The Devil's Angel Read online

  Rae believed her.

  * * * *

  Willpower, that was what held Yvan in church and not in Rae’s suite making love to her. He stood next to his childhood friend, Gabriel. They had reconnected when he had returned to Spain after his world-wide trip. He was vice-president of his group of companies and the logical choice for best man. He needed Gabriel, especially since he intended to take a month-long, uninterrupted honeymoon with Rae. Yvan had two intentions—to show Rae Spain and to get her pregnant. There was no time for business.

  His heart swelled with pride when he thought of the woman who was going to give life to his children. Children made from pure love, a testament of how far he and Rae had come as a couple. And how far he had traveled and how much he had changed. A reminder that, without his children’s mother, he would still be the sex-crazed devil he had been.

  However, once in a while he would allow that devil to return, especially if it was to protect Rae. The evidence of that sat in the front pew. His father tried to cover a shiner, courtesy of his son, as his mother sat still and in silence. Yvan had warned his mother to behave. It was Rae’s special day, and he would do anything to make sure it was perfect.

  He had wanted to go to Rae’s room and beg her to make love to him. Yvan wanted to make her his. But he had convinced his hormones that she was worth waiting for. It had been a long journey. A year of turmoil, regret, and self-destruction. He couldn’t believe he was standing in a church waiting for the woman who had saved him from himself, the woman he loved and couldn’t imagine living life without, waiting to walk down the aisle and say ‘I do’. But he couldn’t help the nagging feeling that told him something wasn’t right.

  When the organ music filled the old Victorian Catholic church, he kicked the fear away and stepped forward. The great oak church doors opened and Rae appeared in immaculate white. She was an angel.

  “Bella,” Gabriel whispered to him.

  “Yo se.” Damn, did he know. “Mi angelita.”

  Yvan couldn’t silence the voice at the back of his head telling him that something wasn’t right. He watched as Rae walked down the rose petal strewn aisle toward him. Gabriel patted his back and Yvan forced a smile. He watched Rae for a few more seconds. But Rae wasn’t his Rae. The smile on her face wasn’t the one he fell in love with. The makeup was too much. Sure, it was her wedding day, but the only reason Rae had accepted the hair and makeup stylists was because he told her that it had been a gift from his friend who owned a major cosmetics line. And the way she walked… The dress wasn’t heavy. He knew that because he had carried the garment bag into her room himself. He hadn’t trusted it with anyone else. But still, where was the slight limp he had grown to love?

  In five determined strides, Yvan stood face to face with Rae. The look in her eyes wasn’t one of a blushing bride. It was one of triumph.

  “Yvan, my friend, I know you are excited about your bride, but you should come back to the altar,” Gabriel said, his words laced with his thick Spanish accent.

  “This isn’t Rae.” The words coming out of his mouth surprised him just as much as they surprised Gabriel.

  “What do you mean? She looks exactly like the picture you showed me.”

  A picture that he had carried close to his heart for a year when he was away from Rae. But Yvan knew the differences between Rae and Rubi…their eyes, the way they walked. But it was his heart that knew the distinction all too well—he didn’t feel gentle and kind like he always did with Rae. The fierce need to protect her wasn’t there. All he felt was anger and disgust, emotions synonymous with Rubi.

  “Where is she, Rubi? Where is Rae?”

  “What do you mean? I’m Rae.” The devil danced in her eyes.

  The bitch actually believed that. There was a look in Rubi’s eyes that told Yvan that the woman had lost her mind. “Gabriel, call the police and don’t let that woman out of your sight. Oh, and get that dress off her. It belongs to my wife.”

  Gabriel didn’t ask any questions. The urgency in Yvan’s tone seemed to convince him to follow orders without doubt. Yvan watched as his friend grabbed Rubi’s arm and led her into a pew.

  “I’m your wife.”

  “No, you are not.”

  Rubi looked stunned for a second. But then her confused look gave way to a wide smile. “You are a widower now. That cripple is dead.”

  Rubi’s evil cackle nipped at his heels as he ran out of the church in a blind panic. He jumped into the limo that had brought him and ordered the driver to take him to the hotel. Yvan grabbed the prayer beads he had received as a gift from a monk in Tibet and started saying the prayer that he had been taught.

