Page 73 of Vicious Angel (Criminal Sins 2)

My dying heart kicks and screams, but my thumb falls against the answer icon.

“Hello!?” It’s Angel’s voice.

“Angel?”

; “Cat?”

“Do you have...” I can’t finish. Daring to hope has only ever led me to more misery.

“No,” Angel mumbles, and I can practically hear his head drop in shame.

Oscar is still missing.

“Are you alright?” he asks.

For some reason, I can’t bring myself to lie to him. “No.” the truth is cold and flat and awful.

“Same,” he broods.

For a second, neither of us say a word. Then...

“Where are you?”

I furrow my brows and my head pounds with heartache. My visions blurs and I have to pinch my nose to refocus. When I can see again, nothing seems familiar. “I don’t know...” I mumble.

“Are you safe?”

“I think so.”

“Who are you with?”

I look over to the doorway that the two men just walked out of. “Juan was just here.”

“Can you give him the phone?” Angel asks, but I don’t want to.

Even though we’re just talking over the phone, I feel a little less lonely, a little less broken. We’re both two shattered people, two failed parents, two awful protectors...

But still, the kiss Angel gave me before he went after Oscar lingers on my lips. The warmth soothes me enough to sit up from my bed. “I’ll go find him.”

Juan and the man he left with are just outside the door. When I open it up, they stop talking and look my way. Juan’s eyes go wide when he sees the bright cell phone in my hand.

“Angel?” he asks.

I nod.

The phone switches hands and I’m left cold and alone again. Juan starts to pace as he talks to Angel, and my mind drifts off.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” The man who helped me the other night stands with his hands clasped behind his back. “I’m fine, thank you.” I suddenly realize I never got his name. I’m about to ask when Juan gives me the answer.

“Aldar, let’s go!” he orders, stuffing the cell phone in his pocket. I guess Angel didn’t want to talk to me anymore...

A sharp pain cuts through the dull ache that ravages my body at the thought of what’s going through Angel’s mind right now. He must blame me for everything, right? He was ready to whisk us off to safety, and I refused...

Juan and Aldar are at the staircase before I snap out of my daze. “Hey!” I call after them, desperately not wanting to be alone anymore. “Can I come?”

The two men share a look of concern.