Chapter 486 - The Rush

Angela's heart pounded in her chest so heavily as if Thor was banging it with his hammer while they walked away from Ivanovich Volkov who could possibly shoot them in the back at that moment.

As they turned the corner, they passed by Aleksander who was casually leaning against the wall with an unlit cigarette between his lips and amusement in his eyes. Angela was sure he heard all of it. He wasn't laughing, nor was he smiling, but something dark and sinister occupied his stare as it followed them out of there. 

Gael held her hand tightly she started to feel numb, but she didn't pull back. If anything, she wanted it to hurt to remind her that she was still alive because what happened back there sure felt like she died of anxiousness.

"Holy shit, Anj." Gabby was the first one who broke the tense air while they fast-walked towards the ballroom. "Who are you? If I didn't know you're my brother's fiancée and where you're from, I would believe it if you told me you grew up with us." She laughed. "Girl, you belong with us. Right, Mom?"

Aurora slightly smiled but didn't say anything. 

'Who am I?' Angela questioned herself because whoever that was back there and whatever she did, that wasn't her. 

She didn't drink that much wine to be drunk. She couldn't even remember how sane she was when she spouted those words. Everything just tumbled out of her mouth as if her heartbeat pushed the words up her throat, out of her mouth, and hit Volkov in the face.

Now, all she could think about was that she risked enraging Volkov and putting the De Lucas in more danger because of her outburst.

They reached the ballroom just as its double doors opened, and out came Giovanni, Mariano, and Sebastian. 

"Where the hell were you guys? We've been looking all over for you!" Sebastian scanned all of them, and when his gaze landed on Angela, his brow arched, and he asked her, "Are you okay?"

Angela's face was white and sweat formed on her forehead. Her chest heaved up and down, and her clenched hands shook. She bit her bottom lip to stop it from trembling, so she couldn't answer him, her mind reeling a thousand miles per minute.

"What happened, Angela?" Giovanni strode towards her as if to study her closely, looking concerned.

"They bumped into Volkov, and he recognized her." Gael shrugged off his suit jacket and placed it over her shoulders. "We're leaving. I'll call you tomorrow." He wrapped an arm around her and walked her out of there, not even paying attention to what the others were saying as they left.

"I'll tell your father," was all Gael recognized who came from Aurora, and he nodded without looking back to them.

***

The car pulled up in front of Gael's brownstone, and Angela only realized they were already home when the doors to the front seats opened and closed. Trigger and Rick left the vehicle.

She took a deep breath when she felt like her lungs lacked air and she needed it badly. Then she turned to face Gael and found him looking at her with unreadable eyes and slightly furrowed brows. She couldn't tell what he was on his mind with how he was staring at her.

"Are you mad at me?" she probed.

"I don't know." His jaw ticked as he kept his piercing stare on her.

"What do you mean…you don't know?"

"That's what I said."

A few beats of silence passed, and Gael's skin felt like it was burning through his suit. He had been feeling like this right after their encounter with Ivanovich Volkov. Just the thought of that man ignited the flame in his gut—but also, it reminded him of what Angela said.

"Well, I…" her voice trailed off, unsure of what to say to him. She swallowed. "Are you okay?"

This woman… She was the one shaking and sweating earlier, and now she was asking him if he was okay. His brows furrowed deeper. "Are you?"

"I… I am."

"Are you sure about that? Because my hand's about to fall off."

Confusion laced her face, and she looked down to check his hand, only to realize that she had it in hers in a vice grip; it turned into a strange color from the lack of blood flow. She gasped and instantly released it. "I'm so sorry!"

Gael's face softened as he flexed his hand to release its numbness and wake it up from its chokehold. But he only did it for a few seconds before he grabbed Angela by the hip and moved her to his lap until she straddled him.

She looked better than she was back at the hotel, but it was apparent in her eyes that she was perturbed from meeting the man she associated as the one who broke up her parents' marriage.

"Why did you do that?" he asked. There was an edge to his tone from the lingering anger still in his nerves. She toyed with his tie, refusing to look at him. And when she looked up and met his gaze, he added, "Why did you threaten him?"

"I don't know. I just… It just happened. One second, I couldn't wait to get away from him, and then he called me the same thing he called me the first time I met him, and I just snapped."

"That was dangerous."

"I wasn't thinking straight. He said he wouldn't take the deal with you, and I couldn't let that happen. I know how much you need it."

Gael let out a sigh as he briefly closed his eyes. He was hell-bent on protecting her however way he could, and there she was, also hell-bent on protecting him.

Her skin was cold when he cupped her cheek, and he stared right into her eyes. "I don't need anything more than I need you, Angel. Nothing is worth more than you."

With her heart still beating wildly in her chest, her shoulders dropped, and she clung to his neck. She didn't know what to say, so she just stayed quiet. And then her heart gradually slowed down.

"I'm sorry I dragged your family into this. I shouldn't have said that… He'll probably—"

He lightly placed a finger on her lips and shook his head. "No, baby. Didn't you say we're in this together? Didn't you hear what my family said? You're one of us."

Angela's gaze slid to his lips and stayed there. The tension inside the vehicle diminished, replaced by a familiar pull only the two of them knew so well. His hand on the side of her face pulled her close until their lips crushed together, and it was as if a massive anvil was lifted off her shoulders.

A sexy moan slipped out of her lips with each swipe of his tongue with hers. She sat directly on his hard-on—she had been since he pulled her on top of him. She swore Gael was always hard for her at random times. But she did not complain at all. In fact, this was what she needed right now.

Gael's fingers dug into her hips as he pressed her down to his cock and ground into her. They still had clothes on, and the friction drove her insane she began rocking her hips against his, taking what she needed.

In the next second, he grabbed the hem of her dress at the top of the high slit, and he ripped the fabric apart with his bare hands. The black cocktail dress tore in the middle. Her thin straps were still on, but her breasts were free until Gael latched onto one nipple, sucking it into his mouth while he played with the other.

Every lashing of his tongue against her bud made her moans louder, making him hungrier. "You don't know how much I've wanted to do this since fucking hours ago. What are you doing to me, Angel?" he muttered before claiming her lips once again. He had been hard since Angela stood up to Volkov. "You're so fucking hot. So fucking beautiful."

"Take me now. Please," she begged, wanting to forget everything that happened back there.

Gael didn't need to be told twice. In a matter of seconds, he freed his cock, ripped her panties off her, and slid into her soaking wet heat.

They didn't think about anything else. Not about anyone else. Right at that moment, no one else existed but them. 

***

Gael and Angela spent the rest of the evening drawing out each other's orgasms until they passed out. After they finished in the backseat, they moved to the bedroom. Needless to say, neither one wanted to talk about what happened back at the hotel. Everything could go to shit in the morning, and they didn't want to spend the night dreading it.

That probably wasn't the greatest idea because although they were too tired and satiated to actually converse, Gael woke up a few times at dawn while Angela had a nightmare about her grandfather suddenly knocking at the front door. She'd wake up all of a sudden after seeing his face. Her eyes could barely stay open, and then she was pulled back to sleep to dream about the same thing again.

Gael woke up to the harsh buzzing of his phone at the nightstand at six in the morning. Angela was still asleep, wrapped around him under the sheets.

Seeing Volkov's caller I.D. on his screen, he cautiously accepted the call and pressed the phone to his ear but said nothing.

Then Ivanovich gritted the words out of his mouth, sounding more Russian by the second as he spat in accented English, "Tell your men to stand down. Pavel will be there any minute to deliver the contract. Don't fuck with me, De Luca. Let's stay away from each other's paths. Your fiancée should do the same.. After this, we're done."