  It took less than fifteen minutes to arrive at the hotel, but to Yvan it seemed like an eternity. As much as he tried, he couldn’t get the sound of Rubi’s laugh out of his mind. It shook him to the core, consuming his heart.

  Yvan got out of the car and didn’t stop to acknowledge any of the felicitations that the staff and guests directed his way. He stepped into the elevator and pressed the twelfth floor button, where Rae’s room was. Guilt and fear wracked his body. He had promised to protect her and he had already broken it. How could he not factor Rubi in? He should have gotten protection for Rae. He had been too busy thinking of the wedding night.

  Yvan didn’t stop to knock. He kicked the door in. The living room area seemed untouched. Yvan ran to the bedroom, and the chaos awaiting him knocked the wind out of him. His gaze landed on a large bloodstain absorbed into the carpet. He dreaded to think just how much blood there was. He spotted Rae’s prosthetic leg and almost picked it up. The bloodstains on the plastic halted his movement. His knees gave out under him, and Yvan crumpled to the ground. He stared at both the bloodstain in the carpet and the blood on the prosthetic leg. Could Rubi be so cruel?

  He imagined the pain Rae had gone through, being beaten up by her own leg. His stomach churned as bile rushed up into his throat. When the nausea became too much to bear he scrambled to his feet and ran to the bathroom. His head in the toilet bowl, he heaved up everything he’d had for breakfast. He rinsed his mouth and sank down on the cool tiles. Sobs wracked his body. How could he have let Rae down like this?

  A painful moan echoed in the bathroom, and Yvan’s head shot up. He looked around, and when he didn’t hear the noise again, he was sure that he was hallucinating. Just as he was about to go back to his weeping he heard the moan again. This time a bloodied hand hanging over the bathtub told him he wasn’t hallucinating. Yvan jumped to his feet and ran to the other side of the bathroom. He looked into the bathtub and his body shook with rage.

  Both her eyes were swollen shut, her nose obviously broken. Her robe stopped at her knees and he saw the bruises that marred her exposed leg. Yvan remembered the night he had taken Rae to his home from the apartment she shared with Rubi. Her body had been covered with bruises. He had sworn that Rubi wouldn’t hurt her like that again. But here Rae lay, in a bathtub in her own blood, a broken mess. Yvan dropped to his knees and cried. He swore he could hear his heart shatter against the hard wall that was Rubi’s evil and taste the bloody aftermath on his tongue.

  A soft caress on his cheek made Yvan look up. He didn’t think Rae could see, but she knew it was him.

  “You came,” she said, giving him a bloodied smile.

  Yvan labored to find the right words to express how sorry he was for letting her down. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

  “Shhh.” Rae hiccupped a sob. “It’s okay.”

  “I’m taking you to the hospital.” Yvan reached into the bathtub and tried to lift her out, but Rae’s scream of pain pierced through him and crippled him. He lay her back down. “I’m sorry.”

  “It hurts.”

  “I know, I know.” Yvan didn’t have the bruises or the cuts. He wasn’t bleeding out. But he felt each blow as if Rubi had attacked him.

  “Dios Mio!” Yvan turned around to find Gabriel watching him. “Que Demonio.”

  Gabri
el got that right, it was evil that had driven Rubi to beat Rae with such hatred and envy.

  “Call an ambulance. She can’t move.”

  “You shouldn’t try to move her. She doesn’t look right.”

  Yvan growled in anger. Of course she didn’t look right.

  “I mean she might have spinal damage.”

  “I didn’t think of that.” Yvan stroked Rae’s cheek. He pulled his hand back when he felt the oozy warmth of blood. He stared at his fingers coated in crimson. He cleared his throat and tried to grab hold of his emotions. “Can you move your leg?”

  “Yes,” Rae said weakly.

  As much as he hated to see her so vulnerable, Yvan wished she would lose consciousness. Anything to take the pain away. “Try and rest. Help is coming.”

