Angel's Fantasy: Steamy Older Man Younger Woman Romance Read online

  That was out of my control, though, and there was no backing down now, no pretending that I wasn’t there to collect a debt.

  “Look, Angel…” Calvin’s voice was shaking, but it was too late for pity, too late to settle for anything aside from what I’d gone there for. “Maybe we can work something out. Maybe if you just gave me a couple more weeks, or—”

  “No.” I shook my head, not even letting him finish. “That’s not gonna happen, Calvin. I’ve already given you extra time, and then extra time on top of that. Your time has run out, my friend.”

  I could hear movement upstairs, and I was again reminded that Bella was up there somewhere, probably with no idea of what was happening—or about to happen—between me and her father.

  “Listen,” I said, lowering my voice a little, “I don’t want to make this difficult. Just give me the money, or something equivalent—watches, jewelry, whatever—and we can put this little incident behind us, okay?”

  That would be the best-case scenario. Calvin could settle his debt and I could still save face. It was a win-win situation.

  “I don’t have the money,” he said, finally. He still sounded nervous, but also a little… defiant? Almost like he was challenging me to claim otherwise. “I tried to get it together, Angel. I swear I did. But,” he shrugged, “I just don’t have it.”

  “That’s not good, Calvin.” I took a deep breath and reminded myself to leave emotions out of it, to leave our friendship out of it. “That’s not gonna work for me.”

  I took a step forward and he flinched, taking two steps back as I walked through the doorway. At that point, I wasn’t going to wait for him to invite me in, and I sure as hell wasn’t going anywhere until we’d settled this issue.

  “What do you want me to do, though?” He asked, that hint of defiance creeping back into his tone. “I already told you, I don’t have the money. I don’t have anything you’d want. I promise, Angel.”

  I shook my head again but didn’t speak as I took another step toward him. He backed up another step, and I followed his gaze as it flicked to the small end table at the end of the hallway.

  And to the pistol sitting there.

  Before he could make another move, I’d pulled my gun and pointed it at his head. Thankfully, he froze. We were in a small space at point blank range, after all. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to calculate his chances of winning that fight.

  “No, Calvin. Nope. Don’t even think about it.” There was a faint metallic taste as the adrenaline coursed through my veins, but my hand was steady and so was my voice. “You and I go way back, so don’t make me do this—”

  A scream from the top of the stairs cut me off and made us both jump, but I waited for Calvin to look away first before I took my eyes off him for a moment.

  The look of fear and panic on Bella’s face as she stood there looking down at us was enough to make me wince in actual, physical pain as my stomach clenched.

  “Kimbella,” Calvin’s voice rang out, a little too loud but more confident than he’d sounded the entire time. “Go back to your room and stay there until I come get you, okay?”

  “What the hell are you doing?” She completely ignored her father, her tear-filled eyes pinning me to the floor where I stood. “Why are you here? What’s going on?”

  “Bella, just do what your dad says and go back to your room.” I let my eyes flick from her back to Calvin. “This is just business. It’ll be over soon.”

  “No. No,” she wasn’t crying, but her voice was full of emotion as she started running down the stairs. “I’m not gonna let you hurt him. Get out.”

  I only had a few short seconds to decide what to do. I wasn’t going to hurt her—wasn’t even going to threaten her—but I had to make her stop, and I couldn’t risk taking my eyes or my gun off Calvin.

  “Move,” I gestured at Calvin with the gun. “Stop her. Now.”

  Thankfully, for once, he didn’t hesitate.

  Calvin moved to the bottom of the stairs just as she got to the last step, intercepting Bella and tucking her behind him as he turned to face me again.

  “Okay, look,” Calvin said, wide-eyed. “I don’t want any trouble. I don’t want any of this to happen. You can take what you want—anything—but I don’t have the money.”

  I clenched my jaw as I considered his words. There wasn’t anything he had that I wanted. I tapped my finger against the trigger of the gun that was still pointed directly at him.

