Page 21 of Angel

I nodded, lips still swollen and throbbing from his mouth on them.

Reese’s public relations executive, Di Montcliffe, along with the wedding coordinator, a bird-like woman named Clara, sidled up and cut in our path.

‘We need to talk,’ Di insisted.

With faux smiles, they steered us into a quiet velvet-curtained alcove.

‘How’s everything going?’ Clara intoned with a Cheshire grin. ‘You two newlyweds are so gorgeous.’

‘Let’s be real, this charade is fucked. Cut to the chase.’

Angel’s deep, husky drawl, laced with fury, shut her up at once.

Clara blinked in shock at the vehemence in his tone.

‘Your flight to Italy departs in two hours,’ Di murmured, undaunted, her manicured nails tapping the screen. ‘Evangeline booked a luxury honeymoon villa on Capri, close to the Amalfi Coast. Reese expects arrival photos, plus vacation reels and shots as agreed with Evangeline.’

Angel crossed his massive arms over his chest and glared down at her.

‘Cancel it. All I want right now is to get home and disappear for a few weeks.’

‘Angel, I’m so sorry about all of this,’ I muttered, placing a hand on his forearm.

He shook it off with a quiet grunt.

‘Stop apologizing, Roxy. You’re not the one who’s fucked up my life.’

He turned back to the PR executive. ‘You got that? We’re canceling the freakin’ getaway.’

Di cleared her throat, tapping her digital screen with insistence.

‘You can’t, by agreeing to the wedding and deal with Mr Rosedale, you’ve consented to honeymoon.’

Di and Angel faced off for a beat until he cursed.

‘Hell. Go on then, hit us with what else we’ve signed our lives away for.’

‘The initial arrangement with Evangeline required regular social media updates. We need them to maintain consumer confidence before the Saudi prince signs the contract for the Rosedale deal.’

Angel grimaced.

‘The hell, why?’

Di simpered.

‘The Saudi Cup has a $20 million purse, and is the most lucrative event in horse racing. Reese’s thoroughbreds, after the sale, will be the main attraction, so any publicity generated will help gain more eyeballs to the event. If Reese can raise the purchase price of the horses because of the infamy of your attachment to the brand, he will.’

‘So luring everyday IG and TikTok doomscrollers to care about the Rosedale horse trade means more mullah for Reese?’ Angel growled, his expression one of thorough disgust.

‘Indeed. Evangeline was promoting the brand on social media and showing off the horses. In fact, that’s how the Saudis found Reese, through her socials,’ Di said with some pride. ‘I helped map out her social media publishing calendar and hit the right hashtags. Turns out cute racing colts are popular online. We even had the sexiest stallion groomer online visit the Rosedale ranch and -.’

‘I don’t give a flying fuck about any damn groomers,’ Angel ground out.

Di was unflappable.

‘However, you can see why Evangeline disappearing from the scene needs to be replaced in the public eye by a more compelling and believable story?’

Angel cursed, terrifying a passing waiter who almost dropped his tray of champagne flutes.