Chapter Six
Waking up in her own bed, Ronnie was starting to think it had all been a dream. A dirty, sexy, oh-my-effin-God that was amazing, crazy dream. She didn’t really just sleep with her brand new boss, for a job she hadn’t even technically started yet. Did she? She had not even been that reckless in college. Not even on her drunkest night.
Had they even used protection?
All she wanted was to throw the blanket over her head and hide there for the rest of her life. If she never got out of bed, everything had to go away. Of course, everything included the electric, the heat, the house, and her siblings. Ronnie groaned and tossed her covers onto the floor.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and did the once over for injuries. It was the typical routine for the morning after a fight. The ones she didn’t wake up in a hospital bed anyway.
There was some bruising and a line of stitches on her forehead, but everything else seemed okay. In fact, it was the best she’d ever felt after a fight, except that one time when she KO’d a girl with the first punch. And she didn’t really count that.
“Knock knock.” Lizzie peeked her head into the room and looked around. “Okay if I come in?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
Liz handed Ronnie a steaming cup of coffee, which she gratefully accepted. The heat from the mug warmed her hands and she took a deep inhale of its rich scent. Nothing beat the smell of coffee in the morning.
“Uh, well, I didn’t know if your hot boss stayed or not after he dropped you off last night. Or should I say early this morning, because really, that’s what it was?” Lizzie climbed up on the bed and rested her back on the headboard.
Ronnie searched her memory and it started coming back to her in chunks. “It’s kind of a blur.”
“No wonder, after the beating you took last night. You probably have a concussion.” Lizzie reached over and felt Ronnie’s forehead as if that could confirm the presence of any possible head injuries.
“No, I’m pretty sure I don’t. Not even a headache.” Ronnie blew across the top of the steaming mug and took a small sip.
“Really? I don’t know how. I thought she was going to kill you. Like for real, death. I’m not ready to plan your funeral. Hey, you don't want to be cremated, do you? I kinda feel like I should know these things.”
“No on the cremation, and to be honest, so did I at the end. I don’t know though. When I woke up at Luc’s, I thought for sure I’d have some broken bones, or worse, but I felt good. Great actually.”
“I bet you did.” Lizzie snorted. “I’m sure he made you feel really good.”
Ronnie scooted up to sit next to Liz, her back resting on the headboard and her head on Liz’s shoulder. “Oh my God, he sure did.”
“Well, at least you broke the dry spell. I was starting to think your vag was going to dry up like the Mojave.”
“Hey.” Ronnie slapped Liz’s arm. “You try to work and raise three kids, and tell me when you have time to date.”
“Who said you had to date? Are you telling me you’re dating your boss now?”
“Well, no. I mean I’m sure it was just sex, but still. You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do and it’s a bunch of bullshit.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ronnie twisted around to face Liz.
“You know damn well what it means,” Lizzie said. “You use the kids and what happened as an excuse. You’re afraid to get close to anyone because you don’t know what will happen. But newsflash, no one knows what will happen. There are no guarantees in life. That doesn’t mean you stop living it.”
“That’s not what I’m doing.” Ronnie put her coffee down on the nightstand and hopped off the bed. “You do realize it’s only been six months since the accident, right? Just because I don’t want to go around spreading my legs for every guy I meet, doesn’t mean I’m making excuses.”
“You mean like you did before your parents died? You mean like I do now? Is that what you’re trying to say?” Lizzie climbed off the bed and stared at Ronnie like she didn’t know her at all. “I’m out of here.”
She watched Liz storm out of her room and heard the front door slam shut. They hadn’t had a fight since middle school and a small twinge of guilt reminded Ronnie that she was probably wrong, but she didn’t care. Who she slept with, or didn’t sleep with, was none of Lizzie’s business. It had nothing to do with her parents death, and if she was going to try to blame it on that, she could screw off.
Not that Liz would hold a grudge. She never did. But Ronnie knew that she would need some time to cool down. If only letting things go was that easy for her.