  “I don’t need to walk around this condo to know that you don’t have anything I want,” I said.

  Bella peeked from behind her father’s shoulder, her dark, sexy eyes so full of anger and emotion as they burned into me. Fuck, the things I would do to her. With her.

  Maybe Calvin had something I wanted after all.

  “Well,” I gave a half-shrug, “I guess there is one thing I could take.”

  “What? Tell me,” he said. “Anything.”

  I could hear him speaking but I wasn’t looking at him anymore. My eyes were locked onto Bella’s, and in that moment I knew that she knew what I wanted.

  Her eyes widened in a flash of recognition as she partially stepped from behind her father, then narrowed, calculating as she looked me up and down.

  “If I go with you, you have to promise not to hurt him.” Her voice was quiet but firm, and she took a step forward. “I want your word.”

  I was speechless. I was half-joking when I even hinted at her coming with me… I didn’t think she’d actually volunteer.

  It had taken Calvin a minute to realize what was going on, but when he did, he looked just as surprised as I was feeling.

  “No,” he said. “No. No way I’m letting you take my daughter out of here, you son of a—”

  “Daddy, stop.” Bella put her hand on his arm and shook her head frantically, only looking back at me for a split-second with those big, fearful eyes before turning her attention back to Calvin. “Don’t you see there’s no other way? There’s no other choice here. I have to do this.”

  Seeing her plead with her father was hitting me hard. I didn’t want her to beg—not like that, anyway. I didn’t want her to feel completely trapped. I wasn’t a fucking monster. But she was right that Calvin was quickly running out of options, and it had gone way too far to simply turn around and walk away.

  His debt had to be settled. Today. Now.

  “There’s always a choice,” I said, finally. I was looking directly at her, but I meant the message to be for both of them. “You don’t have to do this, Bella. You don’t have to pay for his bad choices. He’s the one who owes the debt. He’s the one I came to collect from. You can walk away from all of this right now and I swear to God I won’t hurt you.”

  “And what?” She hissed, nearly spitting the last word. “Let you kill him? That’s not a choice.”

  “It was his choice,” I repeated, raising my voice and shaking my head. “Maybe it doesn’t make sense to you—and maybe it shouldn’t—but that’s the way this world works, and your dad knew that. He made his decisions willingly. He pays the consequences.”

  If my words meant anything to her, if they made any difference to her whatsoever, she didn’t let it show. She didn’t take her eyes off me, and when she spoke again, the fear in her voice was tempered with something else—a determination that wasn’t there before, that hadn’t ever been there as long as I’d known her.

  “If I come with you,” she began, nodding in my direction and speaking slowly and deliberately, “you’ll give him more time to pay? As much time as he needs?”

  Calvin shook his head again. “Kimbella—”

  “Wait, Daddy,” she ground out slowly, her eyes still laser-focused on me. “Let him answer.”

  “Yes,” I nodded. “I can agree to that.”

  “And you promise you won’t hurt him as long as I stay with you?”

  “Yes…”

  “You promise?” The desperation in her voice was back, but I could tell it was on
ly on behalf of her father. Her mind seemed to be made up about everything else. She was just ironing out the details.

  “I promise. I’ll give him more time.” I addressed Calvin directly. “If she comes with me, you can take as much time as you need. You bring me the money when you’re ready, and Bella comes home. That’s our new agreement. Take it or leave it.”

  “We take it,” she said, slowly walking forward to stand by my side.

  “Now, wait just a second,” Calvin started to protest a little, but the fight was gone from his voice. I could see it in his eyes that he knew it was the only way.

  Bella knew it, too. “Daddy, please… just say yes. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

  She was standing so close to me that I could feel the heat radiating from her body, and it struck me again just how determined she was, how headstrong and fiery. Her dad was a fuck-up, and I hated that she was going to pay for his mistakes, but there was no denying that my body was completely on board with the idea of having Bella under my roof, within sight anytime I wanted.

