Curse of the Fallen by Eve Archer

Chapter Twelve

Dominick

“This is it?” I eyed the olive-green door. Fluorescent lighting flickered yellow overhead, making the green an even more sickly shade.

Rami scanned the compact hallway of the New York apartment building before giving me a resigned look. “It matches the address she gave you.”

I sighed and rapped my knuckles on the door. The brown-brick building hadn’t looked bad from outside, but I wasn’t used to the tight spaces and cramped real estate that defined most of Manhattan. The club we owned in Tribeca was spacious and airy, as was the luxury hotel we controlled through a shell corporation. The few times I visited New York City, I stayed in a luxurious suite nowhere near Greenwich Village, so I rarely saw where most residents lived.

The door swung open, and I blinked a few times to adjust to the bright colors spilling from the apartment and the appearance of the woman standing in front of us. While the hallway was drab and depressing, the interior of the apartment was anything but. Wide widows let in plenty of natural light, and the walls were the color of lemons. A fuchsia couch sat on a purple rug and was piled high with brightly colored throw pillows. Strings of lights were draped around the windows and Keith Haring posters hung on the walls.

But it was the woman who was more of a surprise. She was tall and slender, with dark, hair piled high on her head and held in place with glittering, jeweled pins. Her almond shaped eyes were thickly lined in an upswept cat eye, and her tan skin peeked out from underneath the scoop neckline of a white, bohemian blouse that was half tucked into skinny jeans. She was both striking and exotic—and dressed like a chic hippie. Not at all what I’d expected from our phone conversation.

“Sara?” I asked, thinking maybe we’d gotten the address wrong. Was this beauty really the sharp-tongued creature who’d been so hostile to me?

She leaned one hand on the door as she looked us up and down. “I’m guessing one of you Casanovas is Dominick Vicario.”

No mistake. This was definitely Ella’s friend—New York accent, smart mouth, and all.

“That would be me,” I said, giving her a small bow.

She cut her gaze to Rami. “Which makes you the trusty sidekick.”

“Trusty sidekick?” Rami muttered darkly, but the woman had already turned and walked back inside, leaving the door open behind her.

“Are you ready?” I asked, stepping inside but not walking any farther.

She flopped on the couch, the profusion of cushions making her bounce. “I hope you don’t think I’m going to run off with two complete strangers.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that.”

I tempered my urge to drag her out forcibly and shove her onto our plane. We didn’t have time to humor this woman. Not when Ella was still out there, unprotected.

“I thought you wanted to help us find your best friend.”

She glared at me. “Don’t make this my fault, buddy. You’re the one who swept Ella off her feet and upended her life. If she hadn’t met you, she’d be right here with me—safe and sound.”

I couldn’t argue with that, and Ella’s disappearance was more my fault than this woman knew. If she knew the truth, I doubt she would have been half as friendly as she was, although I didn’t care to experience Sara’s version of half as friendly.

“Sara.” I gave her my most charming smile, the one that usually made women swoon. “We just flew halfway across the world—per your request—so you could join us in retrieving Ella.”

“Halfway around the world? I thought you were in New York. I called your club in Tribeca.”

“They connected you to me in Greece.”

She eyed me. “You hopped a flight from Greece?”

“We have our own plane.” I fought to keep the impatience from my voice.

Sara let out a low whistle. “Ella wasn’t kidding when she said you were successful.” She slid her gaze to Rami. “You look familiar. Would I have seen you at Epicurus New York?”

“Possibly,” Rami said, his voice velvety. “But if we’d met, I would have remembered.”

I glanced at him and saw that his gaze was intently focused on Sara. He’d always enjoyed beautiful women, and I suspected he was entranced by her appearance. I could only assume he’d gone temporarily deaf, although she did seem to have reserved her most abrasive manner for me alone.

Sara’s gaze lingered on Rami for a beat before she jerked it away. “So, what’s the plan? You fly here, get me, and we jet off and get Ella?”

I gave her a curt nod, my patience growing thinner by the second.

“And I’m supposed to pretend it isn’t weird that you and Ella got separated? If you were in Greece, how did she end up… Well, not near Greece?”

“It’s an involved story,” I said. “And one I don’t have time to go into right now. All I care about is getting Ella before…”

“She’s in danger, isn’t she?” Sara’s eyes blazed. “I knew it. She said she was safe, but she sounded so weird, and then you said the two of you just got separated,” she made air quotes with her fingers. “But it’s a pretty big separation, if you’re in Greece and she ends up in Marrakesh.”

“Marrakesh?” My body went rigid, my back tingling with the urge to unfurl my wings and burst up into the sky. I had to remind myself that it was a bad idea in a small apartment in front of a human. Especially since the windows were closed.

“Shit.” She slapped a hand over her mouth, then dropped it just as fast. “Yeah. She said she was in Marrakesh, but no other details. I got the feeling she didn’t know where in the city she was exactly.”

