Page 141 of Angelic Vengeance

Zach pulled me in, wrapping his arms around me so tightly I cried into his chest. He held me and I’d never felt safer – not even when I was the one holding the gun.

“I would hunt them down and kill…Every. Last. One.” His hand cupped the back of my head, stroking down in soothing ways. He kissed the top of my head, murmuring into my hair, “But my girl already took care of that.”

The smallest laugh choked out of me through the sobs.

“Always so strong,” He murmured. “Never weak. Always a force.”

He held me for a long time. Even after I ran out of tears, I didn’t let go. I needed to stay like that just for a moment longer.

“Por favor,mi amor. Perdóname.”

The raw honesty of his words pierced me right in the chest.God,I wanted to forgive him.I wanted to forget everything. I wanted to pretend the past two weeks hadn’t happened; that we never left his penthouse that night I whisperedI love you toointo the dark. That everything wasokay because he knew how wrong he’d been. That him being in as much heartbreak as me, made this any better.

But it didn’t.

And I couldn’t move on.

He was sorry. I knew he was. But that didn’t change the fact that everything had already happened. He couldn’t change the past. He couldn’t take the words he’d said to me back. He couldn’t make me forget.

I wasn’t sure there was anything that could convince me to be with Zach again. I still loved him despite trying not to – and even though I knew I’d done nothing wrong by falling for him, I still felt weak and stupid. Turns out love wasn’t as easy to get rid of as physical scars.

And I still missed him all the time. I missed him at night when he wasn’t there to hold me. I missed him in the morning when he wasn’t the first one I saw when I woke up. I missed him all the times in between because he always made me feel better; safer – more comfortable.

But I had too much pride and self-respect to go back to the same man who’d hurt me. If I forgave him, he’d just hurt me again – and the second time itwouldbe my fault.

I took a deep breath and stepped away. Without making eye contact, I held out his gun.

“Baby, don’t leave…”

So much of me didn’t want to leave. But I had to.For myself.

When he made no effort to reach for the Glock, I bent down and laid it on the floor. Then, I walked away.

Zach didn’t stop me again, but I felt his eyes burn into my back, begging me to stay – which was exactly why I refused to look him in the face.

Once I was out of his view, I ran up the cement staircase and pushed the fire exit door open, making itabove ground. Gravel crunched under my sneakers as I came to a halt, my chest heaving. It was dark now, and Manhattan’s blinding lights reflected into the river.

A single tear burned down my cheek.

I was doing the right thing. So why was it tearing me in half?

CHAPTER 42

Present

“I HEARD YOU ARE NO longer seeing Zachary Di’Ablo. What happened?”

I slightly flinched, coming back to reality from sitting in my thoughts. Francesca’s mother, Silvia DeMone, took a seat on the fancy white couch across from me. Once every few months, I was invited over for tea and gossip. Silvia was everyone’s favorite mom, and I always had fun with her and Francesca.

“We… had different intentions.”

Francesca raised an eyebrow from one of the armchairs to my side, herlooksaying we had oneverysimilar intention:killing each other.

Since finding out Zach had been the captive in Mexico, I had to ask Francesca if she knew and kept it from me. Turned out, Francesca didn’t even personally know Zach back then – she’d heard her dad complaining about the missing shipment on the phone and decided to take care of it first. By taking initiative, she was able to impress her dad which then finally allowed her to enter the family business.

Up until a few days ago, she had no idea there’d even been a captive on the island. I couldn’t blame Zach for keeping the whole situation a secret.

A maid entered the room with a tray of fine china andTres Leches, placing it on the glass coffee table. When she was done pouring Sicilian herbal tea for everyone, I picked up my plate with the sweet treat and dived in.