  I didn’t fool myself enough to think that she’d be completely under my control, though. She’d made it clear by her actions today that she knew what she was doing and was in charge of her own life, her own destiny.

  This would just be another challenge for her, but if she thought she was going to call all the shots once we were alone together, she was in for a surprise.

  I lowered my gun and raised an eyebrow questioningly, expectantly. “Well, Calvin? What’s it gonna be? Your daughter seems to have it all figured out. Do you agree?”

  He hesitated, and for a moment I wondered if he’d offer up another half-hearted protest. He didn’t wanna die, though, and his will to live apparently outweighed any sense of moral outrage he felt about my agreement with his daughter.

  “Okay,” he said. “If I have your word that you won’t hurt her, I’ll agree.”

  Even though he was in no position to demand anything from me, I could easily and gladly give my word on that condition.

  “I won’t hurt her,” I said, meaning it. “I won’t do anything to her that she doesn’t want me to do.”

  They both gave me a startled look. I don’t think either of them expected me to go that far with my promise, but it had still been an easy promise to make. I had no intention of hurting her, and absolutely no intention of forcing myself on her.

  No, neither of those things would happen. But I knew for sure I’d still end up getting what I wanted, getting her naked and on her knees in front of me.

  The difference?

  She was going to beg for it.

  “Well?” I asked, ready to be done and out of there. “What’s it gonna be?”

  Calvin took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Fine. I’ll accept your offer.”

  Bella also let out a long, slow breath at the news, and I could feel a little bit of the tension leave the room as I crossed the short distance to shake hands on the deal we’d just made.

  With that handshake, it was official. Bella would be my guest until Calvin could come up with the money. And until then, I had no further business with him.

  I turned to her and nodded in the direction of the stairs. “Go get your clothes together and come right back down here. You’ve got ten minutes.”

  She hurried to do what I’d demanded and Calvin stood aside to let her pass. None of us exchanged another word, not even another look. And anyway, there really wasn’t anything left to say.

  The deal had been made.

  For her sake, I truly hoped Calvin came through on his end and didn’t keep me waiting too much longer.

  At the same time, a part of me wanted him to take all the time in the world.

  Either way, Bella was mine for now.

  Kimbella

  As I hurriedly, furiously went through my closet to pick out enough clothes for… however long I might be staying with Angel, I felt the tears that I’d been struggling to hold back finally start falling down my cheeks.

  I was scared.

  And angry.

  And… maybe a little excited, even though I never would’ve admitted that out loud—could barely even admit it to myself.

  I threw a bundle of clothes into the suitcase that was sitting open on my bed and flopped down next to it, brushing away the tears with my palms.

  God, why had my dad borrowed money from Angel? Seriously? Of all people… Angel?

  Surely dad had known the guy was in the Mafia or… or something. Everything about the man oozed danger and mystery and pure sex.

  And now I had volunteered to step right into the viper’s pit. What had I been thinking?

  Oh, right. I’d been keeping my promise to my mom, trying to save my dad’s damn life. That’s all.

  I looked over at the clock on the nightstand next to my bed. Angel had given me ten minutes to get my things together, and I had no idea how long it had been, but I didn’t want to keep him waiting for too long.

  More importantly, I didn’t want to give him or my dad enough time to reconsider the deal they’d made—or worse, to start arguing again.

  There was no doubt in my mind that if I hadn’t gone downstairs when I did, that Angel would’ve killed him. I didn’t know if I’d be able to stop him twice in one day, if it came to that.

  I grabbed another armful of clothes and dumped them into the suitcase, hoping that the truce they’d agreed on downstairs would hold for at least a few more minutes, until I could get back down there and get Angel out of the house.

  My ten minutes had to be up, and I had to get the hell out of there. But as I zipped my suitcase and took a last look around for anything I might have missed, I couldn’t help but start crying again.

  Shit.