It had been nearly half a century since I’d last been in the Moroccan city, although I’d always enjoyed the country, especially when it had been in the hands of the Berbers over two thousand years earlier. There was no doubt that the Northern African city had changed much since I’d last laid eyes on it.

I snapped my head to Rami who was already tapping on his phone.

“I’m mobilizing the Fallen,” he said. “I’m pulling everyone available off what they’re doing and sending them to Marrakesh.”

I pulled out my own phone, tapping out a quick text. “I’ve told the pilot to prepare to leave, and that we’ll fly directly to Marrakesh.”

“Who are the Fallen?” Sara asked.

In the flurry of activity, I’d almost forgotten she was there. “Nothing.”

“It’s a name we gave our organization,” Rami said in a less harsh tone.

She frowned at this, pinning me with her gaze. “I Googled you.”

I crossed my arms tightly over my chest. “And?”

“Every link that came up referred to you as a playboy, and every photo had at least one woman draped on your arm.”

I braced myself as she stood and faced me.

“So, what are you doing with Ella? She’s not like those women you’re used to screwing and dumping. She’s better than that.” She held up one hand and started counting on her fingers. “She beautiful without even knowing it, she’s smart, she’s loyal as fuck, and she’s had a really tough go of it, so if you’re planning to use her and ditch her like you do with everyone else, you should leave right now. I won’t let you hurt her.”

I studied the woman whose cheeks were now mottled with pink. She might be thoroughly annoying, but it was clear she loved her friend. “She’s not the only one of you who is loyal as fuck, as you said.”

She shrugged. “We’ve been friends for a long time. When her parents died, I became her family.” She waggled a finger at me. “So don’t think you can swoop in here with your fancy suits and your 365 Days vibe and replace me. It’s not going to happen. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Neither am I,” I told her. “So, we’d better get used to each other, especially since we’re leaving in exactly two minutes to find Ella.”

No one spoke for a few moments, then she huffed out a breath. “Fine. As long as we’re clear on that, I’ll grab my bag.”

When she disappeared into a side room, Rami exhaled loudly. “I did not expect that.”

“She’s nothing like Ella,” I agreed, thinking of my love with a pang of longing. Although she was spirited, Ella possessed a quiet grace that her friend did not share.

“Not at all,” Rami said, but his voice held an odd note of admiration.

I peered over at him, confused by his dazed expression, but I decided not to press him. Sara had warned me about toying with her friend. She’d said nothing about preventing my fellow Fallen from toying with her, although I suspected he’d be taking his life into his hands if he attempted so much as a flirtatious grin.

Now that I had a chance to take in more of the living room, I saw that cardboard boxes were stacked in the corners with Ella’s name scrawled on the side in black marker.

“Are these Ella’s boxes?” I called to Sara.

“Yep. Her asshole ex-boyfriend told me that if I didn’t pick them up, he’d burn everything.”

Rami’s eyes widened. “I’ll bet you aren’t regretting what we did to the guy now?”

“I never regretted it.” Fresh anger made me clench my jaw tightly as I walked over to the boxes and peeked inside one. Items were tossed inside haphazardly, and I guessed it had been Christopher who’d packed everything. If our trip wasn’t such a quick one, I wouldn’t have minded paying the coward a visit.

I lifted a silver frame, careful not to touch the cracked glass covering the image. It was a photo of Sara and Ella in graduation robes, with wide smiles on their faces. They didn’t look much younger than they did now, but they looked brimming with possibility and hope. My heart squeezed as I touched a finger to the image of Ella’s face.

I’m coming for you, Ella. I’ll always come for you.

“College graduation,” Sara said as she rejoined us, a black weekend bag hanging from her shoulder. “I need to get a new frame, since Ella’s charming ex tossed everything in boxes without wrapping anything.” She muttered some colorful curses under breath.

Rami took the bag from her shoulder, and to my surprise, she let him.

I placed the frame back in the box and it slid to one side, pulling a scarf with it and uncovering another framed image that made my breath catch in my throat. Pulling it out, I stared at the photo as the world seemed to go sideways for a moment. Ella was much younger, although I could still tell it was her, and she stood beside a beautiful redhead that I assumed was her mother.

“Dom?”

When I glanced up, both Rami and Sara stood in the open doorway looking over their shoulders at me.

“I thought you were hot to trot,” Sara said.

I held up the picture. “Who is this with Ella?”

She squinted at the frame. “Her mom.”

My heart thudded in my chest as I shook my head. “To the side of her and her mother. The man who’s partially turned away from the camera.”

Sara stepped closer as she peered at the photo. “I think that’s the guy she called her godfather. She never saw him after she was a kid. Why?”

Rami came to stand next to me, sucking in a breath as we both peered down at the distinctive profile of the angel Gabriel.