Fallen William (2 page)

“Sit
down. I don’t need you pacing.”

He
flung himself into the nearest chair. He knew he was behaving like a petulant
child, but for once, he would have liked to enjoy a night’s sleep instead of
being tormented by the dreams Mika’il sent him. He reluctantly asked, “What do
you want?”

“The
woman you met tonight. You seemed quite intrigued by her.” Mika’il was going to
take his own sweet time getting to the point and he knew there were times when
the angel enjoyed pushing his buttons.

“Who
wouldn’t be? With all that sparkling hair and shining spirit, she’s a man’s wet
dream come to life.” He could feel himself growing hard just thinking about
her.

“However
true that may be, you aren’t a man, so get your head out of your crotch and
listen to me. There’s something going on around this town and your wet dream is
right in the middle of it. I haven’t been able to figure out what’s happening,
but I know you’ll need to stick close to her.”

He
grinned at the thought of sticking close to Abby.

“Not
that close. She’s a means to an end, not your next fling.” Mika’il’s face
showed his frustration.

He
didn’t care how Mika’il felt. He was tired of doing the archangel’s bidding every
time he turned around. He was plain tired of his life and the world around him.
At times, he wondered whether there was even a reason for him to keeping going.
Maybe his hell was the endless monotony of centuries of living a life that
never changed without hope of redeeming himself.

“You
knew the consequences when you chose to rebel. Quit wallowing in your self-pity
and listen to me.” Frustration laced Mika’il’s voice.

He
grinned. “I happen to enjoy wallowing in my self-pity. Why do you think I do it
so often?”

“Sometimes
I think you do it just to annoy me.”

He
turned away to hide his smile. “I have so few things worth living for. Maybe
annoying you makes my life a little easier to bear.”

“You
should know by now that annoying me is not making your life easier. Sometimes
it ends up making it harder. Now about Abby.”

“I’ll
find a way to stick close to her. She’s a dealer at one of the casinos in the
city. Do you think it might be fallens causing the trouble?”

“This
whole city reeks of greed and corruption. I’m surprised you can’t smell it.”

“After
living with it for so long, you become immune to it. Reno could be considered a
smaller Sin City, so why wouldn’t the fallen find their way here?”

“You’re
right. I think they might have something cooking around here but until I find
out for sure I need you in place to protect her.”

“As far
as I can tell, she can protect herself.” He remembered the anger burning in her
eyes.

“Everyone
can use someone else looking out for them.” Mika’il disappeared.

He checked the clock and sighed.
He could try to sleep for a couple more hours or he could go and work out. The
way he was feeling working out sounded like the best thing to do. He threw on
his workout clothes and headed for the gym, trying to figure out how he could
get close to Abby without her thinking he was stalking her.

*
* * *

Wiping
the sweat from his forehead, William ignored the come hither looks of the rail
thin blonde running on the treadmill. He had spent an hour punishing his body
and he still hadn’t come up with a good excuse to hang around Abby. The most
obvious reason was that he was attracted to her and while he couldn’t deny it
even to himself, somehow he knew that admitting the attraction to her would
make her run screaming in the opposite direction. It would certainly be a blow
to his ego if that happened, so he decided the only thing he could do was just
hang close to her and hope to be there if and when something happened.

He was
walking out of the gym when his cell phone rang. “Bradford,” he barked into the
phone.

“Hello,
Bradford, I’m Dominic LaFontaine. I believe you might have need of my
services.”

“LaFontaine
… from New Orleans, right?”

“Yes.”
LaFontaine’s accent was pure Cajun and he found himself wondering how long the
fallen had been in New Orleans. Most of the fallen angels didn’t have any kind
of accent because they had moved around so much during the centuries.

“Mika’il
drop in on you?”

“Yes.”

William
smiled at the exasperation in the Cajun’s voice. “I know the feeling, my
friend. Where are you at?”

“I just
checked into Circus Circus. I’ll never know what possessed my secretary to book
a room for me here.”

“Maybe
she’s trying to tell you something. Meet me at Limerick’s Pub in the Fitzgerald
casino in an hour.”

“See
you then.” LaFontaine hung up.

He headed home to change and take
a shower. He didn’t know whether he should be angry or happy that Mika’il had
sent reinforcements. He had never worked with the Cajun Enforcer before, but
rumor had it the fallen had a rather
laissez-faire
outlook on the world
of mortals. As long as his little corner of the world was free of those fallen
that preyed on mortals, LaFontaine subscribed to the theory, “Let the good
times roll.”

*
* * *

He
walked into Limerick’s an hour later. He didn’t have to ask for LaFontaine. The
angel was standing amidst a crowd of women. He caught his attention and
gestured to a table. LaFontaine nodded. The women groaned as he said good-bye
to them. The Cajun sat down, his bourbon in his hand. Dominic LaFontaine owned
one of the hottest nightclubs in New Orleans, The Fallen Angel. His tan linen
slacks, red silk shirt and expensive Rolex watch screamed success.

“You
are a mugger’s dream, LaFontaine.” William laughed.

“Do you
really think anyone would be dumb enough to rob me?”

“There
are mortals dumb enough to do anything, my friend, so it wouldn’t surprise me.
Are you going to do some gambling while you’re in Reno?”

“Why
throw money away needlessly? If I want to gamble I will open a new restaurant.
What sort of trouble are you having here?”

He
settled in and started telling LaFontaine the story.

Dominic
leaned back. He rubbed his chin as he stared at William. “Why is Mika’il so
worried about this woman?”

“I
don’t know. I asked, but you know Mika’il. He won’t tell any of us anything.
It’s like a game to him. He pops in, orders us around then leaves like nothing
happened. He drives me crazy most of the time.”

