His Virgin Angel Read online

  Throughout the day, she was walking on cloud nine. Most of her assignments were completed, and it would be the end of the semester in a couple of weeks. Between work and Jack, it was a miracle that she’d been able to complete them.

  At Jack’s advice she’d canceled her classes with Marshall Rivers, and she was relieved by that. She loved English, and had hoped to develop that love someday, but she’d rather visit it another time instead of dealing with him, and his friend.

  She was happy that Jack didn’t think her stupid or silly for feeling nervous around the two men. Anyway, there was nothing she could do now.

  Piper did everything to avoid Marshall’s class, and when her last class of the day canceled, she made her way outside. Grabbing her cell phone, she switched it on and cursed. It was dead. She kept forgetting to charge the damn thing. It was becoming more of a chore than anything else.

  Heading around the side of the campus toward the phone box, she was about to open the door to the booth when someone grabbed her from behind.

  Before she had time to scream, a piece of cloth was pressed against her mouth. Darkness swallowed her.

  ****

  Marshall stared down at the address on his cell phone, and then up at the abandoned house. He didn’t get it. This was their old ranch house that his parents had owned years ago. In the middle of the night when he was still a boy, a drug bust had gone sour, and the whole place got blown up with bullets.

  His father was caught, and sent down. His mother had died during the drug bust, and from what he knew the house was taken from them, and was in the government’s hands or something like that.

  Ronald had sent him that damn message, and his gut was twisting right now.

  Entering the old house, memories flooded him, none of them good. This was why he never went hunting for Ronald. His brother had hunted him down for some stupid need to bribe land out of his enemy.

  Jack Sosa was not Marshall’s enemy, and he refused to be dragged down into some stupid street war.

  He was a teacher, an English professor, dammit, and he wouldn’t be dragged into the pits of hell by his brother hell bent on getting killed.

  “Ah, you made it. She should be waking up in a few minutes.” Ronald came out of what was once the sitting room.

  Following him, Marshall saw Piper chained to a metal post, unconscious.

  “What the fuck did you do?” he asked.

  “I took matters into my own hands. I can’t get in touch with Louisa. She’s either dead or betrayed me. With Jack coming to see you yesterday, I knew the latter had happened, so it’s time. This is Piper, the woman that is supposed to be Jack’s weakness. Should we wake her up?”

  Marshall grabbed his brother’s arm. “Ronald, what the fuck are you doing?”

  “I’m doing what needs to be done.”

  “Why are you so determined to have what belongs to Jack.”

  “Because it’s mine, and it was Dad’s!”

  “Dad was a petty fucking drug dealer. He didn’t have anything to his name because he was useless, Ronald. You need to take her back, and beg forgiveness.” Marshall couldn’t believe this was happening. He wasn’t an idiot, but when it came to his brother, he was out of his depth. He had truly believed that he’d be able to talk Ronald around to his way of thinking. Convince him to give up this need to hurt Piper and this desire to take stuff that didn’t belong to him.

  It was all for nothing.

  Ronald spat on the ground. “I will never beg that piece of shit for anything. I will have what is rightfully ours, and if Jack won’t give it to me, then I’ll take it.”

  Piper moaned, and started to wriggle on the floor where she lay. Marshall wanted her to stay asleep, to give him time to find some good in his brother.

  “Ah, the princess is waking up.” Ronald pulled out of his grip.

  The moment he was near Piper, she released a whimper, followed by a scream.

  Ronald slapped her across the face twice until she went completely silent.

  “You can scream all you want, but I don’t like the noise. I prefer silence when I’m talking, Piper.”

  “What do you want?” she asked. Tears shone in her eyes, and Marshall hated himself. He should have done what he could to protect this young woman. Instead, he’d helped his brother bring her to hell.

  “I want Jack Sosa.”

  “I don’t understand.” Her lip quivered.

  “You see, Jack has something of mine, and I believe you can help me get that back.”

