Making Angel (Mariani Crime Family Book 1) (14 page)

CHAPTER TWELVE

Markie

A
RIANA SULKED DURING the ride to the restaurant. Before we’d gotten into the Hummer, my drug-dealer-dating sister had pulled
me
aside and questioned the wisdom of my decision to get into a vehicle with two strange men. Something inside of me snapped, and I reminded her it wasn’t our first drive with them. Also, since neither Angel nor Bones had given her crap-lousy drugs and left her to die, they were both way ahead of Matt in the human race.

I regretted the comment about Matt. Not because it was wrong, but because it was mean. Ariana had made some big mistakes, but she was young and vulnerable, and no matter how much of a slimeball Matt was, she clearly had feelings for him. I needed to be more thoughtful of those feelings. Even if I wanted to throat punch the jerk.

Angel drove the four of us to a dilapidated, red-brick, mixed-use building in a rough-looking neighborhood. He parked his shiny black Hummer next to a rusty Ford truck which had to be older than I was.

“Here?” Angel asked. “Seriously?”

Bones stared at the front door of the restaurant like it was edible. “Oh, hell yeah,” he said, unbuckling his seat belt.

Movement in front of the restaurant drew my attention. I looked up in time to see a group of teens descending on an elderly man wearing a backpack. One of the boys reached for the man’s pack. The man dodged and his cane wobbled under his weight. Fearing he would fall, I jumped out of the Hummer and hurried to the scene.

While the man shielded his pack from the first teen, a second darted in, reaching into the man’s pocket. The old man stumbled back and the boys laughed.

“Markie, wait!” Ariana shouted from behind me.

I ignored her and charged into the fray, positioning myself in front of the old man. “What do you guys think you’re doing?”

“Why don’t you mind your own damn business, bitch?” one teen asked, sliding a hand into his pocket. He was maybe fifteen. I wanted to smack him and then have a long talk with his parents.

“You better watch your mouth, kid.”

“Or what? You’ll spank me?” he sneered.

He started to say something else, but before he got the first word out, he was lying on his stomach, faced pressed against the ground with Bones on top of him. His friends all took one giant step away from him.

“Oomph. What the hell?” the kid asked.

“We have rules in this city,” Bones said, yanking the kid’s arms up until he cried out. “We don’t pick on old people and we sure as hell don’t swear and threaten to draw on ladies. You feel me?”

“Get off me!” The kid wriggled, but Bones didn’t budge. “You’re making a big mistake, man. You don’t know who I work for.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Bones released the kid’s arms, grabbed his head, and angled it at Angel. “Because my boss is a Mariani.”

The kid’s eyes grew wide. I followed his line of sight to watch Angel. Wearing his suit and climbing out from behind the wheel of what appeared to be a tank, he did pose a striking figure. But the kid looked more than impressed. He looked terrified. His friends all took another step away from him.

“You feel me now?” Bones asked.

“Yeah, man. Sorry. I didn’t know.” His whole demeanor had changed, instantly.

“Now apologize to the lady,” Bones said.

“Sorry, ma’am. No disrespect meant. To any of you. Sorry. Sorry.”

“I’m gonna take this, because you don’t make good decisions and you don’t deserve it.” Bones shifted his weight, but I couldn’t see what he took from the kid. “Now, get out of here before you really piss me off.” He released the kid and stood.

The entire group of teens pulled a vanishing act that would have landed them a show on any Vegas stage.

I looked from Angel to Bones, trying to figure out how I felt about what had just happened. It would probably be polite to thank Bones, but I wasn’t one hundred percent thankful he’d ground some kid’s face into the pavement for me.

“Are you okay?” Ariana asked, grabbing my hand.

“Of course I’m okay. I just need a second to—”

“What were you thinking? That kid had a knife or a gun or something, and you just… You could be dead right now!” she shouted.

A knife? Or a gun?
I let that sink in for a moment, remembering the kid’s hand in his pocket.
Is that what Bones took from him?

Ariana thanked Bones.

I stepped away from them to check on the old man. He wasn’t hurt, but asked me for something to eat. This was something I could help with, so I asked my companions if he could join us for lunch.

The three of them looked at each other, then at the old man, then back at each other.

Desperate to remind them he was a human being, I added, “His name is—” Then realized I didn’t know it. I nudged him and waited.

“Max,” he replied, leaning against his cane to hold out his hand to Angel. Angel, whose suit probably cost more than first-class airfare back to Zambia, shifted his gaze to Max’s outstretched hand. Time froze. I looked into Angel’s eyes and saw a battle raging. I’d made a big mistake. Guys like Angel clearly didn’t eat with guys like Max. Awkward tension mounted, and I needed to diffuse it. I grabbed Max’s shoulders and braced, preparing to angle him in the opposite direction. We’d walk a few steps away, have a little chat, and then I’d go order him some takeout. Then he’d sit on the curb and eat while we lounged in nice, comfy chairs.

Because that’s the way the world works. And it sucks.

I shouldn’t have expected more, but I wanted Angel to be different. Heck, he’d invited me to pizza when I didn’t have a place to sit. He was a nice guy, just not nice enough to draw attention by sitting with a homeless man. Disappointed, I tugged on Max’s shoulder. Only I couldn’t move him, because his hand was connected to Angel’s.

“Nice to meet you, Max.” Angel smiled at the man. It wasn’t fake or forced, condescending or pitying. It was real and heartwarming. It made my eyes burn and my breath catch. “Please join us for lunch.”

