Page 34 of Unhinged Little Angel

He wasn’t lying. My place is trashed. Furniture is flipped over, my refrigerator door is hanging open, causing the vague smell of warm, rotting food to fill the place. More photos of me are scattered all over the floor, along with most of my stuff.

Sparrow picks up one of my finished needlepoints, one that says “all men are cremated equal” and snorts a laugh. I snatch it away from him and step over the remains of my stuff in a stupor. I only just posted on my social media last night about the wedding, so chances are Don’s goonie trashed the place before I put this whole plan into motion. That makes me feel mildly less queasy, at least.

“Listen, I don’t think we need to tell Salvatore or anyone else about this right now. It probably happened before the wedding anyway, so there’s nothing for him to get worked up about.”

Luca makes a nervous sound and tugs on the collar of his shirt, still holding his gun, but loosely by his side now, with the safety on.

“Yeah, sorry, but I’m not going to risk Salvatore killing me over something like this if he finds out I didn’t tell him.”

I huff with frustration. “Fine, at least let me tell him?”

Luca rubs the back of his neck and then nods. “Sure, but I’m telling him tomorrow if you haven’t.”

“Fine,” I grumble again. “It’s fine.” I don’t know if I’m trying to convince them or myself. I let out a long breath and hold my head high. No fucking way am I going to let this be the thing that breaks me. Fine, I ran to Sal for protection, but that doesn’t mean I’m fragile or that Don is going to win. He’s not going to rattle me.

I beat his ass bloody and put him in jail the last time. And I would have been fine leaving it at that. But he wants to go a second round with me, and this time, he’s not going to be so lucky.

Chapter 15

DANTE

I step over shards of brown and green glass littering the pavement just outside the employee entrance. Dancers or bouncers having a few drinks and acting like hooligans before or after their shifts? Maybe. Or a drunk, delusional customer having a few more while he waited for a dancer he was sure was madly in love with him. Also very possible.

“I’ve got it from here, Kevin Costner.” I give Luca a little wave with one hand and reach for the door handle with my other.

“Who?” He reaches over my head and pulls the door open wider, ruining my plan to slip in through the gap and quickly close it behind me. Not that it would keep my bodyguard from following me. It’s not like Wild is the Pentagon, the back door stays unlocked any time the club is open. It’s the social conditioning of the Employee Entrance sign that keeps most people out.

“Kevin Costner,” I repeat, stepping into the hallway that’s only lit by the green glow of the exit sign, the smell of cigarettes and body spray burning my nose before I’m anywhere near thedressing room. “The Bodyguard.” I glance over my shoulder and see absolutely no recognition on Luca’s face. I roll my eyes. “It’s a movie from the nineties.”

“Huh,” he hums, only a step behind me.

“Seriously, are you going to hover over me while I change and do my makeup?” I arch an eyebrow.

For all the mess my intruder caused, my makeup bag was dumped out but mostly intact, and some of my clothes were trashed, but mainly they were just torn off the hangers and left strewn around my bedroom. Between the three of us, it didn’t take long to clean up and for me to pack a bag to take to Salvatore’s. By the afternoon, Sparrow had other places to be, but Luca has remained firmly lodged up my ass the entire day.

“Yeah, the whole point of a bodyguard is staying close toguardyou.”

Lucifer stops rubbing bronzer into his pale thighs and looks up with a smirk.

“Get tired of breaking bones and decide to hire out for it?”

I give him the finger and a toothy grin in response. “Nah, just saving my energy for the most irritating cunts I can find.”

“Hold up.” Sin grabs my wrist, my middle finger still proudly erect.

“Back up,” Luca barks, reaching for his gun.

Sin pulls his hand back immediately and holds them both up in surrender.

“Jesus, chill,” he huffs. “I was just going to ask about his ring.”

“Yeah, you’ve gotta take it down a few notches, sugar.” I pat Luca’s chest. “If you start waving a pistol around back here it’s going to ruin the whole vibe.”

‘The vibe’ of course being a baffling combination of weed, blow, and boner pills.

“You think we’re going to attack him or something?” Lucifer asks with a throaty laugh.

“I got orders to make sure no one lays a hand on him, that’s all I know,” Luca says with a crease in his forehead and a frown on his lips, one hand still hovering near his gun like he’s not quite sure yet that this very dangerous situation is resolved.

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