Chapter Twenty-One
Angel chewed furiously, until a sudden sharp pain in her bottom lip drew her up short, and she winced, finally freeing her lip from her teeth. She tasted blood, but sucked it in and straightened in her chair. “It was a hunch, that’s all.”
Gabriel’s silence stretched, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “Wow.”
Angel lowered her head. Her hands curled into fists.
Gabriel’s voice was half bitter disappointment, half stark impatience. “I thought we were past this too.”
“What do you want me to say, Gabe?” Her head jerked up and her eyes flew toward his as she prepared to force him away from her and stand – but he was right there, a few very small inches from her face. His eyes tore into hers, bright amber lanterns that lit her from the inside.
And for the umpteenth time since she’d joined the Vega clan, Angel found herself caught in Gabriel Santiago’s sway. There was a reason he was clan leader. He reminded her of that reason as he took a slow, deep breath and lowered his voice, speaking to her almost intimately. “If you can look me in the eye and tell me in all honesty that you have not been contacted, that there is no one messing with your head, and that the predator hasn’t already made himself known to his beautiful prey.... If you can do this right now Angel, I will believe you.” He paused for effect. “Otherwise, you will go back to your apartment with heavy escort, gather what you need for one full week, and be escorted back to my place, where you will stay under twenty-four-seven guard until I get this mess figured out.”
Angel felt trapped between a rock and a hard place, and really she was. Her body was stiff, the metal chair cold at her back, Gabe solid and scary in front of her. Her lip pulsed with pain, and her mind spun with a mix of fear, fury, and indignation. She knew she couldn’t give him the answer he wanted. And he knew it too, which was why he’d brought her here in the first place and delivered his ultimatum.
After nearly a full minute of silence from them both, Angel took her courage in both hands and said, “You have to let me help with this, Gabriel.” She licked her sore lip, and his eyes finally slipped to her mouth as if he’d been controlling himself, preventing himself from doing so until now.
His pupils dilated before returning to reclaim her eyes. She added softly, “Please.”
“Why?” he asked point-blank, not letting up.
He wanted her to confess. He wanted her to confide in him.
“Because,” she replied stubbornly.
Gabriel’s eyes sparked with anger. She glanced down. Where he held her chair, his knuckles were white. She was pushing it.
Very softly, he said, “It’s Monsters territory, Angel. No one crosses those lines for a job unless invited. No one is willing to face off with Cain.”
“Fuck Cain,” said Angel suddenly and with hard and sharp vehemence. She was as shocked as he was that she’d said it, and knew her own widening eyes mirrored his.
The truth was, she was actually terrified of the notorious motorcycle club leader, and she hadn’t ever even personally met him. But she guessed that her anger and her crabbiness due to lack of sleep were overpowering her sense of self-preservation just enough to make her obstinate.
“He and his gang will be gone before the year’s out, I can almost guarantee it,” she continued defensively. “The Monsters clan is transient; they’re always on the move. I don’t know why we designate jurisdiction to them in the first place.”
But Gabriel wasn’t budged from his track by her attempt at subject change, and he wasn’t fooled by her bluster. He simply smiled a hard, tight smile and said, “Yes you do.” Which was true. The Monsters clan was the only clan in existence that had never failed at a job. Not once. So they were given whatever they needed, along with a healthy dose of respect.
In truth, the clans of a host city were always grateful when the Monsters came riding into town. It meant the host city could finally catch up on their own sleep a little, and it meant fewer people would die. Well, fewer bad people.
Angel tore her eyes from his at last and crossed her arms over her chest. It was all she could do. He was making her feel a dichotomy of things. Fury, for one. And something less unpleasant due to his nearness.
“I’m going to give you an order, Angel, and as my subordinate you’re expected to follow it.” He spoke in his calm clan leader voice that made Angel feel powerless and livid when he was using it on her. “You’re going to go back to your apartment with the men I assign you. You’ll have one hour to gather your things. And then you will be escorted to my house and you will stay there. Under guard. Until I deem it safe to do otherwise.”
She didn’t say anything, so he slowly straightened and stepped back, giving her a little space. He knew her by now, it was true. He knew she would buck at being bossed around, and he probably didn’t want to press his luck.
But he drove home his command with one final jab. “Have I made myself clear, Clemens?”
Angel felt her jaw tick. Her heart was hammering wildly. Her blood pressure was probably through the roof. Already, her head was spinning with mutinous ideas and plans.
In the meantime, to placate her boss and give herself more time, she said, “Crystal.” Then she shoved out of her chair and moved around him without touching him, heading for the door. Before her fingers had curled around the handle, he called out behind her.
“Angel.”
She stopped, but didn’t turn around.
“Knight, Hudson, and Daniels will accompany you.”
She stiffened, her back going ram-rod straight. Those three men were the Vega clan’s assassins. They were trained in all manner of combat, both hand-to-hand and long-range, they were cunning and quiet, and they made Angel feel… uncomfortable. And that was putting it mildly.
She didn’t trust them.
Well, that wasn’t quite accurate. She knew they had her back in general because they were Vega, and clan members stuck together. But they were assassins, so trust was ambiguous. And even though they supposedly only went after secret enemies of the sovereigns, Angel had an old brain reaction to their presence when she was around them. Frankly and basically – she was afraid of them. They were killers. Not just wardens, not just cops. But killers, pure and simple.
Angel clenched her teeth and chanced a glaring look at her mentor. He caught it and held it, determined and hard. Oh, he knew what he was doing. He knew she feared those men. They would be shadowing her, and in their proximity, she wouldn’t be able to think clearly. She wouldn’t be able to plan. And she wouldn’t be able to run.
“Yes sir,” she said curtly.
His expression remained unchanged, but something dangerous flashed in Gabriel’s eyes.
Angel opened the door, stepped through it, and left him alone in the room she hated.