Page 99 of Angelic Vengeance

I’d now killed three men because of Maria, and all I could do was smirk at my handiwork in the dirty, basement mirror.

Using a wet cloth, I washed off any blood that had splattered onto my body, then put on a fresh, black shirt and threw my suit jacket over. I headed out, fixing my collar and watch.

Pushing the basement metal door open, I turned to the two men waiting outside. “Clean it up.”

“Yes, Boss.”

I jogged up the stairs, the only light provided by a single lightbulb in the whole cement underground structure. Pushing the fire exit door open, I rushed to my G-wagon, glancing at the sparkling city skyline on the other far side of the river.

Maria finished her shift at Renato at two in the morning, and I was supposed to pick her up. I checked the time: twenty past one in the morning – still had time.

Speeding out of the rundown parking lot, I made my way out of the industrial side of Brooklyn and rushed to Manhattan. That early in the morning, the roads were clear.

A week had passed since the bridge incident.

I didn’t think twice before jumping after her into complete darkness.

But it took way longer to find her than I would’ve liked to admit. I couldn’t see shit. My chest was spasming as I ran out of oxygen and tension built behind my eyes. I was frantically moving my hands through the water, blindly searching in the dark silence for any sign of her.Nothing.I started panicking.It wasn’t meant to end like that.I needed air, but I wasn’t going back up without Maria. I started seeing weird shapes and for a moment I thought that was it; we would both die down there, searching for each other. But then something brushed my hand andI felt her. I gripped her wrist in the dark, feeling her watch and nails, and I fought my way to the surface.

The way she clung to me as I swam both of us to the shore…Fuck. I felt my chest rip in half. I thought I’d wanted to see her weak, but I regretted it all. I wanted her strong. I wanted her fearless. I wanted her to be a force.

Are you hurt?

Holding her face in my hands once we made it onto land, and seeing how glad she was to see me… It altered the chemicals in my brain and I somehow only wanted to see her look at me like that.

Almost losing her in that dark abyss…

I feared nothing. I begged for nothing and no one.

But for the first time in my life, I’d been terrified. And I would’ve begged any God or supreme being if it meant they’d bring her back.

Just the idea of her in pain, let alone dead, brought an overwhelming amount of fear to my chest and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

I pulled into Renato’s underground parking ten minutes early. Once I got to the bar, I looked around butcouldn’t find Maria. She was probably getting her stuff from the back, so I ordered a drink and sat at one of the booths to wait for her.

I circled my glass, thinking of the past three months. The past two years.

I wasn’t sure the exact moment it happened, but I’d fallen for her. Hard.

Four days had passed since I’d finally won her over and earned the boyfriend title. The corner of my mouth tipped up slightly just thinking about it.

That’s not all there is between us and you know it.

Does this feel like nothing?

Only you do this to me,hermosa.

Give us a shot,baby.

I’m your first and last.

Maybe it was the way she understood me to a point that nobody else did, how the mere mention of her name brought a smile to my face, or just the way she looked at me.

Those goddamn eyes would be the death of me.

She was always meant to be with me. Nothing else could explain the raging need inside me to never let her leave me; even if she hated me for it.

But the most fucked up part about all of this? I actually understood her.

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