Angelica This was becoming pathetic. First, I had to put on an innocent yet provocative act, and now I had to pretend to be a frightened little bunny in need of saving from a fictional monster? Hell, I had binge-watched the entire franchise of The Reaper with Spider in one night and we had eaten popcorn through it all. Well, I had eaten popcorn and Spider had used the movie as an excuse to wolf down two humongous boxes of cheerios. We had seen more horrifying scenes in real life than any movie franchise could ever dream of creating. The only real thing was how I felt when he carried me off the love seat like I weighed nothing and then stroked my back to coax me to sleep. How the hell was I supposed to sleep? I was aroused as hell and that was before he stole a kiss.I had undergone gruesome torture before but somehow it all paled in comparison to wanting a man, knowing he wants me just as badly, and not being able to have him—and the icing of the cake, it just happened to be the ve
I couldn’t believe I was supposed to be using these seduction tactics on Miles. Before I set the plan into motion, I didn’t feel a thing about it. Of course, there was nothing pleasant about seducing one of my enemies, but I was not disgusted by the thought either. But after meeting both Curtis and Miles in real life, my stomach churned at the mere thought of being in an enclosed room with Miles—even though I would have already gotten all the answers within three days. Besides, I wouldn’t have lost track of the plan. Curtis, on the other hand, was dangerous in more ways than his identity. He was tempting me nearly as much as I was tempting him. If it wasn’t so obvious before, I was now certain I wouldn’t be able to lure him and come out of it unscatched. But, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.“You never talk about yourself.” I remarked as I shifted in bed to ‘accidentally’ brush my thigh against Curtis. I only had two days left before we had to go back to Silverwood. This w
Curtis I flicked Angelica’s forehead and when she looked up at me, I smiled. “Welcome back.” She snorted. “What does Crystal like? Should I get her some gems or something? Find magic crystals?” “You don’t have to bring anything.” It was almost laughable. Was my wife nervous to meet her mother-in-law? I couldn’t say I blamed her. A video call was one thing. Meeting each other in real life would be different, though I already knew mother liked her. She rarely smiled at anyone she had just met, even when she was at her best. Talking to new people was a chore to her. Whether it was because Angelica was married to me or not, she liked her and I had a feeling they were going to get along. That wasn’t what she thought. “What if she hates me?” “Why would she hate you?” I frowned. “I don’t know,” she wrung her hands. “Because I’m taking her son away from her?” I grabbed the chance to pull her over and sit her on my lap. She tried to wiggle out and gave up when she realized I wasn’t l
Angelica It wasn’t enough that I had lost my mind. Now I was losing my memory too! How could I forget when today was? As soon as I dumped my suitcase in my room, organization be damned, I grabbed my phone and made a beeline for the door. I met Curtis just as he exited the elevator. “I’m going to the hospital.” I explained before he could ask. I didn’t know if he even wanted to know. Whatever. He frowned, running his eyes over me. “Are you feeling unwell?” Since when did he care if I was unwell? “I’m going to see Nana.” I pushed past him, declining his offer to drive me. This was my last chance. Spider was right where I thought he would be, by Nana’s bedside reading her a book. Seeing her listening so silently, one would think she understood what Spider was reading to her. I knew she wasn’t understanding any single word of it. Spider was the first to see me. He acted like I didn’t exist, reading on and flipping onto the next page. Okay. Maybe it wasn’t going to be easy to end
“Who cares what happens to Inferno?” Spider dismissed, only to backtrack immediately. “Scratch that. I care if Inferno goes up in flames. That’s the best thing that could ever happen to that wretched family. “Spider!” I growled at him. He glared at me in return. “Don’t tell me you feel bad about it?”I did, but I couldn’t tell him that. Instead, I revealed what I had been thinking about for the last few days. “Lyra could be alive.” “What?” He was more shocked than I expected, looking at me like I was out of my mind. Maybe I was, but I couldn't dim the flicker of hope. “I know this sounds crazy, but the Arcieros didn’t kill her. Her body was never found…she could be alive.” Spider placed a hand on my forehead to feel my tempereature. “Are you okay? Do you feel tired?” “I don’t have a fever!” I swatted his hand away. That prompted him to pace circles around me as he tried to make sense of what I had just said. When he finally sat down, he shook his head. “That’s not possible. Do
Curtis My mother liked to tell stories of what a naughty boy I was growing up—at least the ones she could remember. While most of them sounded exaggerated, I believed her. I got into a lot of trouble until I learned how to make her smile so hard she would forget to punish me, then I would always get away with a slap on my wrist. I was using the same skill on Angelica’s Nana. Even I was surprised how well it was working out. After giving her an indirect compliment, she glared at me but her new version of a glare was mild compared to that blazing look she had given me when I walked in with her granddaughter. Since I had a headstart, I decided to throw in one of the old-fashioned ones. “So, Nana, how would you like to take a walk outside? It must be boring staying all cooped up in here all day, staring at the same things.” “The doctor won’t let me. I keep telling him I’m fine!” She grumbled. This was my chance. “I’ll have a talk with him.” I said, then I added, “but you may want to
AngelicaIt wasn’t long before I remembered what I had to do and it took all my effort to not look as troubled as I was. What if Miles found out Spider was tracking him down and evaded before he could get caught? I didn’t doubt Spider’s skills. There was no target he couldn’t get hold of. Miles would be a piece of cake, but I couldn’t help worrying nonetheless. “I’m watching a movie with Spider.” I announced before we got too far. “I’ll take a cab.” “I can drop you off.” He offered. “It’s alright.” I turned it down with a smile to soften it. He was not offering me a ride to be a gentleman. Any man could be a gentleman except Curtis Arciero. He only wanted to make sure I was going to Spider’s house—which was exactly where I was going. It was for the best. The easiest way to make him drop whatever suspicions he had of me was to make him think I was up to something and then prove him wrong. It would fuck with his head. Besides, what if he dropped me off at Spider’s but insisted on
I was freaking out. Time was moving way too slow for my liking and every second that ticked started another battle of wits in my mind. Spider and I had concluded Miles was lying about the time his plan would be set into motion. Why would he tell us? Before I showed up in that basement with extortion in mind, there was a slight chance that he would tell me everything. Spider blamed me for that. If I let Miles think he would get what he wanted by setting Inferno ablaze, he would be more willing to tell the truth. I didn’t regret my approach. Anything was better than letting Miles think he was getting my body in return for anything. With our luck, that just happened to be what he wanted in exchange of calling off his plan. He was delusional enough to think he deserved to get one of the things that belonged to Curtis now that he couldn’t destroy the latter’s nightclub. That was the problem. I was not a thing and I didn’t belong to anyone. I had almost sliced his head off for implying t