Page 78 of Angelic Vengeance

Maybe it was me. That’d explain what she was doing here. Maybe this was just a long game to finally get me; befriend those in my close circle, act like she doesn’t remember me, thenboom! I’m dead.

When she finally gave up on that pathetic excuse of a man, she straightened and faced me, unaware of the splatter of crimson on her face.

I advanced towards her but stopped short.

All over again, her eyes bewitched me. It felt like I’d never be able to look this woman in the face without falling into a fucking trance. The green pierced me in the chest, the specks of gold around her pupils muting everything else around us.

I had no idea what was happening to my brain. All I knew, was that we weren’t in the alley anymore. It wasn’t night or day; it just was. And we were alone. No sirens, no traffic or tire noise. Nobody else. Just us.

My body moved by itself, and before I knew it, we were standing inches away from each other. Close enough to touch.Close enough to stab me in the ribs.

And just like that, the soundtrack of the city returned, and we were back in the alley behind Francesca’s nightclub.An unfamiliar sense of disappointment took over me before I forced it down.

It was good;necessary. It reminded me of who she really was. It pulled my head out of the gutter. It was a cold water bucket that knocked the common sense back into me.

I narrowed my eyes at the edges, determined to not allow her to distract me again.

But then she licked her lips and my gaze unwillingly followed.

Just like that, she pulled me back in.

I stepped closer; couldn’t have stopped even if I tried. Her head tilted up, refusing to break eye contact. Her expression was blank and I would’ve thought I really had no effect on her if it hadn’t been for the defiance in her eyes.

We were too close for two people who wanted to kill each other.

And yet… she wasn’t pulling away.

Maybe she wasn’t stepping back because that would mean I’d won this little face-off game we’d just started playing.What other games would she play with me?

She must have been a devil instead of an angel, because my body burned at the proximity. The sky must’ve cleared just for her, because the tiniest fragment shone right on the side of her face, the scarlet glistening in the moonlight.

I’d been right.

She had driven me over the edge.

Because as fucked up as it sounded, the blood only brought out her eyes.

The realization that it was another man’sanythingon her, immediately pissed me off. With the back of my hand, I wiped it off.Much better.

Her eyes sparked. Was she thinking about shooting me in the head?

At first glance, she seemed unbothered. She appeared like a siren with her cold front, but I knew there was a sea of red, boiling rage beneath.

Her eyes held mine.

Was she pretending she didn’t know me?No.She was direct. She would’ve told me how nice it was to see me again, then tried to strangle me with the chain of her handbag in front of the whole club.There was no explanation as to whysheof all people would forget me…

But then her eyes sparked and I somehow immediately understood, the realization hitting me with the force of a moving train.

The woman thought I was fucking dead.

CHAPTER 27

Present

TWO YEARS AGO, SHE’D TRIED to take my life. What I should’ve done last night, was take hers first. But what did I do instead? Got her a cabandpaid for it.

I should’ve gotten a fucking Oscar.