In the beginning, after the accident, everyone was sympathetic. There were offers to help, anything she needed, they’d say. The looks of pity followed her everywhere she went. As the weeks, then months, wore on, the offers dried up. The looks of pity turned to impatience.
Everyone expected her to be over it by now. As if six months was plenty long enough to grieve the loss of both her parents, college, any future dreams, and basically her whole life.
But six months wasn’t long enough.
Ronnie wasn’t sure how long it would take. Maybe a lifetime. All she knew was that she felt like she was drowning, unable to come up for air. She had no idea what she was doing and she wasn’t sure she ever would. Her life was a mess, out of control. There was no end in sight.
And now she was even pushing away her best friend.
***
“You seriously slept with her already? Don’t you think you should get to know her a little bit first?” Harley lifted one eyebrow and gave him her typical judgmental look. Luc was used to it. Coming from a family of angels, judgment was all around him. Good thing Luc didn’t give a shit what anyone else thought.
“Sorry, I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Liar. You give me enough details to make me want to vomit half the time. Who do you think you’re fooling?”
“Okay, maybe I do kiss and tell, but this is different.” He didn’t know why, but it was. Ronnie was. Maybe even Luc himself was.
Harley rolled her eyes, but at least she had the decency to turn to the side to avoid Luc seeing her. Though she did fail.
“Lucifer, finding true love doesn’t work the same way as finding a piece of ass to spend the evening with. You need to take things slower and get to know the girl.”
“Since when are you an expert on true love? Has Cupid been tutoring you?”
“Ha ha. I’d rather take a trip back to medieval times and spend an afternoon on the rack than hang out with that asshole.”
“Seriously though, he’s been leaving me voicemail. Like fifteen or so of them.” Luc made sure to keep his cell number from Cupid, but the little bastard still got hold of the business phone number.
“Why don’t you just answer and see what he wants?”
“Why should I? Every time I try giving him a chance, he makes me regret it. He’s nothing but trouble.” Luc picked up his glass, sniffed the alcohol, and put it back down on the bar.
“You’re nothing but trouble, but people answer your calls.”
“Whose side are you on?” Luc huffed and gulped down half of the unappealing drink in front of him.
“Yours. As always, Lucifer. Now forget Cupid and back to the topic you’re trying to avoid.” Harley took Luc’s glass, dumped the contents, and poured him his favorite bourbon.
“I’m not avoiding anything. I’m not even sure what we’re talking about at this point.”
“We’re talking about Ronnie Falcon and how you’re about to screw this up.” She stood, hand on hip, give him her know-it-all look. But she didn’t know it all. She was wrong this time.
“Last night you didn’t want to leave me alone with her and now you’re concerned? What is this really about?” It was the second time in as many days that he’d found himself asking her that. It was so unlike Harley to behave that way.
“Yes, I’m concerned because of the same reason I didn’t want to leave you alone with her. You can’t go treating this like every other girl you hop in the sack with. You aren’t getting to know her and that’s what this is all about.”
“Oh I promise you, I got to know her quite well last night.”
Harley slapped Luc’s arm. “That is not what I mean and you know it.”
“Stop abusing me, demon. I have every intention of getting to know her. That’s why I went to her fight and took her home afterward. That was more effort than I’ve put into a woman in longer than I can remember. And I have an excellent memory.”
“It’s not enough.”
“You can take a breath, Harley. I’ve got this. I didn’t plan on sleeping with her last night, but it happened. You need to take a few Xanax and relax. I’m following your little rules. I’ll get to know her.”
Harley let out a deep sigh and flopped onto a barstool. “You’re right. I know. I just can’t help but worry about you. This is all new territory for me too, you know?”
Luc grabbed the bourbon off the bar, poured a large glass, and pushed it at Harley. “It’s just a game. If you don’t want to do this anymore, we can stop.”
“No. I promised you I’d help find your true love and I will. But I do think you should call Cupid back.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t trust that shifty bastard. If you ignore him, who knows what he’ll do.”