  “I don’t—”

  Ronald pressed a finger against her lips, and Marshall watched her flinch away. This was a nightmare, plain and simple, and he’d helped.

  He was going to hell no matter what.

  Piper was a sweet woman, pure at heart, and he’d helped to taint that.

  ****

  Jack was going to kill Ronald, and the fucking teacher that had lured her there in the form of tutoring. He should have listened to his instincts and killed Marshall when he had the chance.

  “We’ll find her, boss,” Drake said.

  “Take me to Louisa now!”

  Grabbing his cell phone, he dialed Eric’s—his contact—number. “I want everything you can find on that asshole, Ronald. Also, find out what connects Marshall Rivers to him. I want this info in the next hour. Got it.”

  “Yes.”

  Hanging up the phone, he slammed his fist against the car, yelling as he did. Piper was in danger, and it was all his fault. Fuck! He didn’t even protect her. There was no way he was going to allow her to be hurt, yet he couldn’t stop it. He didn’t know where she was, or when she was taken, and that annoyed him.

  Drake didn’t say anything, and slowly, he started to calm down. Actually, he didn’t calm down. He was fucking angry, and ready to kill. Whoever stepped in front of him today was going to get hurt.

  “We’ll find her.”

  “Yeah, and when we do, what would they have done to her? We know what Ronald is capable of. I’ve seen the shit he can do first fucking hand, and that doesn’t fill me with a whole lot of confidence.” Gritting his teeth, Jack counted to ten, then to twenty, hoping at any point that he’d calm down. Nothing worked. “What would he want?”

  “We’re here at Louisa’s,” Drake said.

  He didn’t wait around. Climbing out of the car, he pulled out his gun, taking off the safety, and charging into Louisa’s building.

  Knocking on her door, he was aware of Drake following up behind him.

  Louisa opened the door with a smirk on her face. He saw she’d found some way to dope up. Wrapping his fingers around her neck, Jack pressed the gun against her temple. “Where the fuck is she?”

  “Jack!”

  Slamming her against the wall, he shoved the gun against her head.

  The door slammed closed behind him.

  “Where is she?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Tightening his hold on her neck, he cut off her air supply. “I’m not in the mood for your bullshit right about now. Where the fuck is Ronald?”

  Tears fell down her cheeks, and she started to sob. “You were supposed to be dead with her. I was going to be rewarded for following him.”

  “I suggest you tell me what the fuck you did,” he said.

  “He, erm, he wants what you have. He believes you stole his land, his business. Piper is a means to that end.”

  “Where would he keep her?”

  “I don’t know. He only wanted information on the two of you. He never told me anything else.”

  Jack stepped back, pointed the gun at her forehead, and fired. Before the body fell to the floor, he turned toward Drake.

  “Clean up this mess.”

  “Jack, you’ll find her.”

  “I know I will. My biggest problem is what I will find when I do.”

  Leaving the apartment, he ignored the stares, and focused on getting his shit together. His cell phone rang, and he saw it was Eric. “Talk to me.”<
br />
  “Marshall Rivers is Ronald’s brother, and his name is actually Ronald Rivers,” Eric said.

  “Are you fucking with me?”

  “No. They didn’t grow up together. The last time the brothers lived together was well over twenty years ago.”

  “He’s taken Piper. Where would he take her?”

  “There’s an abandoned ranch house about five miles out of the city. The news on this is Daddy River lost it when a drug deal went bad. Killed their mother, and put him in jail for life. Since then, Ronald has been trying to take after his father.”

  “Not succeeding. He wants what he can’t have.”

  “I’d put money that he’d be there. The connection is lost, but you have me, and I’m awesome.”

  Letting out a sigh, Jack rubbed at his eyes. “That’s where he’d be. Thank you, Eric. I’ll pay double this time.”

  “This is no charge. He took Piper, and I’ve been to Exquisite. She’s a sweetheart. Just make her safe, and we’ll call it even.”

