Chapter 107 - ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN

Chapter 107: Chapter ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN

ANGEL

I let my hand slide to my chest, cupping my breast through the thin fabric, squeezing until a soft gasp escaped my lips. I squeezed harder, letting my head fall back.

"Think about this during your boring meetings." I smiled at the camera, running my palms over my bare breasts, circling my nipples until they hardened into tight peaks.

"Okay, enough. " I quickly dressed up again, I had far more important tasks to complete.

"See you soon, Daddy," Winking at the camera, I walked out of the room.

The excuse I’d given him was that I needed to go shopping. Vincenzo had been swamped with work for the past few days, and since he hadn’t taken me to accompany him, I could only imagine what he was doing during this period. Probably something brutal.

I’d complained about being bored, and eventually, with a list of conditions of never going anywhere without the security he had personally assigned, he’d said yes.

This was my first taste of freedom since the island actually.

Too bad what he didn’t know was that I had no intention of shopping.

I made my way downstairs, already running through the plan in my head when a figure stepped into my path.

Celine.

"Miss Hale. Are you ready?" She asked.

I rolled my eyes. Didn’t she ever give up? No matter what, I never planned on liking her. Daddy wasn’t even around, so why was she still acting all nice? Was she practicing for an audition I didn’t know about? Employee of the Month, perhaps. She’d definitely win.

"What’s it to you?" I asked, not bothering to hide the irritation in my voice.

"I could accompany you to the mall. Help carry your bags."

I let out a scoff, "You? Carry my bags?" I looked her up and down slowly, "No thank you."

"But Mr Hale said—"

"I don’t care what Mr Hale said." I snapped, "Here’s the thing, Celine. When Daddy’s around, I tolerate you because it makes him happy. But Daddy’s not here right now, is he? So let me be very clear." I smiled sweetly. "I would rather be kidnapped again than spend an afternoon shopping with you. I would rather—actually, you know what? I think you get the point."

Her mouth thinned into a hard line, "Of course, Miss Hale. Enjoy your shopping."

"I intend to." I breezed past her toward the door. "Try not to miss me too much."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I didn’t wait for her response, the black SUV was waiting, two guards in the front seat and another two in the car behind. None of them asked about Celine which made me wonder if she had indeed even received an instruction from Vincenzo.

"Goodbye, Angel."

I froze with my hand on the car door. Turning back slowly. Celine was standing in the doorway waving, I held her gaze for a long moment, did she just refer to me by my name?

I gritted my teeth and climbed into the car.

"Weirdo," I muttered under my breath, I had far more important things to do than remind her who the boss was.

I’d already texted Kevin the plan.

Now I just needed to lose my shadows.

*

*

The mall was crowded, which was perfect.

I moved through the bright lights and chattering crowds with the bodyguards, who followed me like I was visiting royalty.

"I need to use the restroom, stay here," I announced, stopping in front of a department store.

One of the guards, Darren, stepped forward. "Ma’am, I don’t think..."

"You don’t need to think about anything," I fixed him with a look that could freeze lava. "Unless you’d like to explain to my father why you are following me into the bathroom, I’m sure that conversation would go really well for you."

He hesitated, and I watched the calculation happen behind his eyes. Vincenzo’s wrath if something happened to me versus his wrath if he heard about men following his daughter into bathrooms.

"Fine. But five minutes."

"Ten. I might need to fix my makeup."

I didn’t wait for his agreement, I walked normally even while my pulse tingled with excitement.

The bathroom was empty except for one person.

Kevin.

He leaned against the far wall, with his arms crossed, and a duffel bag at his feet.

He looked a bit different from how I remembered—thinner.

There was a scar, too. Faint but visible, running along his forehead, probably when Damien had attacked him.

"Took you long enough," he smiled, his eyes appraising me.

"I had to shake my tail." I crossed the tile floor toward him, "We have maybe eight minutes before they come looking."

"Eight minutes. Then you’d better start your transformation," He pushed off the wall, unzipping the duffel bag. He pulled out a wig—dark brunette, shoulder-length—along with a change of clothes and a small makeup kit. Everything I’d asked for.

"None of the women screamed when you walked in here?" I raised an eyebrow, taking the wig from his hands.

Kevin’s grin was sharp, "I gave a hundred-dollar bill to anyone who walked in here, none of them complained."

"How charming,"

"It’s good to see you, Angel. Really. When I woke up, I was so worried about you," He was looking at me with a soft look

I didn’t respond to that and began to take off my dress instead, not bothering to ask him to turn around. I caught him watching, his gaze tracking the curve of my waist, lingering on the lace of my bra with obvious interest.

Then he lets out a whistle.

"Pervert."

"Guilty." He didn’t look away, he didn’t even pretend to. "Can you blame me?"

"Yes." I yanked on the new clothes—jeans, a dark sweater, and tucked my hair under the wig.

The makeup took another two minutes. Darker eyebrows. A different lip colour. By the time I was done, my own mother wouldn’t have recognized me.

My mother was dead, of course, but the point stood.

"Your father’s men are going to flip when they realize you’re gone," Kevin said, watching my transformation with an expression caught somewhere between impressed and concerned.