Making Angel (Mariani Crime Family Book 1) (29 page)

“What girl?” Dante asked. His gaze flickered toward the apartment before returning to me.

I chuckled. “My guess? The one you’re trying to be alone with.”

He sighed. “All right, fine, there’s a girl. We’re just having fun.”

“Having so much fun you paid both her rent
and
her car payment last month?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“Father says you need to end it. Yesterday.”

He paled. “What? Why?”

“Your buddy Rodge has been skimping on what he’s been sending up to Father. The old man confronted him about it and Rodge rolled over on you. He says you shacked up with his best girl and now she’s not showing up to work.”

He glanced up at the apartment window. “Mia and I are together now. I don’t want her hooking anymore.”

If only it were that easy. “Everything comes with a price, bro, you know that.” I leaned closer to him, lowering my voice. “You and me, we’re privileged. We drive fast cars, we wear designer clothes, chicks throw themselves at us, we get whatever we want. But it all comes with a price. We have to play the game by his rules. He says end it, you damn well better end it.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m sick of playing by his rules.”

Bones cracked his neck and leaned forward, putting a hand on my brother’s shoulder.

Dante rolled his eyes. “You can quit flexing, Bones. You wouldn’t hurt me. Neither of you would.”

Curious, I cocked my head. “Why don’t you think I’d hurt you?” I asked.

“We’re family. I’m a son.”

Bones and I both got a good chuckle out of that.

“What?” Dante asked.

“You really think being family exempts you from being punished? Dante, look at my cheek. I’m family, too. Hell, I’m the eldest.”

The anger in Dante’s eyes was replaced by uncertainty as he studied my wound. “He hit you?” he asked.

“Yep. Ripped the skin off with his big-ass ring.”

Dante’s eyes widened.

Good. Time for a wakeup call, little bro.
“Father will hurt you. Hell,
I
will hurt you, Dante. You’re my brother and I love you, but if I call in and my capo orders me to whack you, I will. I would pull the piece out of my pocket and put two in your pig-headed brain. It would be quick and clean and you would be dead. Anyone in the family would do the same: Cousin Alberto, Uncle Carlo, even Pietro will put you on ice if the old man orders it.” I glanced over my shoulder at Bones. “Bones is my best friend. You know we’ve been tight since grade school. He’s always had my back and I know he loves me like a brother. If Father were to put out a hit on me, Bones would have to take it. If he didn’t, Father would take me out anyway, and then send someone after Bones next. You get what I’m saying?”

“Yeah, but come on, Angel. You know what it’s like to have a girl.”

Oh, he had no idea. I leveled a hard stare at him. “Yeah. I’ve had a few girls. Like Leilana. Remember her?”

Dante’s eyes widened. After Leilana’s disappearance, my brother had drilled me for information. Wanting to shield him, I’d kept my mouth shut. Now he was old enough to know the truth.

“Hey Bones, you remember Leilana?” I glanced over my shoulder.

Bones shrugged. “Yeah, she was a babe. They ever find her body?”

“Never,” I replied.

Bones frowned. “Tragic.”

Dante stared back at the apartment building. I wondered if his girl was up there watching us now.

“You don’t get a free pass because you’re a son, Dante. Your blood got you the courtesy of this conversation. No more.”

He looked like he was about to argue, but I cut him off.

“Besides, what’s your plan? You’re seventeen. You’re still in high school. You gonna support this girl on your allowance? Bring her to family functions? Introduce her to your mom? How old is Mia, anyway?”

“Twenty-three.”

Bones snorted.

I shook my head and tried to spell it out for him. “And what do you think a twenty-three-year-old prostitute wants with a seventeen-year-old kid?”

“It’s not like that, Angel.”

“It’s exactly like that. Congratulations, you’re a meal ticket.”

He scowled at me. “You don’t know that. You don’t see how we are together.”

But I could imagine, and I doubt their relationship ever left the bedroom. Mia knew what she was doing.

“I don’t care if you’re her goddamn soul mate. Doesn’t matter. Father said end it. He’s under a lot of pressure right now and he needs us out there making allies, not acting like entitled little bastards and pissing off earners. You hear me?”

His scowl deepened.

Frustrated, I let out a breath. Dante’s fear of the consequences had to outweigh his libido, because truthfully, there was no way in hell I could kill my little brother. If Father gave the order, he’d have to kill us both.

I steeled my expression and stared at him, waiting.

He started fidgeting. Then finally his scowl broke and he looked down, defeated. “Yeah. I hear ya.”

“Good. You won’t get any more warnings, Dante. If I have to talk to you again, I’ll blow up your car. I only hope Father lets me do it without you in it.”

That got his attention. His fear stared back at me. I drank it in, refusing to look away. Both of our lives depended on it.

Congratulations, Angel. You’ve scared your little brother, you dick.

I released him and he turned to climb out of the Hummer.

“Wait.” I grabbed his shoulder, remembering the bomb I’d found under my Hummer. If Dante wasn’t being careful, I wouldn’t need to blow up his car. “Be sure to use the scanner Father gave you. It won’t protect you from me, but it should warn you about anything the Pelinos throw your way.”

He nodded.

“Now go handle your business.”

Head down, Dante lumbered back to the apartment building. Bones took his place and we sat for a moment, watching the area.