  Eric hung up the phone, and Jack didn’t take time to think about those words. Climbing into the car, he got the directions toward the old ranch, and followed his cell phone as he told him to take different turns. He wasn’t going to lose Piper.

  ****

  “It’s really true what they say about you,” Ronald said, kneeling down before her.

  Piper had been able to sit up, and now she was hugging the pole that she was tied to for a lifeline.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Ronald,” Marshall said.

  Like so many times, Ronald ignored him. “They say you don’t have a clue about your boyfriend, and it’s true. You don’t know what a monster he is, or what he does.”

  “I have no idea who you are. Jack’s a good man. You have to have him confused with someone else.”

  Ronald threw his head back and laughed. “So deluded. I think I see why he loves her. It’s so much easier to fuck them when they’re completely dumb.”

  She didn’t let his words hurt, or at least she tried not to let them hurt, which was next to impossible to do. His words hurt.

  Jack wasn’t who he said he was?

  No, that couldn’t be possible. Jack wouldn’t lie to her. He was a good man.

  Is he now?

  Piper paused as she started to wonder what she actually knew about Jack. Other than his kindness to her, and his investment at the restaurant, she didn’t have a clue.

  “You’re starting to see it now.”

  “Ronald, you don’t need to do this. Leave the girl, call Jack, and we can run,” Marshall said.

  “Shut up.” Ronald turned back to her. “You ever wondered what happened to your mother, to her boyfriends, or to anyone that could cause you harm?”

  She shook her head.

  “Jack killed them all. It’s how I knew the best way to get to him was through you. For some strange reason, you’re Jack’s weakness, and I do actually find that really hard to believe. You’re not sexy. You’re not like the other sluts he dates.”

  Tears spilled down her cheeks as he continued to insult her.

  He grabbed her hair, making her cry out. Pulling her up to her feet, he pressed her face against the bar. Pain exploded against her head.

  “Ronald, stop!”

  Marshall grabbed his brother, and she collapsed onto the floor, trying to curl herself up. She was terrified.

  Staring up at the two men, she saw Ronald had the gun pointed at Marshall.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Marshall asked.

  “You’re getting in my fucking way.” Ronald shrugged. “I thought you were my brother.”

  “I am your brother. What you’re doing is wrong. She’s an innocent.”

  Ronald burst out laughing. “The books have gone to your thick fucking head. There is no innocence in this world.”

  “I can’t let you kill her.”

  “Oh, Marshall,” the gun went off, “you don’t have a choice.”

  Piper screamed as she Marshall fell to the floor with a single bullet through his head. Holy crap, she’d just witnessed a murder.

  “Now, we’re alone, we can have a little more fun.” Ronald bent down, unlocking the cuffs that secured her to the metal pole. He pulled her up, and suddenly she was thrown against an old stuffy sofa. Dust exploded out of it, and she screamed as Ronald’s intentions became clear. He attacked her clothing and started at her jeans. Every time she tried to wriggle away, he kept hold of her.

  He punched her in the stomach, making her gasp.

  “Let’s see what is so special about your tight little cunt.”

  She screamed, begging for him to stop.

  What she didn’t expect was the gun pressed to Ronald’s head, and the next second it going off. Blood sprayed on her face, and she panicked as his lifeless body collapsed on top of her.

  Jack pushed him off, and she couldn’t take it. She stared at Jack with the gun in his hand, and everything that had just happened to her hit her.

  She stepped back, and the whole world went black.

  ****

  Jack saw the fear in her eyes, and it was like a punch to the gut. When he saw her body start to give up the fight, he grabbed her as she fainted.

  “I’ve got you.” He stroked her cheek feeling the overwhelming flood of emotion. She knew the truth now, or Ronald’s twisted concept of the truth.

  “I followed you,” Drake said, making him turn.

  “What about Louisa?”

  “I have people I trust, and I figured you’d put yourself in harm’s way trying to get to Piper.”

