Gael's Naughty Angel: A Mafia Prince Romance

The last time Angela saw Evan was back at William's cabin in the woods. She was aware that Gael and his men had brought Evan to New York, but they didn't tell her how they did that, and she didn't ask either. The less she knew about Evan's whereabouts, the better.

She did find out that Gael kept him in The Bunk, but she hadn't seen Evan with her own eyes, and Gael wouldn't allow her to either. So technically, Angela had last seen Evan weeks ago in Esmea.

According to the article, General Leos hadn't heard from his son since the first week of February. Evan was on leave for 20 days only, and he hadn't reported back to work on the supposed date of his return a couple of weeks ago.

Angela thought about it. If General Leos had been aware of Evan's actions, he would have known the possibilities. If the Morellis knew the De Lucas had Evan, Leos must've also known, which would put him in a bind. He couldn't report that his son had been "kidnapped", but he also couldn't ignore Evan's disappearance, putting him on the hot seat.

General Leos hated the attention, mainly because of his son's reputation and especially because of his candidacy. He wouldn't have made Evan's disappearance public if he had the choice. But he had to file a report so he wouldn't look like he was hiding something. Angela was certain that he hated this because the authorities would be watching his every move now while they looked for Evan.

She scrolled back up, noting the article's date was three days ago. Nina didn't read or watch the local news regularly, so it wasn't a surprise for Angela to have only heard about it now from her.

But she did wonder why her father, brother, and possibly Gael had kept this from her.

Thankful that the article no longer mentioned her name apart from the horrible incident at the club more than six years ago, she closed the site and went back to Nina's message, typing her response. Nina didn't know that they had Evan, and Angela intended to keep it that way.

[ Angela: I hope he's in a ditch somewhere. I don't care. Why are you still awake? And FYI, William knows my number. I bet he's only finding excuses to text you. ]

Three dots waved on the bottom left of the screen, disappearing and appearing a few times before her response finally popped.

[ Antonina: Yeah. I hope Evan is rotting in that ditch. ]

[ Antonina: I just got home from a party. You really think so? Kind of odd that he'd do that, considering he takes what he wants. Fuck everyone else who gets in his way. Is he being cute? 😂 ]

[ Angela: Ninz, don't easily fall for him. Even though you think he's cute. ]

[ Antonina: 🥵 But he's hot. Can't I just lust over him without falling? ]

That got Angela laughing. She knew her best friend was only playing—even though there could be some truth to her words. Nina was the kind of person who would joke even if she told the truth.

Angela thought about riding the joke with her, but she decided to remind her friend instead, feeling like she needed to be the sane one at the moment. At least she was trying to.

[ Angela: Just be careful. Okay? ]

[ Antonina: Girl, you know I always use protection! 🍆💦 ]

A loud laugh escaped Angela's lips. Nina had told her nothing happened between her and William. Yet. 

[ Angela: Antonina Teresa Lopez!!! ]

[ Antonina: OMG. Bitch! 😱 You did not. ]

[ Antonina: Fine. 🙄 I hear you. I'm going to bed now. Love you. ]

After Angela replied, "Love you too," she took a deep breath and set her phone back on the nightstand, feeling much better already. She welcomed the much-needed small distraction from her best friend.

She glanced at the door, thinking that Gael was on the other side with his people. And just like that, her mind brought her back to tonight's drive-by. She had just witnessed someone die in the middle of the street, and they all just walked away.

Earlier, she asked Gael what would happen to the body, and he simply told her that if someone hadn't reported it, they would have gotten rid of the corpse in minutes. But because the police were already on their way, they didn't have time to do that.

Angela wondered if the cops would ever trace the incident back to Gael. She had no idea how these things worked in their family because it was her first time witnessing everything firsthand. He reassured her that they wouldn't. Certain high-ranking officers were on their payroll to make these things go away. Even if some of the "good" cops would try to get to them, they wouldn't have evidence as his men already took care of it.

That was efficient. And Angela couldn't stop the strange feeling inside her, unsure if it was guilt or something else. God, no matter how she looked at it, she was already on the other side of the law just by being with Gael.

And she didn't care.

She simply didn't care.

All that mattered was that she finally had something worth living for other than her father and brother. She now fully embraced being in the gray.

Before Angela realized what she was doing, she was already out of bed and heading towards Gael's office where he kept a spare laptop that she could use. He had given her access there the last time she was in his apartment in case she needed it for something. She passed by him and his men in the living room, but they didn't notice her when she slipped inside his office and closed the door behind her. They were all too busy doing whatever it was they were doing.

She fired up the laptop and opened a word processing software, only feeling a little regret that she couldn't use the one she had in her computer that was specifically for writers. But this would have to do for now. She needed to write, and it couldn't wait.

And so she began writing:

[ Black Heart ]

[ by Galatea K.S. ]

***

Monday — March 4

At four in the morning, Gael was about to turn in when he noticed the lights in his office were turned on, and he found her there. Angela fell asleep at his desk while writing what seemed to be a new book. He hadn't had the chance to read what she wrote because she had woken up and closed it as if she was hiding a sordid secret with the way her face blushed.

Gael was glad that although she was shaken up by what happened, it seemed as if she fueled that feeling into words and was working on a new piece that would undoubtedly be another masterpiece. He was so proud of how she handled herself last night.

He didn't want to leave Angela alone in the apartment, but he couldn't bring her everywhere with him either—in case Perry or the Morellis would try to get to him again. He had doubled his security, though. So not only was Trigger staying with her, but a couple of Alessandro's men were also guarding the apartment. It gave him a little peace of mind that she wasn't alone.

One week into KMH and Perry was already trying to kill him.

Gael couldn't help the smirk on his face as he stepped out of the Escalade at eight in the morning and headed to the entrance of KMH. No, he didn't have proof that it was Perry. But the timing was just too close. He would get his proof. But with or without it, Giovanni was already working on getting Perry the fuck out of New York, and rid of him once and for all.

It was work, as usual, this Monday morning. Last night's assassination attempt wouldn't stop him from coming to KMH today. If anything, he wanted to rub it in Perry's face and say, "I'm alive, motherfucker. It's my turn now."

"Mr. De Luca," called a familiar voice a few feet to the side. He turned his head, and the asshole, Lieutenant Clark, strode his way. "How are you today? We'd like to ask you some questions about last night's murder on your street."

Ah. This prick was itching to get Gael behind bars and was certainly feeling like it was Christmas today. Gael furrowed his brows, looking taken aback by his statement. "I'm sorry, what? Someone got murdered? I would've heard of it when I left for work today, but 64th street was quiet this morning. You must be mistaken."

Really, Gael believed he could be a great actor with the way his tone sounded so convincing that Lt. Clark looked a bit uncomfortable as he exchanged confused looks with his partner.

"I'm…talking about the street outside your house in Brooklyn. Where were—"

Gael's phone rang, interrupting Clark's questioning, and he answered it without hesitation, seeing as it was Giovanni calling. "Yes, I'm coming up."

Then he turned back to Lieutenant Douchebag, smiled, and said, "I have a meeting to catch up to. But I appreciate you checking up on me, Lieutenant. I'm really touched. You can set up an appointment with my secretary should you need anything else from me.." And with that, Gael walked away.