Page 43 of Angelic Vengeance

She walked towards me and stopped a few inches away, raising her chin to meet my eyes. Her hair was drenched from the rain outside and her face bare from makeup.

“Some people fucked with me. I’m handling it.” Her voice came out ice cold; mechanic. She turned to walk away and finish off Juan.

I let out a frustrated sigh and grabbed her upper arm, stopping her. She looked over her shoulder to where my hand gripped her over the wet material of her oversizedblack hoodie. Her eyes came up to mine, almost as a warning to take my hands off her or I’d end up like Juan.How I’d love to see her try.

I lowered my face almost to her level, yet still managed to tower over her. “You can’t just come in here and kill my men.” Maria’s eyes became slits and I turned my lips into a dark smirk. “I’m going to need a reason,hermosa.”

Something sparked in her eyes but she blinked it away. She faced me again and stepped closer, her lips dangerously close to mine. She fixed me with those goddamn eyes… And the following words left her so smooth they hit me right in the fucking chest.

“Heupsetme.”

I didn’t respond, just watched her for a moment. She pressed her lips together, almost as if trying to stop a smile, before a corner of her mouth lifted into a dark smirk, mirroring my own.

I continued to watch her for another moment before straightening and running an absent hand over my loosened tie. “Good enough for me.”

Juan was a dead man walking.

Aclickcut through the air.

Maria looked over her shoulder and aimed her Glock at the same time I aimed mine. Two shots rang through the store. Juan fell back, his body slumping on the floor along with the gun he planned to shoot either me, Maria, or both, with. Blood pooled underneath him as disgust filled me.Fucking rat.

Maria groaned in frustration and faced me again, shoving me in the chest.

“What the–”

She groaned and pushed me again before landing a hard punch on my abs. Unexpected pain shot through mystomach. “How the fuck am I going to interrogate him now that you’ve killed him, huh?!”

Her face was unusually expressive, coasted with resentment and tensity. The bags under her eyes told me she hadn’t slept in a long time.

My own built-up frustration from the past four days bubbled to the surface. Grabbing both of her wrists, I immobilized her. Lowering my face down to hers, I spoke through gritted teeth. “I didn’t do anything.”

Her breathing was angry and erratic as her eyes took in my expression. I let go of her wrist and cupped her annoying, beautiful face in my hand. Squeezing her cheeks, I turned her gaze towards Juan, who hadherbullet in his head. As I was only trying to disarm him, my bullet was in his arm.

I leaned down to speak in her ear. “Youkilled him, hermosa.”

My mouth was a mere inch from the pulse point on her neck and I ached to clamp my teeth down and suck on the sensitive skin. Her wet hair and perfume turned my mind hazy as I waited for one of her sarcastic replies.

But they never came.

Instead, her body jolted up as she sniffed.

I froze. Shock rolled through me at the realization that she was trying not to cry. She avoided showing emotions. And from what I’d heard from her friends, she never cried. I didn’t understand why she was crying when she’d been the one to kill him. It couldn’t be guilt; she was an assassin.

Something sharp cut through my chest when another sniff escaped her. My hand still holding her cheeks, I pulled her face back to me. She restrained at first, before giving in; allowing me to turn her face, but she didn’t meet my eyes.

My jaw tightened as I lowered my head even more, forcing her to look at me. When she did, her face was dry, but tears were pooling in her eyes as she battled for them to not fall.

Goddamn it.

I didn’t know why Maria was upset, but I was still going to resuscitate Juan, beat the shit out of him, and then kill him myself.

I straightened and took off my suit jacket, pushing away the sharp pain in my chest from knowing I had contributed to her pain. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.

Maria tried stopping me when I began placing my jacket on her shoulders, but a stern look quickly shut her up. Settling my hand on her shoulder – and having it almost burn off at the contact – I directed her towards the exit of the bodega and outside, where my G-class AMG 63 was parked on the curb.

The rain hadn’t stopped and the air remained unusually cool for summer. I opened the door for her as she got in. Before shutting it, I propped my hand against the roof and leaned down to her level. “Wait here. I’ll be back.”

She sighed and glanced around the car. “Zach, I have somewhere to be–”