Curse of the Fallen by Eve Archer

Chapter Four

Ella

Even though the hot tea seeped through the thick fabric of my robe, I didn’t move. “What did you say?”

Anthony had leapt up when my glass had shattered, and now waved a hand at a man dressed in a beige-and-black uniform, who’d materialized from one side of the villa. The man turned around and called back through the door from which he’d emerged. “Y’alla!”

I ignored the frantic staff as they reached the table and bustled around me, sweeping up broken glass and nervously patting my robe with napkins. “Did you say Dominick is alive?”

“Yes,” Anthony answered, his tone impatient. “I know better than to kill another don. My father would never forgive me for the trouble that would bring on us.”

I sank back in the boxy, upholstered chair, a breath whooshing from me. He was alive. After believing he was dead and being overcome with agony that had left me nearly numb, it was hard to accept that he wasn’t.

The staff gave up trying to dry my robe, leaving a napkin draped over the light-brown splotch mottling the ivory fabric and hurrying away. Anthony poured me a fresh glass of tea and slid it across to me.

I didn’t touch the gold-etched glass, instead narrowing my eyes at Anthony. “If you’re lying to me, I’ll kill you.”

He grinned as he lowered himself into his chair. “Feisty. I like it. I knew you were more interesting than Don Vicario’s usual conquests.”

I flinched at the characterization of Dom’s previous exploits but didn’t rise to the bait. Dominick had never made his past a secret from me, and I held no illusions that the fallen angel had lived the life of, well, an angel.

“But one of Dominick’s Fal…men got a message that he was dead,” I said. “Before I got jabbed with whatever drug you gave me and passed out.”

Anthony held up a finger. “First of all, I had nothing to do with you getting drugged.” His expression darkened. “That was all Jaya.” He tilted his head at me. “She doesn’t like you very much.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” I grumbled.

Anthony stared at me for another moment before continuing. “The attack on the meeting of the dons was a distraction, and the message was meant to confuse the men who were protecting you. None of the dons were ever in danger, although I can’t say the same about their bodyguards.”

My stomach twisted. “So, people did die?”

“Jaya’s people have a tendency toward violence.”

I didn’t tell him that they were violent because they were demons. If he was anything like me, he’d never believe without proof, and I had no proof to provide. “Jaya isn’t exactly a saint, either. How do you know she didn’t kill Dominick?”

He barked out a laugh. “Because she’s obsessed with him. She wouldn’t kill him.”

That wasn’t comforting. Obsession had led to murder plenty of times.

“I got confirmation from my father that all the dons survived, including yours,” Anthony said. “Not that he knows I was involved. He still thinks it was an attack by one of the other families, most likely the hosts of the meeting.”

“Then why tell me Dominick was dead?” My voice trembled with rage, even though I tended to believe him that Dom was, in fact, alive.

“I never told you that,” Anthony said. “In case you haven’t noticed, Jaya likes to fuck with people. I’m afraid she really enjoys fucking with you, Ella.”

If the demon was like most of the other total bitches I’d known in my life, the chances were good that she was also fucking with Anthony—and possibly planning to fuck him over. Not that I planned to warn the guy.

“What does Jaya get from all of this?” I asked, finally allowing myself to feel some measure of relief that Dominick wasn’t dead, although since I was still being held against my will, I wasn’t ready to celebrate just yet.

“You.”

The knot in my stomach hardened into a hard ball of fear. “You’re going to—“

“No,” he said forcefully. ”I told her that no harm could come to you, and I wasn’t turning you over to her. She wasn’t happy with me, but she was happy enough to get you away from the don.” The corners of his lips twitched. “And, from what I understand, she used to be connected with your boyfriend.”

Despite how I felt for Dom, the phrase “boyfriend” sounded strange. Could a fallen angel really be my boyfriend? He seemed too imposing and immortal to be anyone’s boyfriend. Lover, maybe. Memories of being tangled up in bed with him made my cheeks heat. I cleared my throat and tried not to think of Dom—or of him with Jaya.

“Well, from what I can tell, Dom doesn’t want to have anything to do with her,” I said, with more irritation laced in my voice than I’d hoped. “How did you get involved with a creature like her?” I chose my words carefully since it was clear the man didn’t have any clue that Jaya was a demon, or that Dom was a celestial being.

“She’s actually a business associate of my older brother.” He plucked another disc of bread from the basket, tearing off a wedge and dipping it into a bowl filled with olive oil. “She grew tired of my brother’s lack of discipline. She needed someone with more sophistication to take on the Vicario family.”

