Page 28 of Buying Angel

That meant that he had spoken to him.

“I can’t tell you. I signed an NDA, and they won’t pay me a cent if they find out I told someone where I was. All I will say is you don’t know them. As for the money, that should be deposited in the next couple of days. They just need to make sure all of the conditions have been met.”

I knew this was a complete lie, but I was hoping that Mikhail didn’t know what happened to the merchandise and only the buyer’s side of things. Club Lust wouldn’t tell Vincent a thing because he wasn’t a buyer or someone putting themself up for sale. I knew I had to try to get into my bedroom before Vincent flew off the handle.

“Can we talk about this in the morning? It’s nearly one o’clock, and I would like to get some sleep. I’ll make you breakfast in the morning and we can talk after work.”

He flew up from the sofa and grabbed me around the neck. “You’re tired? And why would that be? You’ve been fucked all weekend, have you? Getting treated like a princess? Well, believe me, that stops now. You’re back with me, and I’m going to treat you like the slut you are.”

He was squeezing my throat to the point of it being painful, and I was sure there would be bruising. I desperately tried to speak as well as breathe as his hold tightened even more.

“Vincent… Please… You’re…hurting…me.”

He just laughed sadistically as he raised his hand and went to hit me. Just as he was about to, his phone started to ring. He immediately let me go, and I fell to the floor, unable to stop the tears from flowing down my face.

“Hello?… What do you want?… Now?… If you must.”

He looked at me lying on the floor.

“Get up, bitch, and make yourself useful. Go get two glasses from the kitchen. We have a guest coming. I want you to say hello and then make yourself scarce, understand? We will finish this conversation in the morning.”

I got up off the floor and headed into the kitchen to get the glasses he requested. All the time, though, I was wondering who would be visiting at this hour.

Chapter Seventeen

HUDSON

I HATED MYSELF FOR walking away from Gaby, but I couldn’t let her know what Nico and I had planned. I needed her to be shocked and act normally when I turned up at Vincent’s apartment. If she’d have known what I was going to do, then Vincent would have suspected something by her manner when she walked through the door. I had tried throughout the day to give her hope, to tell her not to give up so soon, but I wasn’t sure if she had really taken it in.

The reason she hadn’t seen Nico all day wasn’t just because he had been arranging our trip back to New York. He was doing that, but he was also putting everything into place for this evening.

I walked back to the car and got in. The driver drove me to Vincent’s apartment block and stopped around the corner where we couldn’t be seen. Nico had chosen this spot, as it was easy to get access to the building and was close enough for him to bring Gaby out without being seen.

We sat there for a little while waiting. I knew it would be about thirty minutes before Gaby would get home, so I was going to call Nico at around one o’clock, check that he was ready, and then make the call to Vincent. I looked at my watch and saw it was just coming up to one, then took my phone out of my pocket and dialed his number. I knew that Vincent wouldn’t hear it, even with him being so close, because he had put it on silent, but he would know I was calling. Within a couple of rings, he answered.

“I’m ready here, Hud. Rosa has already arrived home, and from what I can gather, Vincent has already started to quiz her. I’ve held myself back, but if you don’t get here soon, I’m going to murder him.”

I didn’t like what I was hearing, both that Gaby was possibly in trouble and that Nico was about to commit a murder on my brother’s home turf. I needed to try to calm the situation, and quickly.

“Just stay calm and out of the way. I am just going to make the call now. Unless you think Gaby’s life is in serious danger, stay exactly where you are.”

I hoped that, for once, he would actually take orders from me and not go all gung ho on me.

“I’m not going to make promises, Hud. But I will stay here as long as I feel she is safe.”

That was the best I could hope for from him. I ended the call without saying another word. I needed to get myself up and into that apartment. I dialed the number that Gaby had given me for Vincent. It rang a few times before an irate Vincent answered the phone.

“Hello?”

I really didn’t appreciate being snapped at, but I was guessing he probably hadn’t had much sleep, waiting for Gaby to come home, so I let it slide.

“Hi, Vincent. It’s Hudson Bryce-Stanton here.”

“What do you want?”

He really didn’t sound pleased to hear my voice, but I decided to carry on.

“I have a very lucrative business proposal for us both. Can I come meet you?”

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