Page 17 of Archangel

Chapter Eight

Archangel

I stood there and watched the dimming light in Sonya’s eyes flicker, then die. She jerked as if I’d slapped her. I might as well have.

“Your…wife?”

“There’s more to our past relationship than just us being legally married, honey.”

“Don’t ‘honey’ me!” To my utter horror, Sonya’s eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them back heroically. The girl had backbone, but I could see what this was costing her. She tilted her head back in a stubborn tilt. Her chin quivered as she struggled to hold on to her emotions. “You want to honey someone, honey her.” She pointed an accusing finger at Gloria.

“Sonya, please.” I tried to frame her face in my hands, but she batted me away and stepped back a couple of steps. “I swear to you, I wasn’t trying to keep this from you. I’ll explain everything.”

“What’s to explain?” Now her voice wavered and she winced, sticking her chin up defiantly. The tears overflowed then, but she still stood her ground. “She’s either your wife or she’s not. Which is it? Ex-wife? Explain this to me, Angel.” She winced again and gave a humorless laugh. “That’s an oxymoron,” she muttered through her tears. Because two more of the vile things slid from her eyes for her to bat away angrily.

“I hooked up with her in Vegas right before I left for special training in the service. I was drunk, and she was hunting for someone like me. I’m still not exactly sure how she managed it, but when I woke up the next morning, we were in bed together and I was informed I’d gotten married.”

“Why not get it annulled?”

“I was going to, but she spun me a story about an abusive family and being told she was being married off to a man she’d never met so her father could have a business tie to him. I had no family and no reason to think I’d be coming back alive. I figured with the money she’d get in death benefits, not to mention a portion of my pay, she could leave and go wherever she wanted. Then my death would have counted for something, and someone would remember me when I was gone.”

She still looked hurt, but I could see she was at least considering what I’d said. “You made it back, though. When was this?”

“Fifteen years ago, honey. We wrote a few letters to each other. She sent a few care packages, and we talked a couple of times the first year. Then I went deep undercover and couldn’t talk to her for two years. When they’d recruited me for that mission, the primary requirement was that the operative not be married or have children they were responsible for. There were three of us chosen. Not for our skills, but because we had no close family ties. No one we had to keep in touch with or would miss back home and not be able to give a hundred percent. I caught hell from command when I had to make arrangements for the paperwork to be filed so she could get benefits. If they could have replaced me, they would have court-martialed me for that stunt. But I figured if I was going to give my life for my country, the least the people who’d demanded my sacrifice should help me to make someone else’s life a little better, and I didn’t flinch.”

“Sounds like you,” she muttered, toeing a pebble on the pavement.

“It was seven years before I spoke with her after that. And it was only to let her know I’d made it back to the States if she wanted a divorce or whatever.”

“I take it she didn’t want a divorce?” Sonya glanced from me to Gloria and back. Gloria was busy flirting with one of the prospects. The man was trying his best to ignore her, but Gloria was nothing if not persistent. I was literally living proof she always got her way.

“Actually, no. She did want one. She was supposed to meet me for lunch to sign a standard divorce agreement. Once she said she wanted the divorce, I went to a lawyer to do the paperwork. I gave her half my benefits and kept her as my beneficiary in the event I was KIA. It was very much in her favor. I was career military and spent all my time on bases or overseas because I was special forces. Until I met El Diablo, my life was the military. I had nothing and no one else. Never needed or wanted anyone else. Kept things simple.”

“Except you had a wife you barely knew.” Sonya sounded equal parts understanding yet bitter, as if she were resigned to the fact she’d lost me before she’d ever had me. Which could not be further from the fucking truth. “So why aren’t you divorced, then?”

“Because I never showed up.” Gloria was headed toward us with purpose. Her hips swayed with an erotic twist that made a man wonder what she could do to him if she were on top during sex. Her breasts were high and firm and barely bounced at all when she moved. There was no denying she was a beautiful woman, but she did absolutely nothing for me.

Sonya stiffened and backed away from me another step, eying us both warily. That’s when Linnie came up beside Sonya and took her hand in solidarity.

“Why wouldn’t you meet him after you’d said you wanted the divorce? Was he lying? Did you really not want it?” Sonya gripped Linnie’s hand in a white-knuckled grip. I could see sweat beading her upper lip and brow and she was trembling.

Gloria waved her hand like it was all no big deal. “My boyfriend took me on a trip to the Maldives. Besides, it wasn’t that important. I figured I could worry about it later.”

“Sounds like it was pretty serious between the two of you. Why wouldn’t you want to have your divorce final in case you decided to marry the other guy?”

“Why would I want to marry the guy? You marry a man rich enough to afford a private resort room in the Maldives at fifty thousand dollars a night and all you get is a prenup saying you get nothing from him in the event you divorce unless it was a gift. However, if you’re the girlfriend, you get all the benefits of his money and get to negotiate your personal allowance in addition to all the trips and clothes and basic necessities of being on the arm of a billionaire.” She gave me a superior smirk. “I had Colm’s pay coming to an account I never touched. Compared to the money I got from Jasper, it wasn’t much, but it let me have a personal stash. I saved every penny of my allowance I could so I’d be OK if we broke up. Getting a divorce was last on my list of things occupying my time because it wasn’t strictly necessary.”

“Then why bother meeting with him at all?”

“Why not? I probably would have if Jasper hadn’t sprung the trip on me. After that, I forgot about it.”

“We haven’t spoken since, Sonya,” I said. “By that time I’d taken up with El Diablo, so when I called her about a divorce, I told her about Black Reign and that she could find me here. I’m assuming that’s how she found me?” I raised an eyebrow at Gloria.

She shrugged. “Yes. I’d have come sooner if I’d known this wasn’t an ordinary motorcycle club clubhouse.” She looked over the emasculate grounds with appreciation. “Who did you say owned this place?”

“No one you need to worry about, Gloria. If you’ll please wait in your car, I’ll take you inside when I’m ready.”

“I don’t have all day, Colm.”

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