Page 73 of Raziel
His voice was low, hungry. “Kiss me,” he drawled.
I grabbed his tie, pulled him forward, and crushed my lips to his, letting the black diamond at my throat press against the heat of his chest. He kissed me back vigorously, his hands splayed wide across my back, keeping me suspended. I felt like I was in one of those dreams where gravity didn’t work the same.
The kiss was slow at first, then spiraled into something deeper, hotter—like we were both trying to swallow every word we hadn’t said. My lip gloss was everywhere, sticky and sweet, and when I finally pulled back to breathe, his mouth was smeared in it.
I reached up and wiped it off with my thumb, dragging it slowly across his bottom lip, smirking at the sight.
He stared back at me.
“You’ve changed, Ra,” I murmured, eyes locked on his. “I guess you want to like me now, huh?”
He didn’t answer right away. Just stared, eyes unreadable. Then he set me gently back on my feet, his hands lingering at my waist like he wasn’t ready to let go.
“You’re never going to let that go, huh?”
I shook my head. “We’ll be a hundred and I’ll be reminding you.” He let me drop then; it was a short distance to the floor, and I was able to maintain my footing. He laughed. He picked up his pistol from the drawer, sliding it into the holster on his back.
“Let’s go.”
The gala was a sea of strangers and wealth. I could feel the weight of a hundred stares, the whispered questions behind raised hands. Raziel’s hand was firm and possessive on the small of my back as he led me through the crowd. He introduced me toeveryone—judges, politicians, men with cold eyes and practiced smiles.
“This is Maya,” he’d say, his tone leaving no room for questions. Not my girlfriend, not my friend. Just Maya. A statement. A fact.
I told myself not to put too much thought into him not putting a title on what I was to him.
He was showing me off. Showing that I mattered. That my past didn’t. I was a trophy. A prize. I pasted on a smile, turned on the charm I’d learned from a lifetime of surviving, and played my part.
After what felt like an eternity, Raziel was pulled into a conversation with a gruff-looking man who looked like he ate people for a living. Raziel gave my waist a slight squeeze. “I’ll be right back. Don’t wander far.”
I nodded, needing a second to breathe. I excused myself and made a beeline for the ladies' room, the click of my heels echoing on the marble floor.
I was coming out, adjusting the strap of my dress, when an older woman stepped directly into my path.
“You,” she hissed, her voice low and venomous. Before I could react, she shoved me hard against the wall. My head snapped back, connecting with the plaster with a dull thud. “You ruined my daughter’s life, you little gutter rat!”
My vision swam for a second. Then, Alessia and three of her perfectly coiffed friends materialized, forming a little circle around me, blocking me from the main hall.
“Look what the trash dragged in,” one of them sneered, looking me up and down. “That’s a nice dress. Did he buy it for you after he paid your rehab bill?”
“Priest paid for my rehab, not Raziel.” I couldn’t help it.
Alessia stepped forward, her face a mask of pure hatred. “Do you think you’re special? Do you really think you could justtake my place? That you belong here with us?” She laughed, a brittle, ugly sound. “You’re a placeholder. A cheap distraction. He’ll get bored of you, and you’ll end up right back where you started. On your back.”
The other girls giggled, their eyes gleaming with cruelty.
“You keep saying that, but you’re the ones bitter and lonely now.”
“Shut up. You’re nothing,” Alessia spat, her voice dropping. “You’re a dirty secret he’s too ashamed to even properly claim. Nobody here knows who you are to him.”
Maybe that was the truth, maybe it wasn’t. I wasn’t going to debate it with her or dwell on it. But my heart was hammering against my ribs, a trapped bird. “Just leave me alone,” I muttered, trying to push past them.
Alessia moved. Her open palm cracked across my cheek with a force that brought instant, hot tears to my eyes. The sound echoed in the hallway.
“That’s for hitting me,” she seethed, her eyes wild. “And this is for thinking you could have what’s mine!”
One of her friends grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking my head back. Another shoved me. I stumbled, my arms flailing, the world dissolving into a blur. I wanted to beat their asses, but I didn’t want to fuck up anything for Raziel.
Then, suddenly, the pressure was gone.
