Somebody's Angel (#5 in a Military Romance / BDSM Romance series) (Rescue Me) (6 page)

He’d come to realize their objections to his enlistment were more about his safety and possibly losing another son to the war, which became clear when Mama and Papa traveled all the way to Germany to visit him after Marc had been injured in Iraq. They’d sat by his bedside at a time when they should have been at the resort gearing up for the height of the ski season and stayed with Marc until he’d been flown back to the States.

While he hadn’t spent a lot of time here in Aspen after his discharge from the Navy, he tried to keep up with family more than he had before. But he stopped short of returning to live here and helping run the resort. Guilt over not wanting to take on responsibility for his family’s business had plagued him his entire adult life.

Perhaps now that he was with Angelina and had seen what a close relationship she had with her family, he would spend more time up here. Although nothing would tear him away from Angelina, knowing his family accepted the woman he’d fallen in love with lifted a weight off his shoulders.

This was going to be a memorable weekend; he could feel it in his bones. Tomorrow he hoped to get Angelina out on the slopes with him. She still didn’t enjoy the outdoors the way he did, but he’d work on helping her feel more comfortable there, little by little.

He touched the ring box he’d been carrying in his pocket since Christmas. He didn’t know what was keeping him from popping the question; he’d been planning this moment ever since Adam’s wedding.

Sandro’s voice intruded on his thoughts. “Thirty seconds to the New Year!”

He let go of the box, glanced around, and found Angelina standing next to Mama. While the others grabbed for noisemakers, Marc walked over to Angelina and wrapped his arms around her. They locked gazes. Not waiting for the New Year to begin, he grabbed her hair and tugged it back, tilting her head and opening her mouth. He lowered his mouth to hers, nibbling on her succulent lower lip, feeling her warm breath mingle with his.

Angelina’s hands reached up to encircle his neck, and Marc’s tongue delved inside to tangle with hers. With blood rushing through his brain, the cheers of “Happy New Year!” barely registered.

Remembering where he was, he fought the urge to grab her breast and twist her nipple. However, he could wait until later, unwilling to cause her any embarrassment with his family. Still, he continued to kiss her deep and hard. This was their first New Year’s Eve kiss, and he wanted it to last.

“Well, someone needs to get a room.”

Angelina stiffened in his arms at Melissa’s remarks, and Marc held the back of Angelina’s head as he further assaulted her senses.

No escape. He would not release her, even if Melissa tried to break the spell.

But all too soon, Angelina pushed him away. Her face was flushed, whether from his kiss or her embarrassment at the woman’s catty remark, he wasn’t sure.

Soon they were engulfed with wishes for a happy New Year from the family. When he turned around, he saw Melissa walking out the door. Good riddance. Had she finally gotten the message she had no place in this family?
Dio
, he hoped so.

* * *

Angelina stared out at the slopes while waiting for the gondola to take her back down the mountain to the resort. Melissa’s intrusion on her conversation with Damián a few minutes ago, as they’d watched Marc give Marisol ski lessons, only added to Angelina’s frustration. She’d do well to remember Damián’s advice to ignore Melissa, who had flounced away in a huff in her form-hugging, fur-lined Chanel ski outfit.

“She’s only trying to make trouble. Marc’s with you, not her.”

Damián was right about that and a number of other things. She did need to talk to Marc tonight about his relationship with Melissa. The woman’s cryptic remarks today emphasized that. Marc would keep his promise and tell her the truth.

Since that costume night in October when Marc had pulled off an elaborate mindfuck to show her how much he cared about her and wanted her back after he’d lied to her, Marc had stressed and promised honesty with her. Melissa seemed bent on causing trouble, whether for Angelina, Marc, or both of them, she wasn’t sure.

The need to curl up in her Dom’s lap and wrap her arms around him became so overwhelming that she almost marched right to the bunny slope to grab him. The man had entrenched himself in her heart in such a short time. She’d do anything to protect him from hurt or pain. She’d do anything for him…period.

Melissa’s strong perfume assailed her nostrils.

Shit. Not again
.

“Marco was supposed to come back here after he left the Navy. None of us ever understood what he was trying to prove by enlisting.”

Angelina sighed and turned toward her. “Some brave men and women find it an honor and a privilege to serve and protect their country.” Melissa rolled her eyes. It took all of the self-discipline she’d learned from Marc not to claw the bitch’s eyes out. “Marc’s a selfless hero in my book.”

Smiles from an older couple waiting for the lift caught Melissa’s attention, too, and she amended her earlier insensitive remark. “Of course he is. We’re all very proud of his service.”

Angelina doubted Melissa was doing more than providing lip service to show she supported the troops.

“Marc commented that he was surprised to find you at the resort. What do you do here?”

“Do?”

“You know, your career. Job.”

The woman’s nose went up in the air with disdain. “I assure you, I don’t have to work for a living. The D’Alessios have made certain I’m taken care of after losing my Gino in Afghanistan.” She reached up and brushed away a nonexistent tear, glancing at the couple again—for sympathy, no doubt.

Gino and Melissa hadn’t married and there were no kids that Angelina knew about, but the family still supported her? That didn’t make any sense to Angelina, but she wasn’t going to try to figure out how the other half lived. Maybe they had more money than common sense.

Dio
, please let me get through this weekend without pulling this woman’s hair out.