  I had to be strong. I damn sure wasn’t gonna let either of the men downstairs see me cry. I’d volunteered for what I was about to do, after all. It was time to just suck it up and get on with it.

  It would be for the best.

  And I knew damn good and well that it wouldn’t take long before I had Angel wrapped around my finger. With a little bit of luck—and a little bit of ass—I could probably even get him to go easy on my dad.

  That thought at least made me feel a little better. I knew my father wasn’t the best guy around. He wasn’t the best husband to my mom and he sure as hell wasn’t the best dad to me, but he was all I had left, and he was counting on me.

  I wasn’t going to let him down.

  With my mind made up, I grabbed my suitcase and walked out of my bedroom, turning the light off and shutting the door behind me. I didn’t know when I’d be back or what I was even getting myself into, but I was done being scared. I was done second-guessing myself.

  I was strong enough to face anything Angel could throw my way, and I knew that for a fact.

  By the time I made it to the staircase and saw Angel and my dad looking up at me, I’d wiped away the tears and replaced them with a smile.

  A fucking smile.

  If Angel wanted to play hardball, I could do that.

  Head games? Yeah, I could do that, too.

  Whatever it took to get my family—or what was left of it, at least—back on track.

  “Are you ready?” He asked, his voice low and serious.

  I didn’t answer him, instead choosing to keep my head up as I walked down the stairs and gave my dad a kiss on the cheek. “Bye, Daddy. I’ll be home soon.”

  He nodded but we both knew that when or if I could go home really would depend on how soon he paid off his debt. Still, we had to hope it would be soon, right?

  Finally, I turned to face Angel, my suitcase firmly in hand and the little smile I’d forced myself to fake back on my face. “I’m ready now.”

  Without another word, Angel took my free hand and ushered me out the front door—out my front door—and into his world.

  For better or worse, I was at his mercy now.

  It would be the most intense, and the most dangerous game we’d ever pl
ayed.

  For all the times over the years I’d seen Angel in my living room playing cards or watching TV with the guys, I’d never really thought about how his condo might look. I’d certainly never been there.

  It just wasn’t a thought that had crossed my mind.

  So when he unlocked the door and opened it to let me in, I was completely unprepared for what I just assumed would’ve been a mirror image of my family’s condo just across the courtyard.

  It definitely wasn’t that, though.

  Angel had clearly spent a lot of time and money remodeling from the original floor plan, because the space he lived in was light and bright and modern, with an open floor plan that flowed from the front door to the back wall, with nothing but modern lines and monochromatic whites, blacks, and grays to complement the view.

  “You’ve got a nice place,” I said, setting my suitcase down in the middle of the living room and just taking a look around. “It’s… definitely not what I had expected.”

  He laughed, a short little burst of air that seemed too loud and completely at odds with our calm, spacious surroundings. “What were you expecting? A dungeon?”

  I gave a half-shrug. “Maybe not a dungeon…”

  “I’m not that bad, Bella.” Angel’s voice was back to low and serious. “I hope you know that.”

  His eyes searched mine, but I didn’t know what he expected me to say. Just a little while ago, I’d walked in on him with a gun drawn on my dad.

  So… yeah. Dungeon wasn’t too far off the mark, in my opinion.

  Still, I needed to stay on his good side if any of this was going to work, and calling him an asshole or a mobster or a monster probably wasn’t the best idea.

  “Actions speak louder than words, Angel,” I said. My mouth apparently hadn’t received the memo about staying on his good side. But whatever. Fuck it. I was pretty sure he wasn’t gonna kill me. Not for that, anyway.

  “You’re right,” he said, surprising me. “And I don’t expect you to understand or to approve of what was going on earlier between me and your father. But I’m a man of my word, and I meant it when I said you’d be safe here.” He opened his arms to take in the entire space around us. “For now, I want you to make yourself comfortable. Make yourself at home. It doesn’t have to be all bad.”