“You
don’t help matters when you treat him like he is worthless. He is the head of
the Host of Heaven. He could destroy us and the Father wouldn’t do a thing to
stop him.”

“I
don’t respect much. It is obvious from the fact that I am here on earth rather
than in Heaven.”

“That’s
the truth, I’m afraid. We all must not have respected Him to let Lucifer talk
us into a stupid stunt like that.”

“I’ll
know better than to let anyone talk me into something like that again. What do
we do to keep Abby safe?”

“I’ll
see what I can find out about Thompson. Maybe there is some information we can
use to blackmail him. With guys like him, it will always come down to money. If
we hit him in his checkbook, I’m sure we can make him see the error of his
ways.”

“Do
that. I’ll try and keep an eye on her tonight.” He paid the bill as they walked
out of the restaurant.

CHAPTER THREE

The
door shut with a satisfying thud and Abby leaned against it with a sigh. It had
been another long night of trying to keep Thompson’s hands from her ass.
Sometimes she wished she wasn’t so good at her job. As a blackjack dealer, the
high rollers who came to Reno to gamble requested her often. She enjoyed it
most of the time; it was only when men like Thompson thought she’d sleep with
them as well as deal for them that she hated it. A picture of William Bradford
popped into her mind and she couldn’t help comparing the groping octopus to
him.

Now
there was a man to make a girl sweat. His attitude said he didn’t care what
others thought of him. She had a feeling if he asked her out and she said no,
he wouldn’t hound her for a date. He could have any woman he wanted so he
wouldn’t waste his time on one who didn’t want him.

Didn’t
want him? She smiled. She wasn’t fooling herself. She had wanted him the minute
her eyes had run over that luscious body of his. She had spent last night
tossing and turning, dreaming of him kissing her all over. She had dreamt of
his mouth on her nipples and his cock inside her pussy. He did seem perfect,
even down to the haunted look in his eyes that no woman could resist.

She had
seen him at the high stakes poker table that night. He was perfect except for
his gambling. She had seen a hundred men like him come and go while she dealt
the cards. These men had the fever crying out for the next turn of cards or the
next roll of the dice. For her father it was the next super horse that was
going to win a ton of money if he only got the right trip around the track. It
didn’t pay to love a gambling man.

The
ringing of the phone was a shrill wake up call from her daydreams. She stared
at the instrument and wondered if, for once, she wouldn’t answer it. The
insistent ringing carried her back for a moment to the childhood she never had.
It would start with the phone ringing. Her mother wouldn’t answer it and then a
few days later, they would move again. She wasn’t that strong. She lunged for
the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hello,
Abigail. How are you tonight, darling?” Thompson’s oily voice dripped over the
telephone.

“How
did you get my number?” She was horrified.

“Money
talks and I’m willing to spend a lot on convincing you to go out with me.”

“I’ve
told you no a hundred times, Mr. Thompson. Why can’t you accept the fact that I
don’t want to date you?” Her voice held a hint of desperation.

“I know
it’s only a matter of time before you quit playing this game. You’re playing
hard to get and I like that. I’m so used to women throwing their bodies at me
because of my money that it’s refreshing to have you present a challenge.” He
sounded so smug she almost gagged.

“Leave
me the hell alone.” Slamming down the receiver, she quickly unplugged the phone
from the wall before he could call back.

Her
hands were trembling as she sank onto her couch. She had gone to the police and
her boss about Thompson’s constant touching at the casino but neither believed
her. Money certainly covered a multitude of sins.

Getting
up, she moved slowly into the bathroom. She stripped and stepped under the
steaming water. She felt so dirty just from talking to him that all she wanted
to do was clean up and crawl under the covers. Maybe she would have great
dreams to make up for the horrid real world she lived in.

*
* * *

“You
have to get closer to Abby.” Mika’il appeared in William’s living room.

“God
damn it!” William dropped his glass.

“William,”
Mika’il warned.

“If
you’d stop appearing out of the blue, maybe I wouldn’t take His name in vain.”
He got some paper towels from the kitchen. “What the hell’s wrong now?”

“You’re
not staying close to Abby. I told you she needs protection.”

He
rocked back on his heels and looked up at the archangel. “Thompson grabbed her
before I could do anything. I wasn’t close enough. There’s a fine line between
protection and stalking. I only met the lady three days ago and on that
occasion she insulted me. Now I’m supposed to be her best friend. I have a
certain reputation in Reno, Mika’il, and being friendly with everyone isn’t
part of it.”

“Get
her to deal for you.”

He
stood and went to pour another drink. “I don’t play blackjack. She doesn’t deal
poker.”

“Oh,
for heaven’s sake. You can win at any stupid card game you play. Why worry
about what game it is?”

“If I
show up at her table, she’ll think I’m stalking her. She’s already going
through that experience with one rich s.o.b. Why wouldn’t she assume the same
thing with me? I can guarantee that’s not the way to win her confidence.”

“Figure
something out. Things have gotten more dangerous. Thompson called her tonight
and it’ll only be a matter of time before he gets her address. You need to be
with her before that happens.”

“Are
you going to tell me why this one redhead is so special?”

“You
don’t need to know. She’s worried. You can help her.”

He didn’t acknowledge the
archangel. He stared out at the lights of Reno. Helping mortals was what he had
done for centuries, but none of them had affected him like she did. One meeting
and he was already dreaming of her. He would wake up sweating and hard. His
cock was aching to be inside her, but he knew Mika’il wouldn’t approve of him
seducing her. He grinned. When had the head of His Host ever approved of any of
the fallen angels? He rubbed his chest where the scar had been burned into his
flesh. Maybe he should pay a little visit to her house.