Branded (Fall of Angels #1)(20)

She hovers over the gap in the building. We’re twenty stories in the air. No way she’ll survive a fall.

“Are you insane?” I yell, trying to grasp her hand, but she reins herself back in.

She’s so damn close to the edge that I’m certain she’ll fall if she gets any closer.

“Maybe,” she replies, not even looking at me.

“What are you doing?” I yell.

Is she actually considering … jumping?

Because of my uncle?

“Don’t do it!” I yell.

She frowns, and for the first time since we met again, she looks me straight in the eyes without playing around. Without all the rage and regret.

“Why do you care if I live or die?”

My lips part, but I don’t know what to say.

Part of me wants this to end, for her to die … but I couldn’t let her go like that. Not without having my way with her first. I want a say in how it ends, and this isn’t it.

Grunting, I lunge at her and shove her so hard she falls down but away from the hole.

“What are you doing?” she screams, slapping me and trying to get me to move.

“Saving your ass,” I growl. “Stop fighting.”

Her head thrashes from side to side. “Get off me!”

“Not until I’m sure you won’t try something that stupid again,” I bark back.

“Why do you even care?” she spits, trying to wriggle out from underneath me.

“I don’t, but I’m not letting you off the hook that easily,” I say.

“No! I’m not going to that fucker. Forget about it!” Her hand manages to squirm free, and she scratches me in my face, leaving a nasty gash.

I grasp her wrists and pin them to the floor, spread out. “I won’t take you to my uncle.” This catches her attention, so I cock my head, and add, “If you behave.”

She pffts. “Fine.”

I wasn’t going to take her to him anyway, but she doesn’t need to know that.

He’d probably kill her on sight, especially when he sees the damage she caused to his precious hotel, but I won’t let him have that honor. No fucking way.

“Now, are you gonna come quietly or not?”

She narrows her eyes, a smirk appearing on her face. “Sure. I’ll come … quietly.”

Fuck her and that fucking double meaning. I don’t have time to play games and definitely not any that involve her coming.

Though it did cross my mind many times when we were still together.

Fuck.

Why am I even thinking about this now?

The smirk on her face grows bigger. I’m sure she can tell what I’m thinking.

I immediately get up and haul her to her feet. Before she can run away again, I swiftly pull her wrists behind her back and push the gun into the small of her back. “Walk.”

“Yes, sir,” she mumbles wickedly as if she’s still trying to deceive me. But her charms won’t work on me. That time has long past.





Chapter Ten





Dixie



He drags me down a stairwell and through more hallways until we get to an exit. Brandon’s in a rush as if he’s afraid something bad will happen. As if it didn’t already.

Half the goddamn hotel exploded.

I wish more of it was gone, but at least I did some damage.

Still, I should’ve used more explosives. That fucker Josiah should’ve been buried along with this casino. And that goes for Brandon too.

Fuck, I never expected to find him here, out of all places.

Though I shouldn’t be surprised because I knew Josiah was his uncle. I should’ve thought of this sooner.

Not that I care whether he lives or dies. I hate him to death. Literally, I wish I could kill him. I probably would if I had a chance.

He’s probably thinking the same thing, which is why I’m so confused as to what his plan is. If he wants to kill me, why not do it now when everyone is still in a panic? No one would notice. I’d be just another body lying in the rubble.

But he keeps dragging me along while all the sirens blare and the smoke fills our lungs. He doesn’t seem to want to give up. I’m worried he might take me to his uncle anyway, and that I’m going to face endless days of torture until I beg for someone to kill me.

Maybe that was his plan all along. I may deserve it, but that doesn’t mean I won’t fight it tooth and nail. I’d prefer to go down my way.

I should’ve perished when that bomb detonated.

That was the plan, and I’d committed to it. Everything was going just as I had in mind. This was going to be my magnum opus. A final shot at proving my worth to my dad.

And then it all went to shit … because of him.

Brandon Locklear. The only man I wish I’d never met.

I still regret the day I first set my eyes on him.

Way back when during a school break outside on the playground where he was burning grass. Always obsessed with fire … he was already dangerous back then and still is to this day.

I should’ve known meeting him would come back to bite me in the ass one day.

Suddenly, a phone goes off, and Brandon stops in his tracks to answer it.

I’m leery of him. I wonder if, on the off chance that he looks away, I can snatch that gun from his hands and use it to my advantage. It doesn’t hurt to try.