Page 12 of Angel Betrayed

His hands dropped to his sides. “Go to the top of the stairs. You can take the first room to the left.”

“Is this your place?” The surprise in her words was real. No one had scoped out this location. Big mistake on their part. Someone on the team had been sloppy.

“It belongs to a friend.”

He had friends? Doubtful.

“He owed me, and this place was part of the payment.” Sam turned away and opened the door. “Get inside, Seline. My men will check your story tonight, and if I find out that you’re lying, if you’re trying to set me up, there will truly be hell to pay.”

“Does that happen a lot?” Seline wanted to know as she brushed by him. “Are people always lying to you?”

“Yes.”

Her chin lifted as more lights flooded on inside the house. “Then that’s sad. You should be able to trust someone in this world. I mean, don’t you even have any family that—” Seline broke off.

Oh, yes. Wrong thing to say.

She glanced back and saw his face harden as he slammed the door shut behind them. “Get upstairs.”

Wow. That was a barely human growl.

“You know, you really should work on trying to be polite,” Seline chided him. “Try asking instead of snapping at people all the time. Charm can work, honestly it can.” She shook her head and headed for the stairs.

“Seline. ”

She didn’t stop. Her hand curled around the smooth wood of the banister.

“My brother wants me dead.” His rumbling voice followed her. “And the feeling is more than mutual.”

Okay, now that made her stop. Frowning, Seline darted a fast glance back at him.

“It’s a race,” he muttered. “We’ll see who gets shoved into the ground first.”

What was she supposed to say to that? “I’m sorry.”

He smiled at her, and the sight wasn’t reassuring. “Don’t be. It’s long past time I ripped Az apart. The world will be a whole lot better once he’s gone.”

“Why?” She shouldn’t ask, but she did anyway. “What’s he done? Why would you turn on your own family?” His words hit too close to home for her.

Turn on your own family. She’d been there, done that, and had the scars to prove it.

“Az sent me to hell,” he replied, voice flat.

She laughed. A nervous, rough sound. “Ah, you mean it felt like he did?—”

“No. The bastard actually sent me to hell.”

All the moisture in her mouth dried away.

Sam stared at her. “What? You don’t think it’s real?” His lips tightened. “News flash. Heaven’s there, so is hell.”

Her heart slammed too fast and too hard into her chest. “With the devil guarding the gates.” She tried to make the words sound flippant.

“Not quite. Not anymore. He’s been out of hell for a while now.” His head tilted toward her. “But you’ll find out the truth soon enough. In the end, we all do.” He held her stare a moment longer, then eased out a slow breath. “Get some sleep. Tomorrow, we take care of the bastard after you.”

She stared at his dark head. Tomorrow.

Seline hurried up the stairs and found the empty room on the left. She quickly pushed the door closed behind her and even flipped the lock.

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