Page 25 of UnWholly Angels
I sighed. “If I had an answer, I would tell you.” Turning back toward the window, I noticed a curious little bird was gone and wondered if she had heard us talking about her. One way or another, she’d give me the information I needed. I’d be damned if I was forced to face Rocco Vitale again because Maya got in over her head. “I’m going to kill him. I don’t know how yet, but he’s going to pay for ruining her,” I snarled.
“Are you sure about this? Not her, Rocco. I can’t watch you go away again,” Nick sighed sadly.
“It has to happen sooner or later, right? Best I get as much pussy as I can before I end up in the ground, or back in jail,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood.
At least with Maya's little stunt, I wouldn’t have to go searching for it.
Chapter Ten
Maya
The car jerked sharply, bringing me out of my dreamless sleep, and a long whistle sounded from the seat next to me.How long have I been out?Our bodies bounced as he made the trek up a long driveway. We must be at Riley’s house already, which meant he lived closer than I thought, or I was an insanely heavy sleeper. There I sat, speechless, while the car rolled over the gravel. Would Riley want to talk about what I saw tonight? I never thought Riley and Nick felt that way about each other, but I couldn’t deny how it made me feel, and how much I wanted to be in the garage watching Nick be used in such a carnal way.
“Riley?” He hummed, ready to answer my question when I shifted in my seat. “How long have you and Nick…been intimate with each other?”
“About five years now. Let’s table it for another day, please. It’s a long conversation that I do not have the energy to explainright now,” he replied bluntly, then came more silence. I was hoping that would open up a conversation. But that completely backfired. There was nothing left to do but stare out the windshield and let the melody of Hotel California blast in my eardrums as he turned it up to avoid more conversation.
My mouth gaped as his home came into view. It seemed so warm with a wrap-around porch and lights that lined the stone walkway, illuminating it against the darkness. Land that stretched into the nearby woods and no neighbors. It can’t be. It was—wait, why would he—it was the home we’d dreamt of…it was…him. It was…
“Go ahead, you can say it,” he interrupted my thoughts.
I drew this home; he built the home we imagined together. Yet, he’s been living alone here. So many bedrooms for one person.
“It’s so beautiful.” My voice was soft, and I gently reached for his hand, like I had wanted to in the car to break the silence so many times before I fell asleep to the music he had blasting.
I pushed down the tears when he pulled it away with a sigh, ignoring my attempt at comfort. “In booking, they took the picture from me. Joke’s on them because I’d already had it memorized brick by brick. Building this house was a painful reminder of what I lost. However, still a better alternative than not having a piece of you at all.”
We were both silent after that, grabbing the bags from the trunk and making our way into the foyer. Turning, he dropped the bags to the floor and faced me. Until now, we were just going through the motions, at least I was. I loved him once. There was a time when I wanted nothing more than to run my fingers through his sweaty hair after he scored the game winning goal. Then we would laugh all night long, wrapped up in each other on that stupid roof. No worries, no distractions, no Rocco. Just us against the world. Now, we had nothing.
This was real now, and Riley was standing here in the flesh. We were inches apart, unable to say anything at all, when once we could talk until the sun came up. I swallowed thickly as his eyes pierced mine, his mouth opening and closing in hesitation.
My mouth felt dry as I ripped my eyes away from him and faced the floor, watching my foot tap anxiously against it. There was a small food and water bowl on the floor shaped like a fish, and I bit back a grin. He has a cat. The awkward tension between us was too much. When Riley finally spoke, it was surprising. “So, what do we do here? I don’t want to just lay you out. Do you need to, like, eat or something?”
His stuttering and nervousness had given enough of a charge to giggle through the tension. “Riley, we ate already. I mean, I’m pretty sure we were in the same room. Unless you have a twin I never knew about.”
He exhaled a long sigh and threw his arms out to the sides, seemingly trying to figure out what to say next. “Bet you’d like that, so sorry to disappoint you. Just me and you,” he winked my way, and I scoffed.
“Your twin would probably fuck me better and be less arrogant. Guess I’ll never know,” I retorted with a smirk, and I crossed my arms and waited for him to make the next move.
Riley took his eyes off mine and cleared his throat, motioning to the stairs. “Your room is the second door on the left upstairs, you’ll uh…have a bathroom to yourself.”
I scoffed. “Just what I've always wanted, my own bathroom.”
Out of the corner of my eye, it wasn’t hard to miss the pained expression that painted his features, but in a flash, it turned angry, like he was a completely different person.
“Well, if you want to be ungrateful, then take one of the rooms without; I really don’t care. We are not sharing a bed. Now, I have practice tomorrow. I'm going to sleep,” he spat. Pushing past me, he grabbed one of the bags from the floor and madea beeline for the stairs, jogging up without another word, and I followed closely behind.
“Funny, I don’t remember you ever wanting to run away from your problems!” I yelled down the corridor, flinching when the door slammed so hard it shook the pictures on the wall. “I’m not even tired. What am I supposed to do? Can you at least show me around first, or like anything, so I’m not sitting and staring at four walls?” I’d be bored out of my mind, because I don’t fucking sleep. “Why did you bother participating in the auction if you were going to be an asshole the whole time and abandon me to fucking sleep!”
His booming laugh licked at my eardrums from behind his door, and I rolled my eyes, backing away to head down the hall. With a grimace, I reached for my own handle. The unmistakable sound of his door ripping back open sent chills down my spine as footsteps barreled down the hallway. My body tensed the closer he got, heart thrumming in my chest, and I found myself backed against the door, his hot breath fanning over my open neck and one arm braced against the wall caging me in.
He lowered his head to my ear. “Because I thought I was getting a shiny new toy. Instead, I got nothing more than sloppy seconds. My hard-earned money almost fell intohispocket.”
My shoulders deflated, the words branded onto my heart painfully. He was right; who would want someone so used and passed around? With a shuddering breath, I whispered, holding back the tears, “You’re right. Someone with your reputation should only have the best. Tell me this, then. Why even follow through in the first place? If money is all you need to be happy, then what the hell am I doing here?”
The largest knife pierced my heart, and it wasn’t even worth an explanation if that's what he thought of me. Slowly, my head raised to face him in confidence. Flashing a fake smile, I placedmy hand over his cold heart and pushed him away from me. “I don’t want protection from you. I can take care of myself.”
Ducking under his arm, I hurried to the room and slammed the door right in his face, making sure to twist the lock so he couldn’t barge in. The unmistakable sound of a hand resting on the door made my heart lurch, but he wouldn’t get away with what he just said to me. I had to push my feelings aside this time, waiting until he walked away. The echo of his footsteps left a hollow sound as they moved through the hall and back to his room, and I let out a breath. This time, his door shut softer, and I went over to the bed, sitting on the edge. My arms curled over my abdomen as a few tears slid down my face in silence.
