Desired Too (11 page)

Angel, fists balled, rammed his hands into his pants pockets and said, tone dry and cold, “I’ll have my assistant, Shayla, get in touch with you listing our potential investments moving forward. Whatever my brother communicated to your company is invalid. I will communicate to you what our goals are.”

I felt my eyes start to water as he spoke to me. This wasn’t what I wanted. However, talking to him now was like talking to a brick wall. He always managed to bring the crazy out of me. God, I just wanted us just to take our time with this. I wanted...

“Leo,” I called softly.

Angel stiffened at the sound of the nickname that I’d given him, but he continued, “You are to work with Shayla from now on. If anyone approaches you or speaks to you on behalf of my family and it’s not Shayla or myself, direct them to me.”

“Angel…” I tried again.

But he ignored me, turned and walked out of my office, lightly closing the door behind him.

“Shit!”

I opened my door not letting him get the last word.

“Damn it, Angel!” I called to him as I moved onto the open floor. I rounded my assistant’s desk and headed toward Angel and his flanked bodyguards.

He turned around and started walking back towards me, determination in his steps. I didn’t care. I stopped walking, trying my best to think of how to explain what I was feeling. However, I never got that chance.

I said to him, “Why do you have to be so-“Any further words that were forming in my mouth were swallowed the moment Angel brought his hand to the back of my head, gripping my strands tight as shit. He abruptly yanked my head back, using that tight grip he had on my bun, and stuck his tongue down my throat.

Angel kissed me with such possessiveness and dominance that there was nothing I could do. I humbly melted into him.

When he finally released me, the fierceness in his eyes made me not move a muscle. To be honest with you, I didn’t have a choice. I was too busy trying to catch my breath, willing the throbbing between my legs to cease.

He did manage to say to me, hand still gripping my hair, “You will not deny me.”

Shit, his eyes; they were ablaze with more fire than I had ever seen. I could tell that I had pushed him to a limit that I didn’t care to ever see again, so I backed down.

I know when it’s cool to poke the bear, and when it’s not. Right then, it was not.

Angel looked deep into my eyes for a moment longer before he turned and left, his men trailing behind him close enough to protect him but far enough to give him space.

Ho-ly shit!

I felt my eyes roll in the back of my head as I still tried to get my breathing under control.

That man right there!

I should have been pissed at how hard headed he was. I should have actually told him to go fuck himself based off his last statement. However, I didn’t because I was far from being pissed. I was actually more turned on at that moment than I was when he stated that he was going to bend me over my desk.

Something is so wrong with me!

I cleared my throat when I realized that I had an audience full of my co-workers and tried to gather myself.

“I’m sure you all have better things to do than to watch me get devoured by a hot, sexy, Italian badass. If you need help finding work, let me know,” I announced, ran my hands down my suit and moved quickly to my office as my audience scattered.

Just when I was about to reach my hiding place, my office, my brother came up behind me, spewing, “We need to talk!” Then he gripped my arm tight and pulled me back into my office.

“What the hell is your problem?! Victor, let go of me?” I howled, trying hard to break his grip on my arm.

“Not until you and I get something straight.”

My father suddenly barged in my office too.

“Dad…” I started; however, the look on his face matched my brother’s.

Victor pushed me down into one of my office chairs and he sat his ass on my desk. My father took the other chair next to me, moved it back from me and sat down.

Well, it appeared I was about to be double-teamed
.

I opened my mouth to read them both, but my brother pointed his finger at me, his brown eyes dark with wrath.

“You will not say a word,” he ordered. “You will sit here and listen to what I have to say. Then, and only then, will you be able to speak. However, at that point, be sure that you weigh the consequences of your actions and words.”

I frowned, narrowing my eyes, and crossed my arms in front of me. I pushed my chair back from them both, putting a little bit more distance between us. It wasn’t for my sake; it was for theirs. The fuel that had sparked in me was about to rage uncontrollably. What I had told Angel wasn’t bullshit; I was a different person than I was three years ago. It seemed the men in my life had no clue who I really was. Fortunately for them, they were about to find out.

“I don’t know what the hell you have going on with Leonetti,” my brother fussed. “But that shit stops right here right now. Yeah, don’t look at me crazy. I saw the way he was looking at you. I’m not stupid or blind. You will not speak to him again, do you hear me? He’s bad news all the way around. I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him. You don’t know him, Raquel. He’s changed while you were gone.”

My brother was talking to me like a freaking child. I let him finish, though. I didn’t want to interrupt his useless tyrant because I didn’t want him interrupting me when I told him to kiss my ass.

“He’s no friend of mine,” Victor added. “And he doesn’t get to touch or talk to my baby sister…
ever.
Do you understand me?”

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t even get my thoughts together because I was so angry.

My father took my silence as his cue. He leaned forward and began to speak to me in a voice quite different from my brothers.

“Sweetheart, your brother is just trying to look out for you,” he said softly. I guess this was “good father” versus “bad
wanna-be
-father.” “Look, we’ve known ever since Angel first came around that you’ve had a little crush on him. We get it and understand what you’re going through. Angel is in a different class than what you’re used to, honey. He’s not Ira.”

I chuckled and shook my head. However, I still didn’t reply. Oh, if they really knew Ira. I’ll get to who Ira was in a few.

“We just want what’s best for you,” my father ended.

I queried sarcastically, just to say something, “So, you don’t like him because he’s white? Because he’s Italian? What?”

My brother rose his full 6’2” frame and thundered, “We don’t like him because he’s a fucking mobster, a murderer, a killer, Raquel! Jesus, you can be so dense sometimes.”

“Victor, calm down,” my father spoke calmly, and then looked at me. “Raquel, he’s just not an ideal suitor for you, that’s all.”

I nodded. “Oh, and you think Ira is?”

