Page 66 of Angelic Vengeance

I frowned, immediately turning to look at him. He never called me by my name unless it was serious.

“I have to ask.” His eyes burned into mine. “Why did you pull away from me?”

I took a deep breath.Here we go…

“I’m kind of in some trouble. It’s someone from my past.”

“Who do I need to hurt?”

“It’s not like that,” I gave him a sad smile before sobering. “That night we slept on the couch at my place… They broke in. Neither of us realized.” I straightened, running my hands down my face.

Apart from a distracted hum, there was no reaction from Zach.

“Do you not get how dangerous that is for people like us? Imagine they watched us sleeping… Or pointed a gun at our heads… I just…” I swallowed, my chest rising and falling frantically.

“Hey, hey.” He grabbed my shoulders. His face was unbothered, but I could tell he was running through thewhat-ifsin his head, just like I had.

“That’s why you don’t want to go back to your place?”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to drag you into it. I’d never forgive myself if anything–”

“Nothing happened.”

“But it could have…” My voice was a whisper.

Something allusive sparked through his eyes before he kissed my forehead and held me tight in his strong arms. “I’ll handle it.”

“Zach–”

“I said I’ll take care of it.”

I smiled against his chest. “You can’t…”

“Why not?”

Hugging him tighter, I pressed my face into the crook of his neck. “Because you needmeto do it.”

A light breeze brushed past my skin at several stories up in the sky. It was a hot summer night, the day’s heat still lingering in the air.

The building around us was still in construction, meaning we were in an open cement structure of pillars and floors. Since there were no windows, clear plastic covers draped down the side of the building, softly flowing with the direction of the wind.

Honks and sirens from the Times Square traffic bellow us climbed up the skyscraper, along with its blinding lights. Locals, tourists, vendors, cars, limousines – everyone bustled on the streets. I scanned through the crowd.

Zach readjusted his position behind me. His hard abs pressed into my body while his muscular arms tightened around me. The heat radiating off his body caused a small shiver to roll through me, leaving goosebumps behind.

I pulled back from looking into the visor of the sniper rifle, giving him his turn. When he moved to hold the gun,I brought my hands up and rested them on his large biceps, slightly digging in my nails.God,I was crazy for this man.

He pulled away, just for a moment, to kiss the top of my head before going back to scanning the area. I stood there, feeling safe and protected, shielded between his arms.

Zach was wearing a black T-shirt that matched the ink stretching across tan muscle. His fingers tensed around the riffle, and the veins in his arms became more obvious. I licked my lips.

“Is that him?”

He pulled back, allowing me to look through the visor to check.

Motherfucking Rooster. I thought I killed that dirty fucker years ago.He was in one of the skyscrapers across from us, watching TV in what I guessed was his apartment’s living room. Blue lights from the screen flashed against his face, accentuating his features and confirming his identity.

“No. But he’s involved.”