She might have a point. The last time Cupid wanted to get in touch with Gabriel and he was ignored, the little asshole sent an elderly nymphomaniac after him. The poor woman was missing most of her teeth, had almost no ability to hear, and creaked when she walked. Lucky for Gabe, she didn’t live long enough to become a real nuisance. Even luckier, she ended up in Hell, rather than Heaven, where she would have even more access to Gabe.
“I’ll think about it.”
The air in the room changed, and the tell-tale flash of light appeared, alerting them to an angel arrival. Luc knew it was Azrael before he even turned around. Not because of anything in particular, but because Az was the only one who visited unannounced on a regular basis.
“Brother, how are you? Anything new on the love life front?” Az climbed onto a stool and helped himself to Luc’s expensive bourbon.
“Back again so soon?” Harley yanked the bottle back before he could finish it off and faked a smile.
“I can see you’re thrilled to bits. Why can’t we be friends, Harley? I’m a nice guy. You’re a nice girl. It makes sense.”
“I am not a nice girl,” Harley said in a clipped tone. “And you aren’t a nice guy.”
Az shrugged and turned to Luc. “Seriously though, how’s it going with the angry chick?”
“Did you actually come here just to ask me that? You can just send me a text, you know?”
“Has Cupid been calling you?”
“He has. Do you know why?”
Az gulped down the contents of his glass and gave Harley the puppy dog face for more. “I spoke with him earlier and he mentioned that you weren’t returning his calls, but he wasn’t letting on why he was calling you.”
“I’m hoping he will go away. Like an annoying rash.”
“Maybe.” Az shrugged. “But he can be a vindictive little fuck, so don’t piss him off too much.”
Luc had other things on his mind. Things more important than Cupid, or his oversensitive little feelings. There was something different about how he felt around Ronnie. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he knew that there was. He wanted this to work. Maybe Ronnie wasn’t his true love, but maybe she was. He had to make this game his priority. He’d waited for this long enough.
***
“Hey pretty girl. Why don’t you let me buy you a drink?” The asshole was clearly intoxicated, wobbling foot to foot on the pavement, but Ronnie wasn’t in the mood. A strong scent of alcohol oozed from his pores and assaulted her nose before she could get far enough away.
“No thanks.” She walked past him and hurried down the street. The fight had paid well, but she didn’t want to waste the money on a cab. If she’d gotten out of the house sooner, she could have taken the express bus, but the damn kids refused to cooperate.
As usual.
So there she was, walking down the street, trying to make it to her first day of work without being late. The morning after she screwed the boss. Yeah, it was going to be a great first day.
“Oh come on. Why don’t you like me, pretty girl?” The asshole jogged behind her, trying to get her attention. Somehow he managed to stay upright, despite his wobbling. She ignored him, like she should have done from the start, but he wasn’t giving up. The heels of her boots clacked on the pavement louder than she preferred and the sound reverberated through her head, bringing an ache at her temples.
She was grateful that she decided not to wear the uniform when she left the house. Even though her jacket would have covered the worst of it, she still would have looked like a streetwalker. If she’d went with the crop top and booty shorts that she was required to wear on the job, it might have made sense that the idiot following her was being so persistent. But she hadn’t, and nothing else about her, her dress, her demeanor, and definitely not her response to him, said she was up for a little fun with a complete stranger.
Normally, men were a bit intimidated by Ronnie. Which was a nice way of saying that she scared them off. For as long as she could remember, the opposite sex shied away from approaching her unless she made it clear she was interested. She didn’t mind that so much. But this idiot, he wasn’t taking the hint.
She had two choices. One, she could stay on the main street and make it to work twenty minutes late. Two, she could cut through a dark alley and only be about five minutes late. The creep was still following her as she paused, deciding whether to turn, or stay on the populated street.
Ronnie turned and looked at the stranger, standing about five feet behind her with a wicked smile on his face and his hand hovering over his crotch. He probably thought she was trying to make up her mind about letting him buy her a drink, aka, a quickie in the alley. What she was really doing, was sizing him up, making sure she could take him down if he laid one filthy finger on her.
