Angelica Sometimes things didn’t go as planned—but that wasn’t always a bad thing. Right now, for example. I had planned to get Yakov involved in helping Uncle Nikov escape. I had already drawn the best plan to distract the Arcieros. I would create something to distract Giancarlo and then I would ask Curtis on a date to last the whole weekend. Since none of them knew about the dungeon, they wouldn’t know a prisoner had escaped. But then, Millie happened. She thwarted the entire plan by bringing the dungeon that was not so secret anymore to Curtis’s attention. I wasn’t mad about it. She had also created the perfect way out for me. I let out a long, dramatic sigh. “Talk to me, baby.” Curtis crooned, falling right into it. “I never told you who Spider really is…” I started. “It wasn’t my tale to tell. It still isn’t now, but..” I bit my bottom lip. “He’s a Kastellanos. His real name is Adrian Kastellanos and the man you found is his uncle Nikov.” “Uncle?” I nodded. This was whe
Angelica “Fuck, Angelica!” His voice rumbled through the room amid the sensual tune while I pumped faster. My body was trembling and I knew my climax was dangerously close. “Curtis,” I moaned. A bang snapped me out of it and when I looked over at him, my jaw dropped. He had pulled the chains off along with the pieces of metal that kept them attached to the back of the chair, and was now using the key to unlock them from his hands. My first instinct was to jump off the couch and flee. He caught me at the second step and shoved me against the arm of the couch. “You should have run faster.” I heard the buckle of his belt and then he rubbed my ass with his palm and I didn’t know what to expect. “I want to spank you so hard for pulling that on me.” He growled, his lips against my ear. He did just that. His palm landed on my ass, the sting making pleasure course through me. He rubbed the spot he had just spanked to soothe it, right before he landed another smack in the same spot. If
Angelica “Crystal?” I walked over to the shocked woman. She looked like she had a dozen questions to ask me but I beat her to it. “When you say you see me in the stars, what exactly do you mean?” She stared at me blankly. I ran a hand through my hair helplessly. “I really need to know. It’s important.” For a woman who was so hell-set on telling me about the stars she kept seeing me in, she was quite uninterested in explaining when I needed to know the whole truth. I pulled a stool to sit opposite her. “What about when you call me Hyacinth?” That seemed to pull her from whatever universe she was lost in a moment ago. She studied me closely and shook her head. “You said you’re not her.” “But do I look like her?” I questioned. I already knew the answer to that but I needed her to remember. Instead, I remembered she had taken her medicine and groaned inwardly. Just great. If Uncle Nikov was right about Fergus deliberately messing up with her head so no one would believe what she s
Curtis“Hey, baby.” I snaked my arm around Angelica’s waist and pulled her closer to kiss her when I got back home. It had been four days since Autumn was arrested and I had spent most of my time at either Inferno or Arciero industries. Giancarlo was slumped with work too—Autumn had more influence in the company than we thought. We had ignored her presence earlier but now that she was behind bars, Giancarlo’s already hectic workload had significantly increased. Unless I wanted my brother to end up replacing my mother in SSP, I had to help him out. Not that my workload at Inferno decreased any. Instead, aside from finding a vial I recognized all too well in Autumn’s dresser, I also discovered Giancarlo had found out something he wasn’t telling me. I had a feeling it was related to the assassin I was trying so hard to find, the Angel of Death. Knowing him, he was waiting until he was certain of the information he had before telling me about it. Not that it made me any less on edge.
Angelica Crystal Yenin? The feud between the Arciero family and the Bratva was starting to make sense. Crystal’s maiden family was the Yenin family? The Bratva? I certainly had lived long enough. I had come to Crystal’s gallery to check out what other clues I could have overlooked in my previous search. I scoured the paintings and I did find something. Every time Crystal had painted something against the starry night sky, they were the same stars in each of them. It was easy to assume that was her impression of the stars—it wasn’t easy to find a relationship unless you were looking for a pattern. And this particular pattern was tattooed on my torso. It was the same constellation—Lyra. The very constellation my sister was named after. I didn’t know Mama knew so much about stars. There were many names related to stars that she could have given my sister but knowing her, there was a very high chance she researched what constellation was in the sky that night if she wanted to give h
AngelicaThere was no point arguing with him. If he was trying to use my identity as leverage, he had done enough research to be certain he was right. He wouldn’t risk it blowing up in his face. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to admit the truth or keep denying it either.“What gave me away?” I asked. He smirked. “I must admit, you are quite good at covering your tracks. Not even I could dig them up. But then, there is no skeleton in any closet that would stay hidden for long if I’m doing the digging.”“But it took you a whole month, Giancarlo.” I mocked. It wasn’t the smartest thing to do right now, and I also knew he had only managed to uncover it because The Viper let him.However, he proved me wrong.“And you have your dear aunt to thank for the fact that I discovered it.”I frowned. Aunt Aria? That couldn’t be right.He must have been reading my mind because he laughed. “No, silly. Your other aunt. Dahlia St. Clair. Ring a bell?”I blanked out. I didn’t even know I had an aunt called
Curtis “I shouldn’t have snooped.” She bit her lip. I ran my thumb across it to free it from her teeth. She knew it drove me crazy when she did that and I needed my mind clear for this conversation. “You shouldn’t have.” I agreed with her. “I’m sorry,” she said again. She was not going to reveal who she was working for, was she? But again , I wasn’t certain she was working for anyone. It was just an assumption I had made to explain how suspicious she’d been acting. There was a chance she was on her own. But what would she gain from that, exactly? “Who do you answer to? When you snoop around and get secrets about the Arciero family, who do you tell them to?” “No one.” She looked hurt that I would even ask. “I’m not working for anyone.” I thought of a possibility. “But Spider is working for someone, isn’t he? Do you tell him all your findings to make his work easier?” She shook her head.“Tell me the truth, Angelica.” I demanded. “I’m not a spy.” She insisted. I looked into he
AngelicaI felt sick. I should be enjoying the picnic Curtis prepared but I could barely stomach it. He wanted to take me out on a date but I made up something about promising to have dinner with Nana, so he opted for a picnic in my favorite part of the backyard. The gazebo was my favorite part of the mansion and quite possibly my best place in the whole world. It overlooked the fountain and was close enough that I could hear the roar of the water while I sat or slept on one of the plush couches. It reminded me of home, especially with all the flowers and plants nearby. Curtis was sitting next to me on one of the couches. When he took out the assortment of cookies he had packed into the basket, I wanted to heave. “Are you okay?” He asked, probably seeing how restless I was. I nodded and lied. “Just tired, that’s all.” I watched as he opened a bucket with a hefty amount of ice cubes and a bottle slotted into the ice. I blinked. “Champagne?” “We didn’t get to celebrate our weddin