Melissa’s heavily mascaraed eyes narrowed as her gaze returned to Angelina. “I waited for Marc to return home, but I often wondered how his injuries might have affected his…abilities in the bedroom.”

Angelina shifted her gaze to the mountain again. She could pick out Marc’s form in an instant and smiled, relaxing.

Melissa filled the silence. “He was in great form just before he enlisted. I’ve missed his firm…hand.”

“Oh, I assure you, Marc’s skills in the bedroom are…” Wait! What had she said? Angelina spun toward her as Melissa’s words replayed in her mind.
Before
he enlisted? She had been with Marc after Gino’s death? Last night, Marc had told Angelina his relationship with her ended at the betrayal before
Gino
enlisted. Marc joined the Navy more than a year
after
Gino died. Why hadn’t he mentioned continuing his relationship with Melissa?

Okay, Angie, calm down. This all happened long before he met you.

But he’d promised he would be honest with her. Once again, he’d omitted crucial facts about his past. Even though she hadn’t specifically asked if he’d had anything more to do with Melissa after he’d found her with Gino, Marc still could have shared the information so she didn’t have to hear it from the bitch herself.

“If I were you, I’d keep a tight rein on
our
little boy. He had quite the reputation here at Bella Montagna, providing his body and special
skills
to any woman who wanted them. I’m sure he was paid well for his time.”

Marc, a gigolo?

Angelina’s chest tightened, and she gripped the railing before her own common sense returned slowly. How could she trust this woman over Marc?

“Obviously, you’re one to fabricate stories just to enhance your self-worth.” Angelina glanced at the woman’s 38Ds. “As if you need any more enhancements.”

Barely able to rein in her emotions before she belted the woman, Angelina stepped back.
Breathe
.
Remember where you come from. Your mama didn’t raise you to respond to bullies with violence.

Where was the damned gondola?

As if her thought had conjured one up, the red, bubble-shaped gondola came into sight. When she watched Melissa prepare to get on the car, Angelina decided she would wait for the next and walked back inside the shelter. The thought of being confined in a closed-in space with that woman and to hear any more lies about Marc’s past held no appeal.

Was Melissa lying about her relationship with Marc? Never mind whether he’d been a gigolo. She could accept that before she could understand why he hadn’t been honest with her last night. He’d promised to answer her questions honestly, and she’d specifically asked when their relationship had ended, hadn’t she?

Walking to the observation window, she watched Marc smile as he continued to instruct little Marisol, who seemed to be progressing quickly through her lessons.

Did you forget to tell me something important again, Marc?

Would she ever fully be able to trust him?

Chapter Three

D
oubts about her relationship with Marc overwhelmed her by the time she arrived back at their suite. What if Melissa told the truth?

She wanted to explode in a mixture of anger and hurt. It took several waves of the room’s key card before the scanner read the code and allowed her to open the door. Zeroing in on the antique, four-poster bed dominating the room and bombarding her with memories, she averted her gaze only to have it alight on the toy bag in the corner of the closet. Black spots danced in her eyes.

Breathe,
cara.

At the moment, she didn’t want to hear Marc’s voice, real or imagined. She crawled onto the bed and curled into a ball. The lightheadedness diminished as she laid there before the burning tears started to fall.

Stop! You don’t even know that he’s lying!

But he’d lied to her before, leaving out very important information. She’d forgiven him, and he’d promised never to do that again. Apparently, he hadn’t kept his vow.

Angelina wished she were home in Aspen Corners, in Nonna’s bed, safe from hurt. She’d let her guard down with a man again, only this emotional pain was so much worse than the physical blows she’d suffered with Allen.

Even Nonna’s bed had been invaded by Marc’s dominant presence. Memories flooded her of how he’d so patiently shown her the way a responsible Dom should treat a sub. Those images collided with the way he’d concealed his true self from her, wearing the wolf mask that first time they’d physically met when she’d been abused at the club he co-owned. Despite her destroying the mask later, he’d never removed the internal one he hid behind.

A sob tore from her throat.

Mio Dio
. She needed to get away from this room. Regroup. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her smartphone. Pressing speed dial, she waited.

“Hey, baby. Happy New Year!”

Tony’s voice did little to comfort her. The silence drew out, and she sniffed to keep her nose from running.

“What’s wrong?” She could hear him go on the alert. Always the big brother—well, one of the four she’d been saddled with since birth.

“I need you to come get me, Tony.”

“Where are you? Are you in a safe place until I can get there?”

Angelina sighed. “This isn’t that kind of rescue mission.” She named the resort and started to give their room number but decided to be gone from the room before he got here. She didn’t want to see Marc right now and didn’t know how long he would be on the mountain giving lessons today.

“I’ll be there in an hour.”

“Wait!” She couldn’t hang around the lobby where Marc’s family would see her, so she gave Tony the name of a coffee shop she’d seen in town where she could wait for him out of the cold. After ending the call, she dragged her suitcase out of the closet, opened it on top of the bed, yanked her things from the closet and drawers, and threw them inside. She berated herself for being ten kinds of stupid for trusting Marc as she went into the bathroom to clear her things off the vanity counter. After carrying them to the bed where she dumped them without a care as to what might leak onto her clothes, Angelina zipped the case and dragged it to the door.