For Angelo(7)

“He won’t be easy to miss,” she told him seriously. “He’s tall, dark, handsome, and he really looks like a fallen angel.”

“Yeah, sure.” But then Lane gave him a quick hug, and it was hard to maintain his anger.

“Thanks, Josh.”

Her sweet smile did him in. Thank God he was poor as dirt or she would never be able to smile at him like that, Josh thought gratefully.

“If he comes, tell him I’m at Millie’s, okay?” Lane walked backwards towards the exit doors as she spoke.

“Yup.” Not.

When she left, he went back to stocking the shelves, a dreamy look on his face. He had made Lane Petersen smile. It was the best feeling ever, he thought.

Minutes passed, and there were no signs of Lane’s fallen angel. He started whistling. Angel, ha, he thought with a snort. Yeah right. A demon was more like it.

Behind him, Josh heard the store doors swish open, and he turned around to greet the next customer—

Shit.

Josh found himself staring at a man who could only be described as a—

Tall.

Dark.

Handsome.

Fallen angel.

Double shit, triple shit, all the shittiest things in the world could not compare to how Josh felt at that moment.

The stranger was an inch over six feet, and his Mediterranean heritage was very much evident in his dark eyes and olive-toned skin.

“Good evening.” His tone was faintly accented, but his English was polished, like someone who had learned the language in a private academy. “I’m looking for someone who possibly works here…” He described Lane’s features in a brief but concise manner.

“Sorry, no one like that works here.” The words were out before Josh could think of what he was doing.

The stranger’s eyebrow arched slightly. “Is that so?”

“Yup. So, if that’s all—” The stranger’s gaze suddenly narrowed, and it was as if he had sensed Josh’s words were nothing but a lie.

“Are you certain?”

The stranger’s silkily spoken question chafed, and Josh heard himself say defensively, “Well, if there was one like her, she’s my girlfriend, and you probably turned her head around only because you’re loaded.” His tone became savage. “It doesn’t mean she really likes you or anything,” he finished with a glare, but the stranger’s bland expression didn’t change.

“I see.”

Josh waited tensely for the stranger’s next move, ready to get into a fistfight if that was what things called for. He had been patient with Lane, dammit. He would not just stand by and let some fancy foreign dude—

“I am sorry for the unintentional intrusion.” The stranger inclined his head in an oddly old-fashioned gesture of apology.

“Uh…” The display of manners threw Josh off.

The stranger gave him a nod before turning away to leave.

Josh paled.

That was that…right?

He had gotten rid of his competition.

And that was okay…right?

All was fair in love and war…right?

Lane came back ten minutes later, her face hopeful as she hurried to him, asking, “Did anyone come by?”

“If there was, I’d have sent him to Millie’s, don’t you think?” But he couldn’t meet Lane’s gaze as he spoke. She’s going to be disappointed, but it’s for the better. That guy has ‘player’ written all over him—

“He’ll probably come tomorrow,” he heard Lane say brightly.

His head jerked up. “What?”

Lane shrugged. “I’m sure he has his reasons.”

His jaw dropped. “You have got to be kidding me. He stood you up, Lane.” Actually, this wasn’t true, but the man did make his friend wait for several hours, and that was almost as uncool.

“He has his reasons,” Lane said calmly. And despite Josh’s words planting the tiniest seed of doubt in her heart, she refused to let it grow.

She would see her fallen angel again, and everything would be okay after that.

But this turned out to be only half true.





Chapter Two





It took an entire week before Lane saw him again.

It was orientation day of the legal management seminar she had signed up for, and Lane had taken one of the seats at the back, not wanting to draw any attention. While therapy had enabled her to lead a somewhat normal life, her therapist had also been honest with her.

Lane would never be the same again.

But how much her fears would affect her was up to Lane.

And so here she was, Lane thought ruefully. Ever the masochist, she had accepted the scholarship offered by Christopoulos University, which wasn’t just thousands of miles away from home. It was also the school for rich kids – no, wait, that wasn’t right. CU was the school for the richest and best-looking kids.

Every day was a silent torture, and lately, it had been made worse by the depression that was stealthily finding its way to her heart.

In front of the class, the dean was telling them about how special they were to have been selected for this extremely special seminar.

“You’ve been accepted based not just on your grades but your potential as well. We believe that you have what it takes to do spectacularly in your chosen fields.” The dean cleared his throat. “And so, without further ado, I would like to introduce two of my former students who have graciously accepted my invitation to be your mentors.”