Page 98 of Awakened by Sin

Her first shot went wide, but her second got one of them in the shin, and another in the man’s throat. A bullet lodged in the Aston less than six inches from her face, but she didn’t flinch. She was trying to get her bearings to make the last shot count when Angel shot two of them from his prone position. Sharp, earsplitting cracks split the air as Eli jogged up the driveway with a gun in each hand and took out the last hit man.

Carmen bent over Angel, hands going to his chest, ready to apply pressure to keep him from bleeding out. She touched him, expecting to feel the sticky wetness of fresh blood, but there was nothing.

“Angel?”

“I’m wearing a vest,” he wheezed.

It took her a few seconds to process. When it did, she fell back on her ass. Angel sat up with a wince and gingerly touched his ruined shirt, marred by three holes on his chest.

“Fuck, that hurt.”

Eli cursed under his breath and turned to confront her curious neighbors, who’d gathered in the street. Adrenaline drained from her as fast as it came. The horror of watching Vinny’s murder play out right in front of her with another man who claimed the crime lord position after Gavin stepped down was too much.

“Carmen?” Angel crouched beside her and touched her clammy skin. “Are you all right?”

She looked up at his handsome, arrogant face. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to throw herself into his arms or murder him. “No, I’m not.”

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Can’t what?”

She forced herself up on shaky legs and faced Angel, who thought he was invincible. Vinny’s death destroyed her so badly she wasn’t sure she would ever be okay again. She saw Vinny one last time before he was cremated. The memory of his blood-stained dress shirt and his open, horror-glazed eyes was ingrained in her mind for eternity. Angel’s fearlessness scared the hell outof her. Was he really that good or setting himself up for a bloody ending? He thought he could conquer the world and bring these men to heel. He thought his name and smarts were enough, but she knew the truth. Nothing would ever be enough.

“I can’t,” she said again.

“Can’t what?”

“Watch another man die. I’ve lost too much. I don’t have much left.”

Angel searched her face. He opened his mouth to say something, but Eli called his name and distracted him. She took the key out of the Aston Martin and put her gun in the purse before she walked into the house. She didn’t look back to see the bustle of cars and people gathering on her front lawn. It was Angel’s job to lie and do whatever he had to, to make the three dead bodies disappear. She was so fucking done.

It took several attempts to unlock her door since her hand was shaking so badly. When she finally got in, she leaned back against the door and closed her eyes.

“It’s done,” she whispered. “It’s over.”

Even as she said the words, she shook her head. Her mind kept replaying the way Angel jerked when he got shot, and the awful sound he made as the wind got knocked out of him. How many times had her mind reenacted Vinny’s murder?

She walked upstairs, pushed open her door, and stared at Vinny’s urn. Her heart cracked, and so did the wall of denial. She dropped her purse and keys in the doorway and advanced as first one tear fell and then another. She sank to her knees in front of the dresser, buried her face in the carpet, and gave into the need to scream. The carpet muffled her tortured howl, so she did it again and again. She beat her hands against the rug until her fists were throbbing. If she had the strength, she would have destroyed her room, so it matched her insides.

Tonight, her deepest, darkest secret had been shoved in her face. It was a truth she had been avoiding since his murder. She’d never spoken the words out loud, never allowed herself to think about it because it would destroy her. The leader of the Black Viper gang was right. Someone had signed Vinny’s death warrant, but it wasn’t Gavin. It was her.

“I’m sorry, Vinny,” she whispered. “It’s my fault.”

13

Three Years Ago

Carmen bouncedon her toes as she watched Gavin and Lyla share a deep kiss. It took less than two weeks for Lyla and Gavin to pull their heads out of their asses. No one watching them would suspect they’d been apart for three years. The connection between them was electric. A couple of days ago, Lyla had been putting up the good fight and doing everything possible to hold him off and now … now, everything was back the way it should be, and her heart felt as if it would burst.

“You taste good,” Gavin said.

“It’s meatloaf,” Lyla replied.

“Damn, that sounds good.”

Gavin turned to Carmen and kissed her cheek. “Thanks for keeping Lyla company.”

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