Graham, Jan - Finding Angel [Wylde Shore] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (52 page)

Adrian was quiet for a long while. Angel didn’t know if he expected her to say more or not. She chose to sit quietly and wait.

“Why did you run away?” He sounded as sad as Angel felt.

“I needed to get away. I was embarrassed that the police knew so much about my life and what had happened to me. I hated the thought of them listening while you and I had sex. I couldn’t stand Steve Jax just popping in. You had said I had two weeks to find the ledger, so I packed a bag and went away.”

“I hate to tell you, but you have been away longer than two weeks Angel,” Adrian reminded her.

“I know. And if I come home, it will be to pack the few things I want to keep and leave again. I’m not coming back to stay. I’m going to stay where I am. I’m happy to post the ledger to you or send a courier. But I won’t come back to stay there. I can’t. It’s no longer where I belong.”

For the first time in the whole conversation, Angel heard strength return to her voice. She felt calm. She was where she belonged, where she was loved, and that, she suddenly realised was her strength.

“If you are going to give me the ledger, then I want you to hand it to me personally.” Adrian’s statement held no compromise.

“I don’t trust that you won’t kill me. I’m sorry to say it, but I have no guarantees. As you reminded me in one of those texts, I
do
know who I’m dealing with.” Angel waited for his reply, dreading what it would be.

“The fucking downfall of me, woman,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll remove the bounty today. Don’t go getting all crazy and party it up wherever you are. It will take a while for the information to seep down through the ranks. I’ll let you think about the meeting. I won’t pressure you. I’ll give you another five days’ grace to enjoy your time away. We’ll talk again.”

“Thank you, Adrian. I’ll talk to you in a week,” Angel said with a sigh of relief.

“Five days, and I didn’t say I wouldn’t ring before that for a chat.” Adrian laughed.

“You can call all you like, but don’t get pissed of if I choose to ignore the call,” Angel quipped.

“Bloody hell, woman, you drive me nuts.”

With that last comment, Adrian was gone. Angel collapsed onto the sofa. He was lifting the bounty. Angel didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Now she just needed to explain what was happening to Christian and Daniel tonight. She would tell them everything. Or, would everything need to be told?

I might have to think this out a bit.

Thirty-five minutes after leaving the library, Steve Jax pulled into the street the Shore brothers lived in. He couldn’t remember how many times he had said or thought the word
fuck
since leaving the car park, but he assumed it would constitute a world record. He’d finally come to the conclusion that the saying “shit happens” was a befitting quote to describe the situation he was about to face. If Angel was indeed staying with his best friends, then so be it. It might even be a blessing.

He had slowly calmed down throughout the drive, despite his cursing, and come to the conclusion that the benefits outweighed the disadvantages of this particular dilemma. Angel was alive, she was safe, and knowing Christian and Daniel as Steve did, she would have been well cared for during the time she had been away. Apart from the occasional caning, flogging, or spanking, she would be relatively unharmed. Any intimacy that had occurred would make it easier for Christian to convince Angel to accept the police offer, and as Angel had remained undiscovered living with them so far, then maybe the safe house they were looking for was exactly where she had been the whole time she had been away.

The primary disadvantage, Steve contemplated, was how accepting Christian and Daniel would be of Angel’s plight. Steve assumed they had some idea about the circumstances surrounding Angel’s life with Samuel. It had to be the reason for Christian’s looking up the creep’s file. Steve doubted they had any idea about the current situation with Adrian. If they had known, Christian would have gone to Trevor and demanded protection for her. Hell, he’d probably be knee-deep in the case rather than just a backup bit player. Steve didn’t know how attached these three would have become over the last few weeks. His two friends had been through so much emotional shit over the last few years since the break up with “that woman,” as Steve liked to refer to her. And now they had found a woman they had describe as perfect for them, Steve was about to walk into their home and more than likely stomp all over it.

What about Angel?
She had been through so much. She was still in danger, whether she realised it or not, and Steve was going to walk in and possibly destroy the best chance she could ever have at love and future happiness. Angel deserved love and happiness, more than anyone he had met in a long while. Angel deserved a good life, that is, if she could be kept alive. He realised that he would never win her favour if things went pear-shaped with Christian and Daniel, but Steve had to do his job. And at the moment, his job involved finding her and keeping her safe. As for the rest, he’d cross his fingers and hope for the best.

Steve stared at the house. He had parked the car behind a clump of trees up the road. To get inside, he needed to get down to the boys’ shed at the back of the house and get the spare key. He would knock on the door, of course. He didn’t want to scare Angel by just walking in. He needed the key to guarantee entry after she slammed the door in his face. Steve couldn’t see any movement inside the house and neither of the boys’ cars were in the drive. Angel’s old wreck, that she’d bought to replace the car Steve had now found, wasn’t there either, which surprised him a bit. Maybe he had gone off on a hysterical tangent based on lack of sleep and was imaging the whole thing. Steve made his way quietly down the side of the house. He was beginning to think that the best-case scenario was about to come true. He’d imagined it, the house would be empty, and the three men would have a great laugh about Steve’s moment of insanity over a couple of cold beers tonight.

As he got level with the outside laundry wall, Steve’s hope of a best-case scenario was dashed. There was the clatter of something falling, and Steve heard a female voice say “shit
.
”

So much for a few cold beers and a laugh tonight.
He stood silently, waiting to hear what Angel’s next movements would be.

