Page 13 of Lips of an Angel

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am,” I said. “I’m obviously not going to see her again.”

“Oh, that won’t be a problem.”

“What do you mean?”

He drained the rest of his drink, and I accepted the empty glass from him. “She was with you last night, wasn’t she?”

I nodded, uncomfortable.

“Did she mention anything out of the ordinary?”

I shrugged. “She had to catch an early flight for a last-minute meeting.”

Darren wrung his hands in his lap. “Federal marshals were waiting for her when she got off that plane. She was arrested for fraud and embezzlement. They’ve been investigating her for a while.”

I dropped my head into my hands. My stomach turned again, threatening to expel the nothing I’d put in it over the last twelve hours.

All of her gifts, all of the expensive dinner dates, all of the fancy nights in the hotels, the spas… all of thesugarAngel teased me about hadn’t been hers to give.

“I wanted to give you a head’s up that you’ll probably be contacted for questioning,” Darren said, breaking the silence.

“Me? But wouldn’t that look bad for her? If she wants to paint a picture of being the perfect person, I don’t see how putting a paramour in front of the media would help.”

His brow furrowed. “Paramour? I thought that was the chick with the orange hair who screams all the time.”

I snorted and raised my head. “It’s the male version of a mistress. Although it doesn’t make me feel any less dirty. Darren, I?—”

He held out a hand to stop me as he rose from his seat. “You owe me nothing. You said you didn’t know, and I believe you. I need to get home before Braden gets out of school. I still haven’t figured out how to tell him we’re losing everything.”

I pulled myself from the floor, peeling my sticky jeans away from my leg. “‘Losing everything?’ What do you mean?”

Darren sighed. “They took everything she could’ve possibly paid for; the house, the car—I bought the ticket out here before they froze our assets. Thank you for the drink, and I truly wish you the best, Raleigh. I’m sorry you got mixed up in this.”

He turned to leave, but with his hand on the door, I called him back. So many questions swirled around my mind. In the end, answering them shouldn’t fall on Darren’s shoulders.

“Fly safe,” I told him instead.

Darren gave me a curt nod, then the door shut behind him, leaving me and my scotch-soaked designer jeans alone in the office.

Pride

noun

An excessive view for oneself without regard for others.

Chapter 6

RALEIGH

I frozeas a pillow took me in the side of my head. I turned to where Angel sat in the middle of my bed, his blond hair a tousled mess after finally getting some sleep. Shirtless, his all-seeing eye tattoos were on full display. He shifted, and the bars through his nipples caught the sunlight. He was nearly lost in the mounds of expensive fabrics, leather shoes and belts, and other brand-name articles cluttering the bed—everything Kali had gifted me over the years.

“What are you going to do with all this stuff?” he asked.

I shrugged, turning back to my closet and removing the last few pieces of clothing from their hangers. “I just want it gone. I can’t even get dressed without the reminder of her slapping me in the face.”

It’d been a couple weeks since Darren’s visit, and I felt no better about the situation. I felt… dirty. Like a used napkin stuck to the bottom of someone’s shoe.

Angel touched my wrist to get my attention. “I’ve never seen you this way after a breakup.”

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