“So, this is all about a mob war?”

Anthony wrinkled his nose. “We don’t call it the mob anymore, Ella.”

“Fine.” I loosed a breath. “But this is a power struggle between your family and the Vicario family?” At least as far as he knew, I thought, realizing that he was in way over his head, if he thought he was just picking a fight with a mafia don.

Anthony ripped roughly at the bread. “My family has operated in the shadows of the Vicario empire for too long. It’s time for me to take us to the next level.”

I eyed him, almost sympathetic that he’d allowed himself to get pulled into a battle between demons and fallen angels without even knowing it. “So, you thought pissing off your biggest rival would be the way to do it?”

He jerked his gaze to me. “Jaya said it would get Don Vicario’s attention. Make him give me the attention I deserve.”

“You got his attention, all right,” I said under my breath. It wasn’t hard to imagine that Dominick was currently livid that I’d been abducted from under his protection.

“Like I said, I have no intention of harming you. I’m the one who’s keeping you safe.” He gave me an easy smile that almost made me forget that he was my captor. “You’re my guest in Marrakesh.”

I dropped my eyes, afraid that they would register the victory that I felt from him revealing where we were. Marrakesh. That was in Morocco, another place I’d never been and would never have imagined I’d be visiting. I didn’t have a great sense of how far away we were from the coast of Croatia where I’d left Dominick, but I knew it wasn’t close. Still, I now knew the city I was in. Not that I had any way of sharing that nugget of information with anyone. Yet.

Using my fork, I served myself a small stack of what looked like pancakes, careful to keep a smile from creeping across my lips. I focused on eating them to give myself more time to think.

“You should try honey on your baghrir,” Anthony said, interrupting the silence.

When I looked up, he inclined his head at my plate. “Your semolina pancakes.” He nudged a small bowl of golden honey toward me. “They’re better with honey.”

“Thanks.” I took the bowl and used the wooden honey dipper to drizzle the sticky substance over my Moroccan pancakes then took a bite. “You’re right. Much better.”

He returned his attention to his tea and bread, while I contemplated my strategy and enjoyed the savory sweetness of the surprisingly good pancakes. Being nice to Anthony and letting him think I was going along with his scheme was the smart play. He clearly wasn’t clever enough to know that Jaya had pulled him into something much bigger and more dangerous than a mafia war. If she’d manipulated the man to get what she wanted, who was to say I couldn’t do the same thing?

Because she’s a sex-on-a-stick demon and you’re a regular old person, I reminded myself. I’d never been one to manipulate or play games, especially when it came to men. Probably because I’d never known how, and because I’d never been convinced I could pull off anything close to a femme fatale play. I’d seen it done, but I’d always thought I was above mind games. Until now.

“So, you and Jaya?” I let the question linger as I peeked up at him, trying to give him my most innocent smile as I arranged my silverware on my empty plate.

He shook his head, his face flushing. “She’s not my type. I like my women less homicidal.”

I couldn’t help snorting out a laugh, then I slapped my hand across my mouth in embarrassment. So much for impressing him with my feminine wiles.

Anthony leaned forward, arching an eyebrow at me. “When I approached you at the party, it wasn’t just because I knew you were with Don Vicario. I have a thing for redheads.”

I touched a hand to my hair, aware for the first time that I hadn’t brushed it since I’d woken up, and it must be a mess. “I’m not really a redhead.”

His gaze moved slowly across my hair and then down my body. “Close enough.”

I tugged the neckline of my robe closed a bit more. What was going on? First, the gorgeous mafia don seduced me—with my one-hundred-percent encouragement—and now this guy was sending me unmistakable signals. I was used to keeping my head down and not being noticed. I was not accustomed to so much male attention, and it made me want to melt into the chair.

“I wonder if Don Vicario prefers redheads,” Anthony said, his gaze still on me.

“He didn’t say.” Trying to stay on this guy’s good side was going to harder than I anticipated, since what I really wanted to do was knee him in the balls.

“You’re certainly pretty, but the don was enamored with you.” His smile became wolfish. “Not to mention possessive.”

I gave him a smile I meant to be a warning. “He doesn’t like other people touching his things.”

“Then he shouldn’t keep things that are impossible not to touch.”

My mouth went dry, and I cut my eyes to the guards by the house and the high, stone wall around the villa. Where was a fallen angel when you needed one?