Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
“I don’t want to say anything to him.” I hate how defeated she sounds. She’s too pure and innocent for any of this.
“All right, then. We need to get moving.” Matteo taps his watch.
“Come on, Angel.” She doesn’t stop me from leading her back up to our place. Nikolai and Riley follow behind us.
“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” she asks as soon as we enter. Angel walks over, picking up the kitten, hugging it to her chest.
“I’ll stay if that is what you want.”
“You said it was your kill.” Angel repeats what I’d said downstairs.
“It’s my right, but no, I don’t have to take it.”
“But you want to.” I do. I want to snap the little fucker’s neck, but first I want to hear his scream. To torment him the same way he’d done to Angel all her life.
“I want to please you more.” A small smile pulls at her lips.
“Go,” she says.
“I’ll be staying too.” Riley sits down on the couch. Nikolai won’t be missing this. I may be the primary on this one, but I’ll make sure he gets what he needs out of it as well.
“Go,” Angel says again, but I don’t move. “I’m not going to run.”
“I was going to lock it either way.” I’m honest with her.
“I know.”
I walk over toward her. “Tell me not to go.”
“I won’t do that, Abel.”
Fuck me. Why is she doing this?
“Go. I’ll be here when you get back.” She licks her lips. “Then we’ll talk.”
Is this some kind of test? I don’t fucking know.
“Come on.” Nikolai's hand comes down on my shoulder.
“I’ll be back, Angel.” She doesn’t stop me when I lean in and press a kiss to her mouth. Then I follow Nikolai out and back down the stairs. This time, making sure to lock the door behind me.
18
ANGEL
“This should hit the spot.” Riley sets a cup of hot chocolate down in front of me with extra marshmallows. “If you need to cry, you can let it out.”
“I don’t need to cry.” If I did, it wouldn't be for Brent or John. They don’t deserve tears. The people who they spent their lives tormenting do. “I honestly don’t understand how I feel right now.” It’s hard to reconcile not caring that your brother and father are about to be literally tortured to death by the man you’re involved with.
“It’s a lot between finding out about your family and then falling in love with Church.” Riley takes a sip of her own hot chocolate.
“Do I love Abel?” I whisper.
“Of course you do.” Riley rolls her eyes. “You’re not screaming and running from him.”
"If I did, it wouldn't matter. He’s told me time and time again not to run from him because he would never let me go.”
“Okay, fine. Then tell me you don’t love him, and I’ll believe you.” Riley stares at me, waiting.
“He’s spent a few days torturing John.” I can’t bring myself to call him my father anymore. They aren’t my family. Truthfully, they never were. We never acted like one. Not in any sense of the word.
“And then you gave him the all-clear to go finish up,” she points out. I could have stopped him. He'd even implied that he would try to save them from death if I asked. That he'd go against everyone else for me, knowing it could risk his own life. He was willing to accept the consequences in order for me to be okay with whatever decision I made.
“I don’t want to change him,” I admit. Because Riley is right. I do love Abel. This is who he is.
"If you asked him to, he'd stop. You know that, right?”
“I do.” And that’s all I really need to know.
“I get it. Our families are different, but we're still family. One that loves each other and will protect each other.” A smile lights up her face. “I always had my sister, but it was her and me. I had a shitty brother and father too. I don’t care how fucked-up this family is. It’s a real one with people that love and protect you with everything they have. You and Church can be a part of that.”
“I want it.” I really do.
"You just have to get over what society has ingrained in your mind about right and wrong. Those are their rules and laws. It doesn’t mean they’re right. We have our own, and I rest easy at night. I think a lot of people will when news breaks about Brent and the senator.”
Riley is so right. Blood isn’t the only thing that can make someone your family. It’s the bonds we form, the trust we’re given and instill, the loyalty and love we allow ourselves to give and receive that determines those things. Fortunately, as we get older, we have a choice in who we want to consider our family. And I know without a doubt that Abel is my home.