She was sure she could handle him.
So down the alley she went.
Unsteady footsteps followed behind her and she knew he was going to be trouble. It was the last thing Ronnie needed when she was already late, but true to her typical luck, nothing would be easy.
“I know I promised you a drink, pretty girl, but maybe we can just cut to the chase.” He hurried to keep up with her, his stride nearly half of hers with his drunken stumble.
“Get lost, asshole,” she called over her shoulder. Every time he called her pretty girl, it grated on her more. She was ready to haul off and knock him on his ass before she was halfway down the block.
“Oh, come on now. We could have some fun together.” He run-walked and caught up, only a step behind her. How that was possible in his drunken state was beyond her. She even swore she could feel his breath on the back of her neck and smell the alcohol settling over her skin.
She was about to tell him that it was never going to happen, when he grabbed her around the waist, digging his filthy fingers into her, and tried to spin her around.
Ronnie’s lungs seized up and her heartbeat went into overdrive. The sound of her blood rushing through her veins filled her head.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Ronnie stared at the asshole, millimeters from his eyes, her breath being sucked in with quick pants.
The idiot actually thought he had the upper hand when he pushed her against the brick and tried to stick his hand down her pants. It only took a split second of shock before Ronnie’s survival instinct kicked in. She kneed him in the crotch, hard, but he only winced, numbed by the alcohol. In retaliation, he punched her in the jaw with equal force. She had to give him credit, he was stronger than he looked.
But she was even stronger.
Everything happened so fast. It was as if lightening crashed down around her, blinding her with a rage so hot, she thought the smallest spark would ignite it to flames. The world around her went dark, except a crystal clear focus on her target.
In a flash, she had him on the ground, her full weight crushing his chest, as she barreled her fists into his face. Her head ached from where he'd slammed her into the brick, but nothing mattered except pounding the asshole into stillness.
He tried to block, but it was no use. His face was bloody, broken, and finally he stilled, taking each blow with a lifeless thud. Ronnie laughed at the sound, something like sloshing her hands into ground meat. Her fists were the meat tenderizer, and his face was sure to be pulp. It wasn’t until she felt strong arms lifting her from behind, holding her back, that she even realized what was going on.
“Hey, calm down. It’s Luc.” He spoke into her ear in a melodic tone, holding her arms in place with one hand, and her chin still with the other. “What the hell is going on?”
Ronnie looked at the heap on the ground at her feet. The asshole was a bloody mess. She wasn’t even sure if she could make out a face under the swelling and blood.
Was he even alive?
“I… he was…” She twisted her face to look into Luc’s eyes. “What did I do?”
Luc pressed his lips together in a tight line and looked over her. “It’s going to be all right. Let’s get you out of here.”
“No, but I… he’s… he needs—”
“It’s all right love, you have to come with me. Now.”
Luc pulled her away from the body on the ground and got her into the bar. She tried to look back several times before they cleared the alley, but he kept her facing forward, until they were in the back office of his bar, where he deposited her into a chair, told her to stay put, and disappeared from the room.
Ronnie’s hands trembled uncontrollably. What she’d done to the asshole in the alley was all she could see in her mind. She was fucked. This was exactly what Lizzie was always worried about. Even if she’d never said it, she gave her that look that said she knew one day Ronnie would snap and kill someone.
She was a monster and even her best friend knew it.
***
“What the hell happened to her?” Harley tried to squeeze around Luc and get to the office to see what was going on. Her eyes were wide and scanned from Luc to Ronnie, then back to Luc. “Why is she covered in blood?”
“It’s not hers. I don’t have the details, but there’s a guy in the alley. I’m not sure if he is even alive at this point, but I need you to take care of it. Clean it up. Get him medical attention if he is still breathing.”
“Want me to just get rid of him?” The corner of Harley’s mouth curved up and a twinkle lit up her eyes.
