His mind wandered back to more pleasurable things. The way Angel had been on her knees, or how her skin was softer than the finest silk. She wouldn’t be going out for a few days with the visible bruising on her beautiful face. His fists ached to pound something or someone for what had been done to her. That meant he wouldn’t get to see her as much as he wanted, or, hell, as much as he needed.
“Fuck,” he muttered, noticing the time. The doors to the club would be opening in less than four hours. No time for a fill-in meant no time for him and Angel. “Fuck.”
“Language, Ren. I mean, really, there could be children.” Gia tsked.
His sister strolled in like she owned the place, chewing the ever-present bubblegum. She really was a knockout. From the nonchalant attitude, he surmised she was unaware of the events taking place in their family. The day just kept getting better and better.
After he’d left Angel with Gia, he’d been sure they’d be holed up together for the day and possibly even the night. Obviously, he was wrong.
Gia ignored the two comfy chairs on the other side of his desk, strolled around to his side, and, plopping her bum on his desk, she kicked her legs back and forth.
“Please, make yourself at home.” He waved his hand at her.
“Why, Ren. Is that sarcasm I hear?” Her grin flashed.
“Did you have a nice visit with Angel?”
Gia balled her hands into fists. “That fuck-nut of an ex needs his ass whipped. If I ever see him, I swear, I’ll do more than twist his balls.”
Lorenzo reached for her hands before she punched him in the nose. “Honey, you need to stay out of it. I won’t have another person I love getting hurt by some psycho.”
“So you love my girl, do ya?” Her dark eyes saw way too much
“Caught that, did ya?” At her nod, Lorenzo smiled.
Twisting her hands out of his, she pinched his chin between two fingers, reminding him so much of their mother. “Good for you. She’s loved you for like ever.”
“That would’ve been nice to know, say like five years ago.” He mimicked her sarcastic tone, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“What are you gonna do about it?” Gia asked, one sculpted eyebrow rising.
He realized she still had no idea about the problems in their own family and hated to burst her happy mood, but it needed to be done. If he just spit it out, it would be like ripping a Band-Aid off—the faster you did it, the less painful it was. Yeah, that only worked in make-believe.
In typical Gia fashion, her eyes filled with tears that couldn’t be stopped. Her chin quivered and then she sobbed her little heart out all over his shoulder. He cradled her like he’d done when she was a child, and waited out the storm. Again, in typical Gia style, once the tears dried, she would get mad, and then she’d ask what she could do to help.
God, but he loved his family.
His best friend and business partner was only too happy to take care of what needed to be done with their club, Miami Inferno. Now, he just needed to find time to see Angel.
Chapter Nine
The guest house was starting to feel like a prison. Even the custom designed studio seemed to close in on her. To put it in blunt terms, she was ready to tear her hair out, and Lorenzo had only been gone for a few hours.
Her BF was ready to fly to LA and kick some ass, her own words, and she loved her for it. The idea of Gia facing Andrew made her stomach roll, though, and a cold sweat broke out all over her body.
“What the fuck. I don’t sweat, dammit,” she said to no one in particular.
It made her feel better to say things out loud. Some of the best ideas she’d ever had came from just such times.
The damp strands of her hair reminded Angelina she needed to get dressed and go up to the main house. If she wasn’t there by suppertime, her mother would storm down and drag her there. Putting on makeup would be a complete waste. Although the swelling had gone down, the colors seemed to multiply and spread. Her cheek was still sore to the touch. Ow, shit, that hurt.
She found the bottle of pain meds in her bag and shook one out. Not wanting to take a whole one, she broke it in half and put the other half back inside. The instructions said to take with food, but Angelina didn’t want to wait. The thought of the pain from the previous night was too fresh. Popping the little pill in her mouth, she downed half a bottle of water.