Page 35 of Collide

I stepped back and took Angel’s hand, gently pulling her down andsitting her on the bed. Letting go of her hand, I tried my hardest to keep my emotions in check so the perceptive little bugger wouldn’t be able to see how much my heart was cracking.

‘I’ve got to go and do some work for the man who is looking after us,but you’ll be safe here and anything you need, I’ll make sure you get it.’

Fear flicked across Angel’s face and so I pulled her into a hug,wrapping my arms around her and holding her tight, not knowing when I would get to do this again.

‘I have a bad feeling,’ Angel signed, pulling out of my grasp. Her eyesdarted over to where Jacqueline stood awkwardly by the door, and when they came back to me, my heart broke even more as they filled with water.

Angel rarely cried, in fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I hadseen her cry. Not even when she came home from school covered in cuts and bruises where nasty little bullies had pushed her around.

‘Sweetheart, there is nothing to worry about. I promise you, no onewill hurt you.’I tried to allay her concerns, but I knew I was doing a bad job of it.

‘No, I have a bad feeling for you. I’m scared for you.’

I gave her a small smile, not wanting to lie to her because if I wastotally honest, I was more than a little scared something badwasgoing to happen to me. But no matter how scared I was, I wouldn’t let Angel know.

‘You have nothing to worry about, I’ll be fine. I’ll see you again in afew days and I want to hear all about how well you are doing with your new tutor.’

A lump formed in my throat and I was glad for once that Angel wasdeaf, she wouldn’t be able to hear the choked emotions in my voice if I said the words aloud. I forced my lips into a reassuring smile and Angel returned a fake smile of her own.

“Ms. Bennett, apologies but we really need to go now, Mr. Wolfe iswaiting,” Jacqueline said with an ounce of fear in her voice.

I wanted to tell her to fuck off and not be so impatient, but I knew itwasn’t her fault.

Damn Kai Wolfe, damn him to hell.

I leaned down and kissed Angel on the forehead.‘I’ll see you soon sweetheart,’ I signed and gave her one last smile. I turned away as the first tear slid down her cheek and at that very moment I felt like the worst sister in the world.

I knew what I was doing was going to give her a life I could never giveher ordinarily, but that made it no easier to walk away from her.

Jacqueline used her thumb on the electronic pad to open the door, itwas a little reminder that even if I decided to flee in the dead of the night, there was no way I was getting out of this apartment without help. She pulled the door open and held it for me to step out into the hallway.

I took one last look at Angel, whose cheeks were now streaked withtears and it took all of my strength to not run back into her room, grab her and take her as far away from here as possible.

I was well aware I had agreed to this deal with Kai and that Iwouldn’t walk away from it.

But right now, I hated the man with everything I had.

Chapter 11

Kai

ThecamerainAngel’snew room gave me a front row seat of Rileyinteracting with her sister. It was clear just how much she doted on the little girl, and being the cunt I was, new ideas sprung to mind as to how I could manipulate Riley to dowhateverI wanted her to do by using Angel as a bartering tool.

I couldn't believe how quickly and how much food the two girls ate.Both of their faces lit up like a Christmas tree at the food that was placed in front of them, and they scoffed the lot.

I knew what Riley earned from working in Club Sin as Isaac had alsoprovided me with her bank accounts, there were some months when she barely covered her bills. Knowing how much Riley put her sister first, I imagined that in those months when money was tight, her priority was to keep Angel fed over herself.

At least now they were living under my roof, they wouldn’t go without,and if Riley did want to leave after our six month agreement, I would just remind her of what Angel’s life was like when they lived in that shithole apartment they called home.

A knock on the door drew my attention away from the video feed, andI called for whoever was outside to come in, but I didn’t take my eyes off the screen.

"Boss," Danny said as he came into my office and sat down in thechair in front of my glass desk.

Danny was one hell of a crazy son-of-a-bitch, the scar on his cheekwas proof of that. He'd given himself it years ago, back when he first came to work for the organization and had decided he wanted to make himself look even scarier than he already did. I'll never forget the day I found him in a bathroom, staring into a mirror as he cut his cheek, blood trickling down his face as he stood there laughing like a hyena.

Reluctantly, I looked away from the screen as Riley and Angelstarted exploring the room.

"So she's staying then?" Danny asked as he looked at the screen, aknowing grin on his face. Fucker had been taking the piss out of my infatuation with Riley for the last week, he was lucky he was one of my closest associates and could get away with it.

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