  Rae didn’t respond. Yvan saw her tears cut through the blood caking on her face. How he wanted to hold her, to tell her that everything was going to be all right. But he couldn’t. Yvan sat next to his wife, feeling helpless and useless. He held on to the embers of rage sparking deep inside. He needed to feel the anger or else he would be lost in his sadness. Yvan had to stay strong for Rae.

  A few minutes later paramedics, led by Gabriel, rushed into the bathroom.

  Chapter 8

  “I do not understand this. They are sisters, yes, gemelas?”

  “Si.” They were twins, and yet Rubi had beaten Rae with a savagery that wasn’t even afforded to animals. Yvan didn’t understand it either. “Thank you for taking care of the press.”

  “We wouldn’t want you in jail. You need to be here with your bride.”

  “Mi esposa. Rae and I have been married for a year. Remember I told you this, Gabriel.”

  “Yes, but today she is your bride.”

  “She was looking forward to this wedding. Rubi just had to ruin it.” Yvan punched his thigh. “It’s my fault. Why couldn’t I have met Rae and not Rubi?”

  “El destino.”

  “Fuck fate!”

  “Sir, are you injured?” a nurse asked. “I could make you feel better.”

  Yvan immediately recognized the gleam of desire in her eyes. He was sure that standard-issue nurse uniforms didn’t dip that far down to show the cleavage. She was doing her best to make sure Yvan noticed the red lace bra.

  “Seriously? My wife is in the emergency room. Or did you think this is where I prowl for nurses? My wife has been beaten within an inch of her life, and you are here trying to get me to screw you. Hospital service, right? Fuck it, since we’re here, which broom closet do you want me to fuck you in? I’ve got time.” Yvan could hear the anger in his voice as his words bounced off the sterile white walls.

  The nurse recoiled and nervously fastened the buttons of her white dress.

  “Really, don’t do that. Take the damn thing off. If you don’t mind an audience, I’ll bend you over right here.”

  The nurse winced and ran away.

  “Come on, baby, let’s get it on.”

  “Vamos, tranquila.” Gabriel dragged him back to his seat. “You need to calm down.”

  Yvan stood back up when he saw hospital security and someone who looked like management walk toward him.

  “Do we have a problem sir?” the man asked.

  “Yes, we have a problem. My wife could be dying back there. No one has come out here to give me any information. But your nurses don’t give a fuck about that. They are more interested in prowling waiting rooms to seduce grieving husbands.”

  “That’s enough, my friend,” Gabriel said. “We would appreciate it if we could get any information about Mrs. D’Alessandro. And…keep your female nurses away.”

  “Yes, of course.” The man in charge left, followed by the security guards.

  Yvan paced and only stopped when the doctor in charge of Rae’s case emerged.

  “Give me some good news, because if I hear anything negative from you I’m going to lose my shit.”

  “She was right about your foul language.” The doctor smiled. “Your wife heard you shouting the roof down.”

  “She’s alive, she’s okay.” Yvan thought the relief would send him to his knees.

  “Her exact words were you better get out there before he comes in, and tell him to watch his language.”

  “She hates it when I curse.” Yvan put his hand on the left side of his chest. It was as if his heart had just started beating once more.

  “As you well know, your wife has been beaten very badly. There are no internal injuries. Her jaw isn’t broken, but she will have to be on a liquid diet for a while. I’ve prescribed some painkillers and antibiotics for her cuts. I noticed that your wife had undergone arthroplasty surgery. The implants are still in place. You are free to take her home,” the doctor said with a satisfied smile that restored confidence in Yvan.

  “Thank you, but what is arthroplasty?”

  “Her hip and pelvic bones have been replaced by metal. Don’t you know this?”

  “She didn’t tell me. But thank you, doctor.”

  “You’re welcome. Your wife is a very sweet and gentle woman. If I was a religious person, I would think she was an angel from heaven. Don’t let the person who did this to her get away with it.”

  “I won’t,” Yvan swore.

