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Angela ShynaSeems the cat is out of the bag
ANGELThe mansion looked exactly the way it did before I left.But it felt different.Or maybe I was different.Vincent carried me through the front doors despite my protests and didn’t set me down until we reached his bedroom.“Rest,” he said, lowering me onto the bed like I was made of porcelain. “I need to handle some things. I’ll be in my study.”His study was just the next door.“What things?”“Business stuff.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead, his lips warm against my skin, “It’s just a few calls. Nothing you need to worry about.”He left. I looked around Daddy’s room. The massive bed with its dark sheets. The heavy curtains blocking out the late evening sun. It sort of felt like a dream, all those times I dreamt about being back here, surrounded by the familiar scent of Daddy’s cologne soaked into every surface.I snooped around a bit, I just wanted to see what Daddy had been up to while I’d been away. My things were still here. My pajamas in his wardrobe, folded neatly on t
ANGEL Standing behind me. Daniel. His grey eyes bright with amusement. Blood on the suit he’d worn for our wedding. Bullet holes that should have killed him, that did kill him, that couldn’t have killed him because he was here. That smile. That unhinged, crazy smile that said he knew something I didn’t. “Miss me, Angel?” I spun around. Nothing. Empty bathroom. Marble tiles gleaming under the bright lights. No one there. My breath was coming too fast, too shallow, black spots dancing at the edges of my vision. I blinked hard and inhaled deeply, filling my lungs with air that tasted like antiseptic and soap. Snap out of it, Angel! I slapped my cheek twice. Hard enough to sting. He’s not real. He’s not real. He’s dead. Vincent killed him. I watched him die. I turned back to the mirror. He was still there. Closer now. Right behind my shoulder. His lips near my ear, close enough that I could have sworn I felt his breath. “I told you I’d always come back.” His voice was a
ANGELThe doctor finally approved my discharge.I was healed to some reasonable extent, at least from the bullet wound. The stitches in my palm had dissolved, leaving behind a scar that would fade with time—a permanent souvenir of my own stupidity. But I was far from fine.Something was wrong. It had been eating at my sanity for the past days, gnawing at the edges of my mind like a rat trapped inside my skull.Physically and psychologically.One of my concerns was that something was wrong with the baby.It should have been easier to ask the nurses—they came and went often enough, checking vitals, adjusting my pillows, and giving me their usual professional smiles. The problem was that I didn’t want to say anything with Daddy nearby.And Daddy was always nearby.He hadn't left the room since we arrived. Sleeping in that uncomfortable chair by my bed when he slept at all, which wasn’t often. Watching me with those dark, intense eyes that tracked my every movement like I was prey that
ANGEL The beach house was exactly as I remembered it. Salt air filled my lungs and waves crashed somewhere in the distance, a rhythmic lullaby that should have been soothing but felt off-key. I was standing in the living room, the place where Daniel had proposed. How did I get here? I looked down. The wedding dress! I was wearing the wedding dress again, the fabric heavy, dragging against the floor, and pooling around my feet. I tried to move. My feet wouldn’t cooperate. “DID YOU REALLY THINK A FEW BULLETS WOULD STOP ME, BABY GIRL?” My heart stopped. I knew that voice. Knew it in my bones, in my blood, in the deepest parts of me. I turned around slowly. Daniel was standing in the doorway. His grey eyes glinted in the dim light, possessive and utterly unhinged. My blood ran cold. “You’re dead,” I whispered. “Daddy killed you. I watched you die!” “Did you?” He cocked his head, curious. Amused. “Are you sure about that, Angel? Are you sure about anything anymore?” He ste
VINCENT She looked like she was sleeping. That’s what I told myself as I sat beside her hospital bed, watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Just sleeping. She was only resting after a long journey. Any moment now, she’d open her eyes and smile at me and everything would be okay. It was easier than the truth. The truth was that I’d watched my daughter put a gun to her head. I’d had a split second to make an impossible choice—and I’d made it. I’d shot my own daughter to save her life. My bullet through her hand instead of hers through her skull. Her hand was bandaged now, wrapped in white gauze that was too clean for the violence it concealed. The bullet had gone clean through, the doctors said, but there’d been no permanent damage. She’d heal. She’d be fine. She’d be fine. I kept telling myself that, over and over, like a desperate incantation against the darkness that kept threatening to swallow me whole. But every time I closed my eyes, I saw it again. Her face,
ANGEL . . .‘I’ll love you until he comes.’ I’d said that once. In the dark, wrapped in Daniel’s arms, believing it completely. Believing that my love for him had an expiration date I could control. No one told me that when the moment came, my heart would cave in two. One half dying with Daniel. The other diving toward Vincent. I was losing both of them. I was losing myself. Daniel stared at the ring in the sand. At the blood spreading across his chest, dripping down onto the pristine white grains. His gaze found mine once again. And he smiled. “Okay,” he said softly, almost to himself. “Okay. I understand now.” He reached into his jacket—Vincent’s men tensed, weapons raised, shouts filling the air—and pulled out another gun. Smaller. A backup piece he’d kept hidden. Another shot fired from Vincent’s direction. A half scream tore from my throat as another red flower bloomed on Daniel’s chest, it seemed Daddy was determined to destroy his heart. Daniel staggered, his knees b
ANGELDr Moreau’s office smelled like chamomile tea. I hated it even before my ass touched the chair.The woman was exactly what I expected. Her dark hair was pinned into a strict bun, her reading glasses dangling on her nose. She was wearing a silk blouse that was buttoned all the way to her thro
VINCENT The next morning, I prepared breakfast, grateful for the routine. The eggs were scrambled exactly how she used to like them. The toast cut diagonally. Fresh fruit arranged on the plate. A glass of milk because she needed the calcium. Normal things that a father would do for his daughter.
ANGELEverywhere we went, Vincent’s eyes followed me. Too close. Dark and watchful. It was almost like he was expecting me to do something crazy at any given moment.Maybe I would.I’d just wanted to get somewhere I could breathe without feeling his presence in every corner. But he wasn’t even a
ANGEL“You won’t do it,” I challenged, sitting up slowly. My shirt had ridden up, exposing the strip of stomach above my shorts. I didn’t fix it. “You’re not like Daddy.”I was using Daniel’s ghost like a blade. “Daddy wouldn’t give warnings like you, he’d have already spread me open with his bare







