Page 54 of Awakened by Sin

One eyebrow rose. “Another night on The Strip with your friends?”

“I have a meeting,” she said and couldn’t stop herself from running a hand through her hair. Dark temptation urged her to forget the animal adoption and indulge in some dark fantasies.

“A meeting.”

His tone implied that she was lying. She narrowed her eyes. “There’s a meeting to discuss an animal adoption event being put on by the Pyre Foundation next Saturday. I’m helping.” She made a show of looking around the huge room and pointed at a spot in front of the window. “That would be a great spot for a scratching post.”

Angel blinked. “A scratching post for what?”

“A cat, silly. A cat would really add to the crime lord thing too. When you invite people over, you can answer the door with it in your arms. No one would suspect how evil you are.”

He coughed. “Uh, I’m not a cat person.”

“A dog then.”

“I’m not an animal person.”

“What kind of person are you?”

“A busy one.”

She sighed theatrically. “Fine.”

Angel shook his head. “You’re something else.”

She put a hand on her hip and posed. “I know. You can’t handle this.”

His eyes moved over her. “Vinny was a lucky bastard.”

Her husband’s name was as effective as a slap in the face. One moment, she was enjoying the sexual tension and banter, and the next, guilt had her by the throat. Suddenly, the colors in the room seemed less bright, and her lightheartedness drained away.

“Oh, fuck.” Angel was suddenly in front of her. “I’m sorry.”

She dropped her face to hide the pain twisting her features into something ugly and uncomfortable to witness.

“I’m sorry,” he said again.

Anger came to her rescue. She slammed her hands on his chest and shoved. He hissed through his teeth as he rocked back. His hand trembled as it hovered over his chest, face screwed up in pain. Only then did she remember his wounds from Hell.

“Oh my gosh! I forgot,” she said and reached for him only to stop several inches shy of his body. “What do I do?”

He gave her a pained smile. “Not hit me again. I know I deserve it, but …” He took a deep breath and fisted both hands at his sides.

“Did you go to the doctor?”

“Yeah, I’ll live.”

“You have pain medication?”

“I can handle it.”

She wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Yeah, you did,” he said easily. “But I deserved it.”

She tried to compose herself. She couldn’t break down every time someone mentioned Vinny’s name.

“I’m sorry,” Angel said again.

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