Page 155 of Angelic Vengeance

A hard slap landed on my ass, making me gasp under the spray of the shower. I glanced over my shoulder to shoot Zach a death glare but he was already walking out.With his back to me, he started drying his hair with a towel. I took the opportunity to look at him in all his glory: tall, strong and muscular, with black ink stretching over tan skin.

I allowed my eyes to wander over the tattoos on his back – something I rarely got to do since he was always facing me; looking at me, watching me, observing me, admiring me, carrying me, pulling me onto his lap, pinning me down.

My breath hitched as another gasp escaped me, this one leaving my lips on its own accord.

I stared into his back but it was like looking in a black-and-white mirror.

My own pair of eyes stared back at me, needled into the muscles of his back, right under his shoulder blade.

Soft, angled brows. Long, thick lashes. Siren, sparkling irises. A lazy, cat-like gaze.

Myeyes. Tatted onhisskin.

When I glanced up, Zach was already looking at me.

Watching.

Observing.

Over his shoulder, his stare was unbothered, but the weight and burn of his ebony eyes was so intense, I didn’t dare move.

When I remained frozen in place, Zach closed the distance between us, wrapping the towel around his hips. His palms burned my waist; holding me in his hands.

“When…”

His throat bobbed with a swallow. “After Queens.” He averted his eyes before meeting mine again. “I was lost. I missed you like crazy. It was the only thing I knew to do.” As the silence stretched on, my heart stopped beating. “I couldn’t be with you, but I needed you with me.”

He always made it seem as though my universe was captured in his black eyes; that when our souls met, I finally knew what it meant to stargaze.

“Why?”

“So I’ll always have you with me; watching my back.Watching over me.” His hand went into my hair, pulling me close until his lips brushed mine. “You’re my guardian angel, baby.” His lips softly brushed over the scar cutting down my brow and over my eye, and my chest contracted. “Always have been.”

For the first time in my life,I liked being someone’s angel.

The sun was setting behind the skyscrapers into the calm evening, basking the city in a smooth mix of reds and yellows. A late-summer breeze brushed over my tan skin at fifty stories up. The DeMones’ rooftop ‘End of Summer White-Party’ was thriving with Manhattan nightlife, and the Empire State Building glowed white in the distance, matching the ambiance.

One of the Cosa Nostra men, dressed in a sharp white suit to match the dress code, was discussing business with Matteo at my side; something about a new drug on the market. Despite my brother being back in charge of theCartel while I took some time off, he was doing a shit job at bringing in new profit.

Matteo wasn’t listening – he was too busy glancing at a certain platinum-blonde Italian girl with daggers for eyes, who seemed like she wanted nothing to do with him.

Scanning the crowd, my indifferent gaze turned hot.

Maria was on the far side of the rooftop bar, leaning against the glass barrister and talking with her girlfriends.

Damn.I ran a hand over my mouth.

Her hair was long and wavy, reaching her waist; and my hand itched instinctively, remembering the feel of it wrapped around my fist.

She wore a flowy, white sundress that slightly hugged her figure, along with six-inch sandals and gold jewelry.

Fuck, she really looked like an angel.Myangel.

When she caught me looking, she immediately smiled and excused herself. As Maria made her way over to me – I imagined what she’d look like in a different white dress, walking down an aisle towards me.

I would’ve gotten on one knee right there, but I knew it was too soon for her. She was only twenty-one, and had other life plans before marriage could even be a topic – let alone babies.

During the past month, she’d gotten on the pill. I wasn’t on board at first because she’d told me before how there were multiple serious side effects to birth control. I told her she didn’t need to put her body through any of that; that I’d just start using condoms if she was nervous. I’d only been pulling out until then, but after a few close calls, she said she didn’t want to risk it.