“No,” Luc spoke through gritted teeth. “Do not kill him if he isn’t already dead. If he is, well, then do what you need to do.”
“Did she do it?”
“Just go, Harley.” His voice was flat, but serious, and Harley knew better than to question him further. She nodded and disappeared to do as she was told.
What exactly was he getting himself into? Luc was supposed to punish those who did the kinds of things Ronnie had just done. He doubted very much that she would have gone that overboard without provocation, but that didn’t excuse her behavior. Except that Luc had no intention of punishing her. He wanted to protect her, which was not something he normally felt. In fact, he wasn’t sure he liked that feeling one bit.
Luc grabbed the first aid kit and went back into the office. He could have used his powers to heal her injuries, but she was fully conscious and would question it. Since he wasn’t supposed to be using any devil magic, as Harley liked to call it, to interfere with the game, or out himself as Satan, he figured he better take care of her injuries the old fashioned way. Besides, if he kept healing her injuries, she was bound to notice something was up, and there was a part of him that thought she deserved just a little of that pain anyway.
“Is he…” Her eyes came up to Luc’s, all wide brown saucers, and her bottom lip quivered. She was afraid and Luc knew it was a foreign emotion for her. It wasn’t hard to see she favored the tough girl role and when she couldn’t hide behind that, she didn’t know how to handle it.
“I don’t know. I sent Harley out to see about him.” Luc started cleaning off her shredded knuckles and wiping the splattered blood off her arms. “What happened out there?”
“He was…” Her face went pale and she stopped speaking. She was in shock. Whether it was because of something that happened, or from what she had done, he wasn’t sure, but she was clearly shaken up.
Once she was cleaned and bandaged, Luc tried again to talk to her. “Ronnie, you have to tell me what happened. I can’t help if I don’t know the details.”
She was about to open her mouth, when the office door opened and Harley slipped in.
“He’s alive. The ambulance just picked him up and the police are already sniffing around. Hopefully he makes it.” Harley glanced down at Ronnie’s torn up fists. “Good thing there was a lot of blood, because yours is probably all over the scene. Hopefully they don’t check too hard.”
Ronnie gasped. “I’m going to be arrested. What will happen to the kids? What am I supposed to do now?”
“No one knows you were there. Just calm down for now and tell me what happened.” Luc rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, cheating just a little, and used his power to bring her anxiety down a notch.
“He was bothering me, just being a normal jackass, but then he grabbed me, and I don’t know. I snapped.”
Luc imagined the asshole needed a good beat-down, but nothing like what he got. Or maybe he did. Tired of waiting for the story, Luc used his powers to look into Ronnie’s head and see the replay straight from her own memory. His fists tightened and he closed his eyes to avoid Ronnie seeing any changes in them from his anger.
She tried to get up, but Luc held her in place. “Oh my God. What did I do?”
Luc clenched his teeth at the phrase. He couldn’t imagine why humans were so keen on using his father’s name every time they got excited or upset.
“And I’m supposed to start work. Now you’re going to fire me. I need this job. If the social worker finds out the only job I have is cage fighting, I’ll lose the kids for sure.” Tears streaked down her face before Luc could respond. They came in fast rivulets, burning a path down her cheeks like it was the first time they’d fallen in some time. “What am I saying? I’m going to jail. Of course I’m going to lose them.”
Unable to keep her in place any longer, Ronnie stood and started pacing the room. Luc wanted to fix things for her, take away her pain and bring her peace. But this was something she was going to have to get through. He might be able to help, but he couldn't erase what happened.
Her tears continued to fall and Luc led her back to the chair to calm down. It was the only thing he could do for her in that moment.
If only she would stop crying.
Luc was used to women crying. Hell, he was used to all sexes crying. In his line of work, punishing the wrongdoers, he had ample opportunities to witness tears. But he got the impression that tears didn’t come easy for her. No, Ronnie Falcon didn’t seem like she was easily upset. And even if she was, she probably kept it buried. Deep. Those were the ones that when the dam did finally break, it broke big time.
