For Angelo(24)
And so the bodyguards ended up taking the role of storyteller with the boss’ date as their eager and appreciative audience.
Lane giggled and gasped at their stories, and she was so entranced that she failed to hear the sound of incoming footsteps, failed to sense what her sixth sense was warning her about—
By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late.
Three men were heading their way. They were about Angelo’s age, all of them attractive, well-dressed, and completely intoxicated.
“Are you certain Valencia won’t mind?”
“We’re going to share with him the hottest little M in town. What’s there to complain about?”
“She cost us a pretty sum, too, so that girl better be worth every f*cking dollar.”
The laughter that followed made Lane’s skin crawl.
“Fucking. Dollar. Get it?”
This time, all men laughed, and Lane wanted to throw up.
Her throat was tightening, and she could literally feel herself running out of oxygen.
She saw them and she didn’t see them, her mind shoved back into the past.
It was her first time to meet her grandfather, and he had told Lane he wanted to speak in private with Laura. So she had left them, standing obediently outside the door, fidgeting with excitement.
And when the waiting had become intolerable, she had giggled and tiptoed to the door, pressing her ear to it—
“Blow me, slut, and maybe, just maybe I’ll let you in my household. My daughter-in-law during the day, my whore at night—
When she opened her eyes, it was to find the three men staring at her, and she could see her grandfather in every one of them.
Her grandfather, one of his hometown’s wealthiest and most outstanding citizens—
Her grandfather, whose heart was as rotten as the pimps and prostitutes she had grown up with—
Her grandfather, who had been the first person in her life to use the word ‘slut’ in her presence—
One of them stepped forward, his lascivious gaze running over Lane’s curves. Without taking his eyes off her, he licked his lips and asked the guards, “Is she Angelo’s newest plaything?”
Fico and Umberto stiffened, both of them reluctant to answer the question. The truth was, all the women their employer had brought to the house had indeed been playthings. And while they wanted to think this new one was different—
The men started to crowd towards her.
I’m not going to panic, she told herself determinedly.
But then one of them laughed, the sound an exact mirror of how her grandfather had laughed at her face when he told Lane her mother would always be a slut in his eyes—
Lane screamed.
Chapter Eight
A luxuriously appointed bedroom gradually came into view as Lane’s eyes slowly drifted open. As her sight cleared, her memory returned, every sickening second of it. She quickly turned, her heart racing at the thought that perhaps the men were in the same room—
But all she saw was her fallen angel seated by her bedside, his back rigidly straight, a taut look on his handsome face.
“Angelo?” She pushed herself up on the bed, moving too quickly for her own good, and her temples throbbed.
“Don’t move so fast.” His voice was quiet and reserved, and she didn’t know what to make of it. “Take a sip.” He held a glass of her water to her lips, holding it for her, and she slowly took a sip while gazing at him.
But his face gave nothing away.
She watched him set the glass back on the table when she was done, and when he turned to her, she blurted out worriedly, “T-the party?”
“You don’t have to worry about it,” he answered briefly. “It’s all been taken cared of.”
Her heart squeezed as she translated his polite answer to one word: canceled. She gazed at him uncertainly, wondering if that was why he seemed so distant.
“I have a doctor waiting outside,” Angelo was saying, “and I would appreciate it if you allow him to check on you.”
Knowing he wasn’t really giving her a choice, she nodded.
“Good.” He stood up and left the room, and unease stirred inside of her. This tension…it didn’t feel like it was just about the party anymore. Something was really wrong. She just wished she knew what it was.
When the door opened again, it was the doctor, and the usual questions were asked. She answered them calmly and truthfully. She knew, after tonight, there was no point hiding anything. When the doctor departed, Angelo came back a few moments later.
She looked at him, and Lane thought, He knew.
And he did.
Angelo lowered himself back on the padded chair next to her bed. “Do you want the good news or bad news first?”
“Good,” she said automatically.
“You’re not suffering from any concussion, and after a good night’s sleep, the doctor believes you’ll be back to normal by tomorrow.”
“And the bad?”
He said without hesitation, “You might be crazy, after all.”
She choked and laughed at the same time, not at all expecting someone like Angelo Valencia to make such a joke. But he did, and it worked, the atmosphere in the room easing.
When her laughter faded, he asked gently, “Would you like to tell me what made you panic like that? And this time, there were no cars around.”