Page 49 of The Merciless

“What?” she asked, laughing as he hovered and stared. His gaze dipped to the necklace around her neck, a soft look entering his eyes as he feathered a finger over the glass shard,

“Nothing.” He answered and looked back at her, “It’s just,”

Ray hummed and wrapped a hand around his neck, the other dragging through his hair, “What?” She asked softly and watched his face soften,

“You’re real, right?”

She pressed her hand against his chest, and whispered,

“Every singleinch.”

His lips pulled into a grin that destroyed her heart. Ray laughed, and then groaned. Because he was so close. And she had fuckingbusinessto mention. With what will she didn’t know, she looked away from his lips and said, “But,”

“I hate but.”

“Shut up.”

He laughed and she shook her head,

“I came here to tell you something.”

His eyes crinkled, a smirk stretching his lips as he flopped down on the bed beside her with a muted groan, “Are you sure?” he teased and Ray went up on her elbows to face him, “Could’ve had me fooled,”

He cut off with a laugh as Ray smacked his chest, her gaze fixating on those dimples. It’d been a while since she’d seen them. She extended her arms now, her index fingers brushing over that indent before moving up to push back the locks of his hair. Angel relaxed under her touch, his eyes falling shut as he breathed out, his chest hollowing with the action,

“Do you remember the first group you brought down?” Ray began quietly, and Angel hummed distractedly, leaning into her touch. She bit her lip, wanting to do nothing but stop talking. He must’ve noticed because his lips quirked at the edge, his eyes still shut as he teased,

“Tell me what’s going on in that mind of yours.” He said instead and Ray flicked his forehead, enticing a beautiful chuckle from his lips.

“Do you remember or not?”

His eyes opened then, a sort of laziness blazing through them as he nodded, “I do. They were notorious back then.” He said, “Bringing them down was like debuting as an official player in the world.”

“I know.” She replied softly and he moved closer, suddenly attentive to her tone, “It was in the beginning when I was working for the Lions, in the underworld, looking for ways to make my mark.”

“Before you got in their bad favor?”

Ray nodded, but she wasn’t really sure of anything anymore.

Angel’s gaze flickered but he nodded, nudging her to continue.

“Their symbol,” she said, flopping down beside him to stare up at the ceiling, “Do you remember it?”

“I–” his brows furrowed, “Where is this going?”

Ray heaved a breath but moved to get off the bed. Angel watched her, not saying a word as she stepped into the washroom in search of her phone. Fished it out of the pants that were now lying on the floor and opened the image up before she stepped out. Ray almost stopped short when she saw that he was sitting upright now, at the edge of the bed with his hands laced together.

He lifted his head when she neared him. Ray extended her phone in his direction, and he grabbed it out of her hands, his eyes flaring wide at the image,

“This–” he began and shook his head, “These are the five sites I sent you?”

Ray nodded, “I placed them together to see if they were some sort of trap and,” she paused, gnawing at her nails, “Well, now it seems like a trap.”

“It already was one when I got to know the sites aren’t placed around the world.” He murmured and looked up at her, “And the symbol. It’s close.”

Ray’s gaze flickered and he looked back down at the image, his shoulders stiffening, “I mean, a cross–”

“Multiplication sign.” Ray muttered and was relieved to see his lips lift in amusement,

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