Page 19 of Archangel

“Good.” Caroline gave me a crisp nod before tugging Sonya to the car.

Sonya kept looking back at me like she was afraid she’d never see me again. Or maybe, if she did see me, like nothing would ever be the same again. I didn’t take my eyes from the little Mustang until Caroline had them out of sight.

When I turned my gaze to Gloria, I let her see a glimpse of the man she’d tricked into marrying her. I stalked toward her. I could only imagine what I looked like. I was pissed. Good and fucking pissed. Whatever happened next wasn’t going to be pleasant.

Chapter Nine

Sonya

I wasn’t nearly satisfied with Archangel’s explanation. Seemed like he had played it stupid, and Archangel was most decidedly not stupid. I didn’t think he was lying, but I needed more. I needed to know how anyone could let something like this go for so long. I’d been ready to leave to spare myself pain; now I wanted to stay because I was inso muchpain. Maybe that made me a glutton for punishment, but I’d been infatuated with Archangel, literally, for years. I’d known I was too far gone to stay away from him after we’d had sex, but I’d hoped to pull back slightly and sort of regroup.

“Talk to me, Sonya.” Linnie drove down the highway between Lake Worth and Palm Beach. She was taking every back road known to man, likely trying to draw out the drive as long as I needed her to.

I shook my head, swallowing back the lump of emotion stuck in my throat. I couldn’t break down before I was safely inside my room at the clubhouse. I turned my head to try to express to Linnie I just wanted to go home, but the tears started coming and when I opened my mouth to speak, the only thing out of my mouth was a sob of despair.

After that, things were a little fuzzy. I cried so hard my head ached. It was hard to keep from screaming, but I wouldn’t have done that to Linnie. Instead, I turned my face toward the window and hunched in on myself. Linnie would get me somewhere safe and likely call in reinforcements.

I’d somewhat calmed down when we pulled into the parking lot of a hotel. She snagged her phone and my backpack from the back seat. “Ripper got us a suite. Two bedrooms. Two baths. Let’s get you inside, and I’ll go get some necessities and food. Pizza good?”

That was Linnie. She’d take care of everything. It was what she did. She might be less adventurous than me, but she was the fixer of our trio while Bella was the one trying to keep me and Caroline out of trouble.

I nodded numbly, allowing Linnie to guide me into the hotel and up to our suite. Linnie opened the door with her phone and, once inside, she guided me to the couch. She was gone for a moment but returned with a blanket and set it on the couch beside me.

“Let me help you get your shoes off.” She knelt and helped with my shoes and socks. I tugged up my knees and turned to lie with my back against the couch, curled up in a ball. Linnie draped the light blanket over me and sat on her knees in front of the couch. She brushed my hair gently from my face when it fell forward. “I’m so sorry, Sonya.” There were tears in Linnie’s eyes. She knew how much I was hurting because she knew how big a crush I had on Archangel.

“I didn’t even know his name.” It was an inane thing to say, but it was all I could come up with at the moment. My voice wavered and tears spilled from my eyes to streak down my cheeks and my temples where I lay on the couch.

“I know. Bella is on the way. I’m going to get some stuff. Do you want me to wait for Bella to get here?”

“No. Actually, why didn’t we go home?”

Linnie smiled, leaning in to kiss my forehead affectionately. “Because you’d hate it if anyone saw you cry. And I don’t think you’re quite ready for Thorn to kill Archangel yet.”

“I’m so glad to have you as my friend, Caroline.”

She smiled at me. “I’m glad you’re my friend too, Sonya. We take care of each other.”

I nodded. “We’ll always take care of each other.”

“Yes. We will. Always.” She stood and leaned in to kiss the top of my head. “I’ll be back. Bella has the key on her phone so she can let herself in. “Pizza and beer?”

I managed a half-hearted smile. “Sounds perfect.”

As soon as the door clicked shut behind Linnie, my tears started flowing again. I had a small window of time to get this out before my best friends surrounded me and we set about helping me dull the pain. I clutched the blanket tightly around myself as I let the grief envelop me.

How could I have been so stupid? Of course, a man like Archangel would already be taken. I should have known better than to throw myself at him. He was quiet, but so much larger than life it was hard not to focus on him the second he entered a room. Now, I’d gone and really fallen for him, only to have my heart crushed. Hadn’t I given myself this talk already? Like, before I’d gone and fucked him? I’d been right. But no number of pep talks could have prepared me for him telling me he had a wife.

Once the harsh sobbing was finished and the immediate storm had passed, I pushed off the blanket and stood, heading to the bathroom. I washed my face and used the bathroom before washing my hands. When had I ever let myself feel this way over someone else’s actions? Not only that, but Archangel was right. He hadn’t had the opportunity to tell me because there’d been no reason. You know. Until there was.

Of course, my leaving had also contributed to the problem. So I got it. Didn’t mean I was going to stop Ripper from digging up all the dirt he could. It was time to test Archangel’s word not to lie to me. I wanted the information going into that conversation ahead of time.

My phone chimed from where Linnie had put it by the couch. I picked it up and looked.

Archangel:Can I come to you now?

In a way, the early contact from Archangel immediately telling myself I needed to go into any conversation with Angel from a strong position told me I was making the right decision. And, God knew, it had been a very long time since I’d made the right decision. I knew what wrong decisions felt like.

Me:I’m not ready. You’re going to have to give me a couple of days.

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