They broke apart, and before Angel could reconsider, I swooped in to link arms with Max. Angel held the door open and I helped Max into the restaurant with Ariana and Bones following. A smile tugged at my lips and I couldn’t stop it. Max wouldn’t have to sit on the hard curb and eat his lunch. And that made my heart soar.

I saw a restroom sign and pointed it out to Max. “Would you like to go wash up?”

He started to nod, but lost his balance. I tightened my grip on his arm, while wondering how he would make the walk on his own.

“Here, I’ll take him,” Angel said, appearing on the other side of Max. He put a hand on Max’s back and another under his arm. Then he leaned in, dirtying the front of his nice suit on Max’s filthy shirt.

It was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.

Bones headed for the restroom ahead of Angel and Max. Then a waitress showed me and Ariana to a corner booth.

“See? He’s a good guy,” I whispered, giddy after what I’d just witnessed.

“Did you see the way those kids looked at him?” Ariana fired back. “I’m telling you, Markie, he’s dangerous. Gotta be part of the mob or something.”

I knew the mob still existed, but I highly doubted big bad mobsters helped elderly homeless men clean up. Still, Angel was clearly in charge, and Bones was muscle. Big, scary muscle.

“Bones said Angel’s a Mariani,” I blurted out.

Ariana’s eyes widened.

“What?” I asked. “What does that mean?” They weren’t cops. No legitimate police officer would have directed me to get out of my pot-smelling clothes before we took Ariana to the hospital. And it was Halloween when they showed up wearing the “SWAT” uniforms.

“Marianis are one of the families.” Ariana massaged her temples. “I can’t believe we’re on a date with a couple of Marianis and you invited a bum.”

“A date?” I asked. “I thought you were with Matt?”

“Okay, not me. You.”

“I’m not on a date. I’m buying a meal for the men who saved your life.”

Ariana snorted. “So you’re telling me you have no interest whatsoever in Angel? Right. He’s freakin’ hot. They both are.”

Bones wasn’t bad, and pretty freakin’ hot didn’t even begin to describe Angel, but there were complications to consider. “You know I can’t go down that road, Ari.”

“Why not? Live a little while you’re here. Pull the stick out of your butt and have a fling for once.”

“I jumped from the Stratosphere today. I think that counts as living a little. Besides, you just said they were mobsters or something. What are the families?”

She grinned. “Dangerous
and
sexy.”

“Stop it right now. We’re having lunch with friends. That’s all.”

She rolled her eyes and mumbled about me ruining all the fun. Truthfully, I was just happy she wasn’t still pining over Matt. I’d have to find out more about the Marianis later, preferably from a source who could focus on more than how hot they were.

The guys returned. We ordered lunch and broke into conversation. Max told us he was a Navy veteran, and between bites he entertained us with stories about his time as an engineman, and his worldwide travels afterward. He’d spent his midlife trekking across every continent except Antarctica, which he informed us was too damn cold for his bones. We spent more than two hours in that little dive, and by the time we finished up, Max’s stomach was full and his eyelids were heavy.

Angel excused himself to make a call and I settled up the bill. When Angel came back we headed out.

“Well? What did you guys think of the food?” Bones asked when we emerged from the building.

I held two thumbs up. “Super tasty. Good pick.”

“Yeah, it was all right,” Angel replied.

Bones shoved him.

Even Ariana had no complaints.

A cab pulled into the parking lot and Angel smiled down at Max. “Looks like your ride’s here.”

I felt my eyebrows creep up my forehead. “His ride? Where’s he going?”

Angel opened the back door of the cab. “A bed so he can get some sleep.”

“A motel?” I asked.

Angel nodded and helped Max into the cab.

My throat constricted and I couldn’t speak. We waved good-bye to Max and then climbed into the Hummer.

“You okay?” Angel asked, adjusting his rearview mirror to see my face.

I smiled and nodded, lying without words.

He shook Max’s hand, helped him wash up, and got him a cab and a room. He saved my sister. He helped me.

Ariana was right about one thing, Angel was dangerous. Just not in the way she thought.

No doubt sensing my worry, my sister reached over and squeezed my hand.

Angel was dangerous; the kind of dangerous that made my stomach flutter and my eyes burn.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Angel

W
E FINISHED LUNCH, and since I wasn’t ready to drop off the girls yet, I racked my brain for something we could do. If we took them to a family-run casino, Father would know about Markie before we tossed the first die. Venturing into non family-run casinos had the potential to create serious drama. We could hit a show or the movies, but neither of those options would give us time to talk. And that’s what I really wanted; to get to know her.

“Want us to drop you off at your apartment?” Bones asked Ariana.

Before Ariana could answer, I blurted out the first option I could think of. “Have either of you been on the High Roller Wheel yet?”

Bones’s jaw dropped. He’d been trying to get me on that death trap for ages, but I kept putting him off. Especially when I found out the damn thing goes five hundred and fifty feet off the ground.

“The giant Ferris wheel thing?” Markie asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Yep, that’s the one. We should check it out.”

“The High Roller?” Bones asked. “
You
want to go on the High Roller?”

Hell no, I didn’t want to go on the High Roller. “Yeah,” I nodded. “You in?”

Bones could have called me out. He could have revealed me for the chicken I am, but he saw opportunity knocking and flung open the damn door. “Hell yeah, I’m in. Ladies?”