“I wouldn’t take the hit,” Bones said, breaking the silence.

Wondering what the hell he was talking about, I raised my eyebrows.

“If the boss put out a hit on you, I wouldn’t take it.” He climbed into the front seat and settled himself in. “I still got your back, Angel. No matter what.”

The girl I was interested in was a federal agent, the families were warring, and I just threatened to kill my little brother if he didn’t leave his girlfriend. My world thoroughly sucked, but at least I didn’t have to worry about Bones’s loyalty.

He held out his hand, waiting.

I tapped my fist to his, agreeing. “No matter what.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Markie

G
UILT GNAWED AWAY at me Saturday night. Angel had done so many nice things for me and in return, I rejected him and sent him away. Feeling like the world’s biggest hag, I woke up early Sunday morning, pulled a dust rag out of the cabinet, and took my self-loathing out on Ariana’s apartment.

You did the right thing. It was bound to end. This is easier. Better.

So why did I still feel like crap? My chest ached. Instinctively, I reached for my phone and thumbed through until I found his number. I could call him and fix this. But it wouldn’t fix anything. In the end, it would make it worse.

Be strong. You’re better than this.

I pocketed my phone as someone knocked on the door. Just when I’d talked myself into not contacting him, Angel stood on the porch wearing jeans and a tight T-shirt that hugged his chest in all the right places.

Lord, have mercy!

My gaze traveled up to his uncertain smile. Then even higher to a nasty-looking gash on his cheek.

“What happened?” I asked, pulling him inside and checking out the wound. Bruising spread out from the cut, coloring his cheek in shades of blue.

His hand flew up to cover it, but I stopped him. “Stupidity.”

“Stupidity?” I asked.

“Clumsiness?”

Definitely a question. I arched an eyebrow at him, but he didn’t expand. Bones stood quietly behind him, not even looking at me. Frustrated, I sighed and pointed him toward the sofa. “Sit. I’ll go get something to clean it.” I hurried to the bathroom without waiting to see if he complied. When I returned, Angel was sitting and Bones was walking around the room with something in his hands.

“What are you doing?” I asked, pointing at the gadget.

“Checking for bugs,” Bones replied.

Bugs?
I paused on my way to doctor up Angel. “Why would my sister’s apartment be bugged?”

Bones pocketed the device and headed toward the door. “It’s clean. I’ll be outside if you need me.” Then he left, closing the door behind him.

I sat beside Angel. “What’s with him?”

Angel shrugged, without looking at me. He stared at the wall in front of him, lips drawn in a frown, eyes hooded with hurt. My chest tightened at the sight, but I couldn’t change my stance on us. With nothing more to say, I treated the wound on his face.

“There you go. All clean and medicated,” I said.

I expected him to tell me why he was there or leave, but he just stared at the wall like it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. I wanted to talk to him, but didn’t trust myself not to complicate things further.

“Why are you here?” I asked finally.

Then he looked at me. His dark eyes seemed to drink me in like a man dying of thirst. I couldn’t take it.

“Angel, you should go,” I whispered.

“Why?” he asked.

The biggest reason lingered on the tip of my tongue, but I was too much of a coward to voice it. I was scared it would change everything between us, and terrified it would change nothing at all. I didn’t have the strength to fight what I felt for him, and needed him to leave so I didn’t have to.

“Why do you keep trying to push me away?” he asked. “It doesn’t make sense. Your whole objective should be to get close to me, but you keep pulling away. Why?”

I blinked.
My objective?

Angel pulled something out of his jacket pocket and flung it onto the coffee table. Then he stood and started pacing.

It was a photo. I picked it up and saw my face staring back at me. I was sitting with someone… someone Angel shouldn’t know about. The invasion of my privacy made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “How did you get this? Have you been following me around?”

Angel stopped pacing and faced me. The expression on his face was cold and unreadable. “That’s all you have to say about it?” he asked.

“Angel, this is none of your business. You had no right to—”

“No right? Do you understand the position you’ve put me in? The position you’ve put my family in? I trusted you. You made me want… something. Something real. And the whole time you were lying to me?”

Lying?
Had I lied? No. I just hadn’t told him everything, which was perfectly acceptable for the beginning of a relationship. Nobody just walked in and dumped all their drama on the other person. So why did his accusation make me feel so bad? Maybe I had lied. But there was a reason for it. Surely he’d understand.

“Was any of it real?” Angel asked.

His hurt and anger washed over me, and I opened myself to it, knowing I’d caused it. I’d been stupid to listen to Ariana. Stupid to think I could dabble in a relationship and not give myself fully. Stupid to believe no one would get hurt. I’d wounded us both, and for what? A couple of dances? A few great kisses? A selfish moment of bliss? Was it worth the pain I now saw in Angel’s eyes?

His expression hardened at my silence.

I stood, wanting to go to him, but stopped myself from stepping forward. This was my chance to release him for good. I bit my lip and locked down my emotions, knowing it was better this way.

“My father knows about you,” Angel said, his voice softer, quieter.

Okay.

“He’s ordered me to bring you to dinner with the family tonight.”

I opened my mouth to tell him what a horrible idea that was, but he was suddenly in my personal space, his hand brushing against my cheek.