  “He was trying to rape her. I used his violence against her to kill him. He was too distracted to even hear me turn up.” Carrying her out to the car, Jack turned back to the house. “The bodies need to disappear.”

  “There’s fuel in the back of the car I took,” Drake said, already walking toward it. For the next few minutes, they covered the house in as much fuel as they needed. Jack stared down at the corpses of Ronald and Marshall. There was no remorse at the deaths he’d caused. He was pleased both men wouldn’t live to see another tomorrow.

  Chapter Ten

  Piper woke with a gasp as she sat up on the sofa. She recognized her apartment, and glancing down at the clothes she wore, she saw she’d been changed.

  “I burnt the others. You were out completely. I was a little worried,” Jack said, sitting on the coffee table in front of her.

  This was a man who had killed, and she should be afraid of him, terrified. Staring at him, all she wanted to do was throw her arms around him, but she didn’t.

  He killed people.

  Jack sighed. “I was always hoping to avoid this.”

  “Avoid what?”

  “The way you’re looking at me. I never thought I’d hate someone being afraid of me, but with you, yeah, it fucking sucks.”

  Tears filled her eyes, and before she could stop them, they cascaded down her cheeks. When he made to touch her, she flinched away, and she hated herself.

  He looked hurt by her action. “I should have expected that.”

  “Jack—”

  “It’s okay. Guys like me should expect this. I mean, we’re not allowed to have the good girl, the angel, are we?” He sounded so distant and in pain.

  “I don’t know what you want from me.”

  “To hear my side. You’ve only heard Ronald’s side, and he’s been my enemy for a long time.”

  “You killed people?”

  “Yeah, I’ve killed people. In my defense, they were all bad.”

  “What about my mom?”

  He looked down, and she just knew.

  “Ronald said that you hurt people that hurt me.”

  “No one was ever allowed to touch you.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Because you were completely fucking innocent, Piper. Not just because you were a virgin. In your mind, in your heart, you cared for fucking strangers. The day
I met you, I was sitting on those steps because the woman I was with had cheated on me, betrayed me, and I was waiting for the guys to do the cleanup.”

  “The cleanup?”

  “You’re not stupid, Piper, you know what I mean.”

  “Wow.” On that day she’d tried to offer a killer comfort. Why did it hurt so much? And why did she still want to throw herself into his arms, and forget about everything? She wasn’t afraid of him.

  Shouldn’t she be afraid of a man that killed people?

  “I was this man for a long time, Piper. This is the only way I know how to be.”

  “Are you like a crime person, a bad guy, I don’t know,” she said.

  “I own brothels, deal drugs, deal guns, fights, and I even own a few restaurants.”

  “So yes.” She wiped away the tears.

  “I grew up on the streets, Piper. I know how to play dirty, and to make money out of it. I’m not a good man. I never claimed I was, and the only good thing I ever did was protect you and Brian.” He took her hands, and she didn’t pull away from him. “I don’t love anyone. Never have, never wanted to. When you came along, I didn’t even care about anyone. You changed me, Piper. I love you with all my heart, and knowing you were gone, I was the worst kind of animal possible.”

  “Jack, I don’t—you love me?”

  “Yes, I love you.”

  “I need time,” she said. “This is a lot to process.”

  “I understand.” He got to his feet, and she followed him, standing up. “Brian will be home in an hour. I think we’ll hold off on moving in together.”

  She bit her lip as the pain struck her hard. They were going to move in, have a life, and he said that he loved her.

  “Jack,” she said, stopping him as he went to open the door. “I love you, too.”

  “And you need time.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry, and while we’re talking about truths here, you’ll never hear from Louisa again.”

  “Because of the slap?” she asked.

  “No, because she’s the reason Ronald got his hands on you. She had to go.”

  He opened the door, and in the next second he was gone. She couldn’t tell Brian about what was happening. Moving through the apartment that Jack had put her in four years ago, the tears continued to fall down her face. No matter how many times she tried to wipe them away, they kept coming back.