  * * * *

  Rae felt self-conscious. She hadn’t yet seen how she looked. She didn’t have access to a mirror in the emergency room. But she so desperately wanted to see the damage done to her face. Rae was sure that with all the bruises no one would have a problem telling her and Rubi apart now. The doctor had assured her that he would be sending Yvan to her. At first she had been excited. But after careful examination of her face with the tips of her fingers, she wasn’t sure she wanted Yvan seeing her like this. Her eyes had been swollen shut, but after some doctoring she could now see, although not as well as she had hoped. Her body ached and her face had puffed up.

  “Hey, baby.”

  Rae turned toward the sound of Yvan’s voice. She tried to smile but that only caused her pain and instead she winced. She held out her hand to him, needing him closer. She didn’t care if she looked ugly, she just wanted Yvan close to her.

  “I love you.” His voice was low and raw with emotion.

  “Dios mio.” Gabriel gasped when he joined them behind the curtain.

  She could tell that Yvan was putting up a front, but Gabriel didn’t have as good a poker face as Yvan had. “That bad, huh?”

  “No, seńora, you are the most beautiful woman in the world. An angel.”

  “Don’t lie.” Rae fought the tears burning her eyes. She wouldn’t cry, for Yvan’s sake.

  “I never lie. Beauty isn’t just on the outside, it’s on the inside too. And a beautiful heart is most important.”

  “Your friend is a smooth talker,” Rae teased. She wanted Yvan to smile. She needed to get that guilty look out of his beautiful brown eyes.

  “Yeah, well, he has to find another woman, because you’re taken and I’m never letting you go.”

  “Yvan.” She stared into his eyes as they shimmered with barely controlled tears. She prepared herself to see his expression change to that of rage. “She took the rings. I’m sorry, I should have taken better care of them.”

  “It’s not your fault.” Rae saw Yvan’s jaw clench.

  “I think I better go get them back. I know you, my friend. If you go there, they will prepare a cell for you.” Gabriel blew her a kiss and left.

  “He’s very charming.”

  Yvan didn’t say anything. He just stared at her as if she was going to disappear in a second. “I failed you.”

  “No, you didn’t. Rubi is just lost right now. She—”

  “Don’t!”

  Rae’s words died in her throat, slaughtered by the look on his face and the palpable fury in his eyes. It was the first time he had used that tone with her, and she prayed it would be the last. “She’s my sister.”

  “That woman is not your sister. She hurt you, and when I get my hands on her,
she will regret ever laying a finger on you,” Yvan said with a bitter twist to his mouth.

  “But—”

  “Rubi will never come near you again. You will never see her again. She will never hurt you again.”

  “You are scaring me.”

  “I want you to be scared. This is serious, Rae. You are my life now. I would have died if I had lost you. You are my life, understand me. Rubi will never come near you again. Even if I have to be the devil himself, I will keep you safe,” he added in a low, deliberate voice.

  “You are never going to lose me.” That was the only promise Rae could make because, unlike Yvan, she had every intention of seeing her sister. Rubi was the only family she had left. “Take me home, please. I just want to fall asleep in your arms. Tomorrow is a new day, a better day.”

  “I’ll go find you something to wear.”

  “I don’t care about that. Plus, I don’t want to stain someone’s clothes with my blood.”

  “Mi vida. You are the devil’s angel, Rae. You are my angel, and I’m sorry I let you down. Come.” Rae tried not to wince when Yvan tucked his arms under her body and lifted her into his embrace. “I’ll hold you for the rest of our lives, mi amor.”

  “Te amo.”

  * * * *

  Yvan didn’t see a reason why they shouldn’t use the honeymoon penthouse suite. Their wedding might have been a bust, but they were married. He carried a sleeping Rae into the room and laid her gently on the bed.

  He went into the bathroom and started a shower, and then stripped off his clothes and tied a towel around his waist. He looked down at his tuxedo shirt that was now a bloody tie-dye. He dumped his bloodied clothes into the bin. He put his hand under the spray. Yvan didn’t know how hot Rae would want it. Some husband he was, he didn’t even know his wife well enough to know if she liked the water scalding hot, just as he did, or lukewarm. Yvan decided to play it safe and went for the latter. He grabbed a fluffy, cotton towel from the rack and a bathrobe. Obviously Rae wouldn’t be comfortable in the nude with him in the room. But Yvan was determined to ease her into it.