Page 46 of Merciless Angel
And he never would have been killed. Even though I knew this wasn’t my fault, I still felt guilty.
I went to the small gray armchair in the living room, plugging my phone into the outlet next to it. “I want to see Raina. You guys can’t keep me from her. She’s my best friend. I need her right now.”
The three of them exchanged a look. They stood around the kitchen island divvying up the Chinese food they’d ordered. My stomach grumbled at the aroma of food. It had been so long since I’d eaten.
“Call her then,” Cash said with a shrug. “She can come over here.”
I gaped at him like he’d grown a fifth limb. “Are you insane? Why the hell would she ever want to step foot in this house again after what you guys did to her? I can meet her somewhere.”
“Not without one of us going with you.” Blaze shook his head. He brought me a plate piled with food, as if that would soften the blow.
I accepted the plate with a nod of thanks. “Absolutely not. I won’t have you guys monitoring my every move. Cut it out with this controlling, possessive shit.”
Daire’s laugh made goosebumps break out on my arms. “Look at you getting a backbone. Took long enough. I like it. I’ve always loved a challenge.”
Shooting him a frown, I picked up my chopsticks and dug into my food. “I’ve learned that being the sweet good girl gets you nowhere. I’m done with that shit.”
I meant it too. I couldn’t pretend to be someone that I wasn’t, but somewhere deep inside I had the spirit of a fighter. I’d allowed everyone to push me around for long enough. It was time to push back.
“Is Raina finally rubbing off on you?” Daire eyed me with curiosity. “Don’t forget how that worked out for her.”
I shot him a vicious glare, letting my inner feelings show on my face for a change. “You carved her up like a fucking turkey. You’re pretty proud of that, huh? Maybe I’m finally done taking everyone’s shit. I’m done being the easygoing pushover.”
Daire and I locked eyes for what felt like way too long. So badly I wanted to tear my gaze away. His green eyes burned with a hunger I felt to the tips of my toes. What did this psycho want from me? To cut me? To see what made me tick on the inside? To kill me?
“Good. It’s about fucking time.” The grin that spread across Daire’s face was filled with intrigue. He loved seeing this side of me.
Feeling uneasy with his obvious excitement, I picked up my phone and called Raina. I had a few missed calls and unanswered messages from her. She was relieved to hear my voice.
“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. Is everything okay?” Her concern made me feel loved. She’d become the sister I never had. I had a brother who was older. We’d never been that close.
“It is now,” I said, wary of the Angels listening to my conversation. “The past twenty-four hours have been pretty messed up. I want to see you, but I’m at the Angel house. Maybe we can talk outside?”
There was a slight pause before Raina said, “No problem. Anything for you, Clover. You know that I can’t go there alone though.”
“I know. I’m sorry. This isn’t a great time for me to go anywhere else.” I cringed hearing my own words.
“Do you mean that they won’t let you?” Her tone hardened.
“Something like that. It’s a long story, Raina. Really. I’ll explain everything when you get here.”
After we ended the call, I slumped in the armchair and sighed. I didn’t care how the Angels felt about it, I was telling her about Zane. All of it. I needed to purge this from myself by sharing it with the one person I trusted.
“Raina is coming here?” Blaze shoved half a spring roll into his mouth.
“Yes, and she’s not coming alone.” Suddenly feeling unable to eat another bite, I stood up and took my plate to the kitchen. “I hope you all can be civil. It’s important for me to speak with her.”
Cash tapped his chopsticks on the edge of his plate. “Sure, we can play nice with the Gods. As long as they don’t start anything.”
“I’m sure it will be a nice, friendly visit,” Daire snickered. “You’re asking a lot here, Angel.”
I cleaned my plate off and stuck it in the nearly overflowing dishwasher. Needing to calm my nerves, I helped myself to the bottle of scotch sitting on the island. “You guys will have to accept that Raina is a big part of my life. Maybe instead of continuing this war with the Gods, you can all come to some kind of peaceful understanding.”
Daire let out a bark of laughter. Pulling up the sleeve of his t-shirt, he nodded to the gnarly scar on his arm and another higher up on his shoulder. “This pretty much guarantees that there will never be peace between us. Gage Corwin fucking stabbed me. There’s no forgiving and forgetting something like that.”
“You carved up his woman with a knife before that happened,” I pointed out, pouring scotch into a glass. When Daire opened his mouth to argue, I cut him off with a raised hand. “Look, it doesn’t matter who did what or who started it. All that matters now is that she’s my best friend, and that’s not changing. If you still want to keep me as your little fuck doll, you’ll have to damn well live with it.”
Daire moved fast. His chopsticks hit his plate with a clatter. Grabbing me by the arm, he spun me around and pasted me up against the wall next to the fridge. My face mashed against the wall, making me yelp. It was all I could do not to drop my drink.