Angel eventually came out of the house and into the backyard to get washing off the line. Steve took it as the perfect opportunity to slip along the back of the house and duck inside.

Who needs a key when the Angel of the house is surrounded by a wall of sheets hanging on the line?
He chuckled quietly as he entered the house and planned his next move.

Steve decided it was more likely that Angel would put the basket down on the dining table when she walked inside, so he leant against the end of the kitchen island and waited. Angel would have to walk to the end of the table in the dining alcove before she spotted him. She would be clear of the door, and Steve would have plenty of time to catch her if she tried to run. Hopefully, the fact he was in the house would be enough of a shock to freeze her in place for a while so he could calmly convince her to sit down and talk with him.

As Angel placed the basket down on the table, the phone rang, making her quickly turn and run toward it. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect as Angel plunged straight into Steve’s arms. Steve nearly let her go when he heard the same scream of terror that had haunted his dreams. Despite his best efforts to calm her, she continued to fight him. She stopped moving briefly as Christian’s voice sounded over the answering machine.

“Hi, Angel, I’m coming home early. We’re going to have a guest for a few days
…
”

Steve didn’t hear the rest of the message. It faded abruptly as he felt Angel’s knee slam up into his groin. As he slumped to his knees, Angel dived over him, heading to the phone. He grabbed her leg, and she stopped momentarily to shake free of his grip. Even though Angel was free, she had fallen onto one knee as she reached for the phone. Steve took her distraction with the phone as his opportunity to move. He dived against her, tackling her to the ground, his body completely covering hers. Once the phone was in her hand, Angel started screaming Christian’s name as she swung the phone at Steve’s head. It slammed into Steve’s face with enough force to make his eyes water while she continued to scream.

The fact that he kept saying, “It’s okay. It’s only me. It’s Steve,” didn’t seem to register as Angel fought him. He hoped she couldn’t feel the gun he wore because if she got hold of that Steve would probably be a dead man.

“Jesus Christ, Angel. Stop fighting me,” Steve yelled

Steve managed to grab Angel’s hands and held them over her head. His body pressed against her, holding her still.

“Angel, look at me. Look at me. It’s Steve.” All Steve could think about was getting Angel to stop screaming. He knew holding her still was probably making it worse, but he didn’t want her to run.

“Please don’t kill me. Adrian said he’d tell you not to. Please call Adrian.”

Angel’s voice was hoarse from screaming. Tears were flowing down her face as she pleaded for her life and continued to struggle underneath him. Steve doubted if it had even registered who she was struggling with as blinding fear consumed her face. At least he knew now why she was so scared, she had obviously heard about the bounty, why else would she mention Hastings?

“I’m not here to kill you, Angel. It’s Steve.” He tried to speak calmly, but with aching balls and his eye swelling shut by the second, it was hard to maintain his cool.

The phone rang again, and Steve saw the handset sitting just above Angel’s head. He quickly secured both of Angel’s wrists in one hand before reaching over her head to grab the phone. He nearly dropped it as he felt Angel’s teeth sink into the underside of his arm.

“Son of a bitch,” Steve cursed as he broke free of her bite and brought the phone to his ear.

“Steve, what the fuck are you doing to my woman?” Christian screamed into the phone.

“She seems to think I’m here to kill her, and by the way, Christian, your woman is the one I’ve been searching for over the last few weeks. Talk to her.” Steve held the phone up near Angel so she could hear Christian’s voice. She had stopped struggling as much, and her screams had lessened to make room for her consistent sobbing.

“Angel, it’s Christian. It’s all right, and Steve is a friend. Angel, it’s okay. You’re safe. He’s not there to hurt you.” Steve hoped Christian could calm Angel down. What he was saying appeared to be working as Angel slowly stopped struggling beneath him. “Angel, please tell the man who has hold of you to let you go. Say, ‘Christian said let me go please.’”

“He’s going to kill me. He has a gun to kill me,” Angel sobbed.

“He’s not going to kill you. Now just say, ‘Christian said let me go please’.”

“Christian said to let me go please,” Angel said quietly as she tried to stop crying.

Steve release his grip on her wrists slowly and gently eased back from her. Angel managed to twist out from under him. She grabbed the phone and began to crawl away, clunking the handset on the floor as she did before ending huddled against the kitchen wall.

“Angel, has he let you go?” Christian asked.

“Whatever you said, she’s nodding,” Steve yelled

Steve kept a close eye on Angel as she huddled against the wall. He was shocked to see a small cut on Angel’s cheek and a red mark surrounding it that was rapidly turning into a deep, dark, purple bruise. Steve saw a smear of blood on one handle of the kitchen cabinet.

I’m dead.
He looked over at Angel, who was still nodding and crying softly. As Angel held out the phone, Steve carefully took it from her hand.

“It’s Steve. Are you still there?”

“Yeah, just sit with her and try to keep her calm. I’ll be home soon. I’ll call Daniel as well. I don’t know who will make it first, but I’ll fill him in.”

“Tell Daniel to bring medical supplies. We’re looking at a black eye, maybe a fractured cheek bone, bruising on the face, a cut on the cheek, crushed balls, probably fractured cock, and a pretty severe bite where blood was drawn.”