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Just as suspected, though, the security isn’t here for my sake. The two huge body guards step in front of my only way out of the room and I’m forced to skid to a stop.
What the hell do I do now? I’m stuck in a maze of vicious men who seem to get off on terrifying the fuck out of me. I could scream, but what good would that do? This is a Montoya household; I’m sure women scream here all the time, and I doubt anyone’s ever come to their rescue. I also doubt they’re allowed to scream for long before they’re shut up forever.
My heat races as I back away from the approaching security guards. They gain on me from the front and, though I don’t dare turn around, I can hear the tapping of Dante’s shoes approaching from my rear.
Desperate helplessness slowly fills my every thought. What the hell have I gotten myself into—and all because I couldn’t take no for an answer from a rebellious elite who charged into that stupid gala like he owned the place...
Well, now he owns me, or maybe his brother does, it hardly matters anymore, I’m trapped and surrounded... yet somehow all alone.
An icy breeze brushes up against my back and I lunge to the side just in time to narrowly avoid Dante’s grip again. “Stay still, you squirmy bitch!” he hisses at me, before ordering his guards to take over for him. “Grab her and hold her still, you idiots!”
“Leave me alone!” I shout, desperately trying to scramble away. The heavy dress I chose to spite Angel only constricts my movement. Another stupid choice that’s going to get me killed...
Dante’s slithery anger snakes after me as I try to out scurry the approaching guards. I can’t let any of them get their hands on me. I don’t know what will happen if I do, but the thought of what could happen fills me with such dread that I nearly collapse into myself.
But where do I run to now? As far as I can tell, there’s only one door in and out of this massive room, and it’s blocked off by the Montoya goons.
I’ve never felt so helplessly alone in all my life. This massive palace might as well be completely empty, because no one’s coming to my rescue.
Still, when a desperate scream suddenly begins to instinctively work its way up from my lungs, it only takes the form of a single word. There isn’t another thought in my entire terrified mind as I yell out the name of the only man who could save me right now.
“ANGEL!”
9
Angel
I burst through the ballroom doors like a raging bull, steaming with anger.
I’d had a hunch that Dante might have had something to do with Catalina’s late appearance to dinner, but when I heard her scream my name while I searched the mansion for them, it was all but confirmed. Who else could make Catalina beg for my help?
Plus, this is my territory, and there’s only one person on this entire compound who would dare defy my orders. Earlier today, I made it known that Catalina should be left alone... or else. Dante was told, I’m sure of it, but he doesn’t care. The spoiled brat isn’t used to being told no.
“Enough!” I bellow. My order echoes through the vast room and the two security guards I had foolishly trusted to bring Catalina to me stop dead in their tracks, but Dante keeps on limping after a scrambling Catalina.
There’s no use ordering the guards to grab Dante. They’re just as scared as him as they are of me. Hell, maybe even more so. I may be vicious, but Dante can be carelessly cruel. Life is nothing to him, because he never has to get his hands dirty to take it.
I, on the other hand, am more than used to getting my hands dirty. I lunge towards my little brother, grabbing him around his loose collar before he can get close enough to Catalina to do any damage. I tug him backwards and he flies off his feet like a plastic bag in the wind. Dante may be cruel—hell, he’s even cunning in his own sadistic way—but physically he’s no match for me.
My little brother skids across the polished marble floor and I turn to him, blocking off his path to my hostage. “I fucking told you to leave her alone!” I boom, my anger darting from Dante to the guards frozen behind him.
The brawny security team look scared, and they fucking should be. I’m furious with them, even if I already know they were probably threatened with something horrible if they didn’t listen to Dante.
“That’s some homecoming,” my brother snarls from the seat of his ass. “It’s nice to see you, too, brother.”
I don’t feel like responding to him right now—he can make me so fucking angry—instead, I turn around to Catalina and offer a helping hand. She hesitates to take it. “Up!” I order. That gets her moving. I haven’t even had her here for more than 24 hours yet, and I can clearly see she isn’t going to last much longer. Her nerves are practically spilling onto the floor. For such a tough girl, she sure falls apart easy.
Her tender fingers fall into my palm and I pull her onto her feet. She immediately falls back down, but not before I can jump forward and catch her. The small of her back eases into my grip as I whirl us both around, careful not to give Dante any opportunity to pounce again. He can be so fucking destructive when he’s upset like this, and not just to our property, but to himself and those around him, too.
Catalina squirms into me as Dante slowly pushes himself back onto his feet. I instinctively pull her in closer. She’s a perfect fit by my side, but I don’t have time to linger on the fact.
“I saw her first,” Dante hisses, patting non-existent dust off from his ill-fitted suit. I hate it when he wears such loose clothing, it doesn’t do justice to our stature, to what we’ve accomplished, to what I’ve accomplished. I’ve offered to have my personal tailor make Dante a new wardrobe countless times before, but he always waves me off. Dante just doesn’t seem to care about how he looks.
“No, you didn’t,” I growl back.
That stupid slimy grin of his slithers across his gaunt face. If he wasn’t my brother, I’d sock him right between the eyes. “Oh, yes I did.”
I don’t know what the fuck he’s getting at, but I don’t have the patience for it. “Leave, now,” I order. It’s always a coin toss as to whether or not my younger brother will follow my commands. He’s the only person in this world who can get away with not listening to me, and he sure as hell takes advantage of it. I still love the brat, but he almost never makes it easy; sometimes, I wonder how much longer my brotherly love can last in the face of what he’s becoming. In my mind’s eye, he’s still that scared little kid I helped raise, but even that vision is slowly twisting into something unrecognizable...