“I’m not going to fire you.” Luc sat next to her and took her hands in his.
“Why the hell not?” Her eyes shot up and searched his with disbelief.
“Everyone makes mistakes, sweetheart. I don’t see how what just happened affects you waitressing. But I’m not going to have you start work looking like this.” Luc frowned at her bandaged hands. “Harley is going to take you home. You are going to get some rest, stay home, and I’ll see you back here on Monday for your first shift.”
Ronnie nodded as Harley led her toward the door and the two disappeared. Luc ran his hands through his hair and let out a long, slow breath. He might need to rethink this whole game thing. While he was no stranger to violence, he might not want out-of-control anger in the woman he chose as a partner.
“You let her off easy, Lucifer.” Azrael appeared from thin air and leaned against the door frame, with his arms folded over his chest. The smirk on his face told Luc that his brother was more amused than condemning.
“Would you prefer I throw her into the pits of Hell? Maybe toss her to the hellhounds? It was one fight, one that was instigated by the bloody asshole en route to the hospital.”
“Come on now, Lucifer. You know that he didn’t deserve what she did to him. The woman is off balance. What she did is exactly the kind of thing that earns punishment from you in hell. I think all this talk of love and soul mates is making you soft.”
There was that word again.
Luc was getting sick of being accused of getting soft.
“She beat up an asshole, whose intention was to assault her. I don’t see that as a problem.” Luc pulled open a drawer and retrieved a bottle of bourbon with two glasses. He poured each of them half a glass and handed one to Azrael. “His intentions were not gentlemanly.”
“Brother, she nearly killed the man. He might not make it. Father wouldn’t be happy with that, or with you for allowing her to go unpunished.”
It was unlike Az to lecture Lucifer about their father, but he wasn’t wrong. Not that Luc cared one bit.
“People who do much worse than that, go unpunished every day, Az. And last I checked, I was in charge of the punishment department, so I’ll dish it out, or not, as I see fit. If Father doesn’t like it, he can deny her access upstairs. What business is it of yours anyway?”
Azrael took the drink down in one gulp and motioned for Luc to pour him another. “Just looking out for you, brother. That girl is trouble.”
Az looked out for himself. Always did, always would. For some reason though, he had an interest in what was going on and Luc wanted to know why.
“I’m sure that’s all it is. Don’t you have some recently departed to guide into the afterlife, or something?”
Azrael was the angel of death, which sounded too badass for what he really did. Mostly, he was a tour guide, leading the deceased onto their path. Of course, he had an awful lot of help these days since the population had gotten out of hand, but he still held the hands of a select few when the time was right.
“Slow week. Anyway, the lower angels have been rallying for more responsibility and who am I to turn them down.” Az shrugged.
“In other words, you’re lazy and are letting them do all the legwork.”
“Who is taking care of things in Hell these days, Lucifer? You go back every day to personally dish out the punishment?” Az raised an eyebrow and finished his drink.
If Luc didn’t cut him off, he’d drink the whole bottle. He enjoyed drinking far too much for an archangel. Now if only Luc could get his brother Michael to throw back a few shots of tequila or vodka, maybe he wouldn’t walk around like he had a stick up his ass all the time.
“Hell is my domain, Az. It’s none of your concern. You have already made your opinion on what I’m doing clear, so fuck off.” Luc flicked his wrist at Azrael and sent him off into the abyss. Hopefully, he’d end up somewhere in the middle of a volcano, or the bottom of the ocean. Az never did like getting his perfect blond curls wet.
Regardless of what Az, or their father thought, Luc had no intention of punishing Ronnie for what happened. She most definitely overreacted That asshole didn’t deserve the degree of ass kicking he received, but he was no innocent either.
For some reason, Luc had a soft spot for Ronnie. He wanted to help her, not punish her. Did that mean he was falling for her? That she could be the one? He didn’t know, but what he did know was that he would do whatever he could to help her out of this mess.
And he didn’t care who liked it.
Not one bit.