My brother and father looked at each other silently, signaling something to each other that I didn’t understand.

I shook my head and stood. “You two have said your peace, and I can understand your concern. Now hear me, you two don’t get to tell me how I run my life!” When my brother attempted to stand, I pushed him in his chest. “No, Victor, it’s your turn to shut up and sit down.” He didn’t budge, of course, but he got my point, so sat back in his seat. “The hypercritical bullshit coming from the two of you is making my head hurt. Dad, I know for a fact that you and Mr. Leonetti have had dealings in the past. I don’t know to what extent; I just know you worked either with him or for him. You knew what kind of man he was back then, and I highly doubt he’s changed. However, that doesn’t matter to you. What he’s into, the fact that this company could be brought down with Leonetti so fast, doesn’t seem to bother you one bit. It’s okay for you to take his money and make him rich, but it’s not okay for me to do the same?”

I looked at my brother, “And you, please get off your high horse. You also know who Angel is. You and he were boys. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, and I don’t care. If he were so dangerous to my well-being, you wouldn’t have brought him to the house or around me back then. I’m so sick of you two trying to run my life for me, as if I don’t know what I’m doing. I know exactly what I’m doing. God, it’s like everyone around me has changed and grew up, except you two! We are right back to the same reason why I left. Let me be!”

I stood there shaking. I couldn’t begin to tell you the pain, hurt, and rage that I was feeling.

“Let you be?” Victor repeated incredulously. “Are you kidding me? Instead of you dealing with this shit and listening to reason, you ran away. Now, yes, we are right back here, and it seems we all grew the hell up and
you
haven’t. You’re still doing the same stupid shit you did before, chasing after a motherfucker who’s not worth shit. He had no business touching you. He should have kept his fucking hands to himself. Nonetheless, he’ll learn.”

Finally, it hit me what this was all about, where all the hostility Victor had against Angel was coming from. I didn’t know how he’d found out, and I didn’t care. I just nodded and laughed. It was a hysterical laugh, but it roared out nonetheless.

“Oh, is that what this is about?” I chuckled sarcastically. “What? You think Angel took advantage of me three years ago? You think that he soiled your sweet little sister? Ha! That’s the biggest joke I have ever heard. News flash, asshole; Angel, didn’t come after me. I went after him.”

“Raquel!” I heard my father warn, but, unfortunately for them, I was on a roll. You know me; poking the bear and all that.

I smiled at my now scarily enraged brother. You would think at this moment, I would back away. I mean, steam was literally blowing out from his ears, nose, and mouth, but I didn’t back down.

I continued, “Oh yeah, I sought him out. I put on the shortest skirt that I could find and went after what I’ve wanted since the first day you introduced us. Oh, he tried to fend me off, but I wasn’t having it. He gave in finally, not after much fuss, and I got what I wanted from him. Oh, please believe, brother of mine, he wasn’t my first. Remember Roger, your bestie in high school? And Sloan? Dominic…”

Okay, just so you know, these were made up situations. I mean Roger, yes, we hooked up, when I was in college. Sloan and Dominic, they tried to push up on me. However, I turned them down. I wasn’t a slut. Yet, hell, I wasn’t a saint either. My point was to piss my brother off. As tight as his fists and jaw were, I can safely say that I had achieved my goal.

“Raquel, that’s enough!” my father asserted.

“No, dad, that’s
not
enough,” I argued. “You two have no idea what I’ve been through, what I’ve seen or what I’ve done. You’re painting this picture of what you want me to be, and that’s not who I am. Every day of my life, I felt like I was a replacement for what you lost. I was never good enough for the two of you. Nothing I said or did was good enough. Every time I looked in your eyes, all I saw was disappointment. Do you have any idea how hard you made things for me? I wanted you two to love me for me, but it felt like you only loved me because of her. Well, I can’t live up to a shadow of someone I never met!” I looked at them both and said as softly as I could, “I’m sorry, but I’m not her. I’m not mom. I’ll never be her.”

“Damn, straight you’re not!” my brother spat with the most disgusted frown on his face. “She wasn’t a fucking whore!”

“Victor!” my father boomed.

Nevertheless, the damage was already done.
The bear was officially awake.

Now, you may be saying to yourself that I brought this on myself, and maybe later I may have to agree with you, but right now…nah.

I walked up to my brother and smacked the shit out of him!

“Fuck you!” I spat, hand stinging from the collision with his face.

I grabbed my purse and the contract that Angel signed and walked out of the office.

I faintly heard my father calling my name in the distance. I didn’t slow down and I knew he ccouldn’t get past the now crowd that was standing around my office door eavesdropping.

I slammed my phone against the wall in frustration, because there was nothing else around me to throw, as waited for the elevator.

My first thought was to leave Philly and go somewhere else, anywhere else, except here. I could quickly pack my things. After all, it wasn’t like I hadn’t done it before. However, I thought better of it. Instead, I decided to call a friend of mine in San Francisco. I asked her to get me a room at another hotel and put it under her business name. I needed time to decompress. I needed to get away without running.

Maybe my brother was right, and maybe after a few days or weeks, I may even apologize for hitting him, but not right now. Right now, I wanted to punch him repeatedly until I exhausted myself. So, instead of taking my frustrations out on him, I decided to do something else. I moved my things to my new hotel and changed clothes. Then I walked to this gym that I knew was close to Center City and Penn’s Landing that was ran by some guy named Lou. I figured that was his name since it was on the outside of the building.

Anyway, I ignored the many faces staring back at me as I entered. Lou’s was your typical testosterone filled gym with men flashing great bodies as they worked out. I moved with a purpose to an empty punching bag. There was a girl, with chocolate skin and beautiful light brown eyes standing next to the bag, packing her gloves away.