lake could do was shake her head solemnly.
“Something bad happened to him.” She felt herself breaking down. “I can feel it.”
“I think something did,” Lake finally admitted as she moved closer to her friend, keeping her voice down. “Every time I asked Vincent about him, he didn’t really answer.”
Angel (Made Men Book 5) Page 6