Angel stopped in her tracks and shivered at the sound of the gun shot. She wanted to be happy but a part of her couldn’t be because she knew it would cause Nick and his son pain. She came face to face with the wide eyed panicked maid.
Maria’s lips curled into a snarl and she charged the woman with the gun. She would protect little Nick no matter what the price. Angel easily side stepped the older woman who flew past her and into the wall. Angel took out her rage on the helpless maid. She grabbed her by the hair and pounded her head into the wall until the woman stopped struggling. She slid to the floor leaving a smear of blood on the Venetian finished walls. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the child’s room. It was everything she ever could have imagined or wanted to give her child. She walked hesitantly to the crib. She choked back a sob at the sight of Nick’s son. The realization he’d grow up without his real mother tore at her heart.
“What the hell are you doing,” Meyer’s yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
Angel wiped away the tear and gently picked up the sleeping child. Nicky sighed and snuggled into her chest. Her body went limp and she almost couldn’t hold the weight of him. It was too late to turn back now. There was no where to go but to hell.
Angel made it to the kitchen with Nicky. “Oh my, God,” she said seeing Kathy in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor.
“Move your ass,” he said in a hushed tone. The last thing he needed right now was a screaming kid. “She saw me. I didn’t have a choice.” Meyers put the mask back on and the two hurried out to the car.
Maria groaned and pulled herself up on the hall table. She stumbled into Nicky’s room.
“Dios mio,” she cried, “Dios mio.” Nick Jr. was gone. She staggered to the alarm panel and hit the button before the room spun and faded into darkness.
Angel cradled the sleeping child in her arms with the sounding alarm Nicky woke with a start and began to cry. The two hurried away with the screaming child as the alarms from the mansion blared in the background.
“I told you to take care of the maid,” he snapped. He punched the gas and sped away from the house.
“I…I did. She wasn’t moving.” Angel was in the back seat and quickly buckled Nicky into the car seat
“You had a gun why didn’t you use it. It’s not like it would be the first time you killed someone. So help me. If you screw this up!”
She looked at him defiantly. “It was different. Carlos was going to kill me.”
He was going to kill Dempsey he wanted to scream at her. When push came to shove he knew she’d never do the same for him. Nicky fused and fidgeted in the car seat. “Make it shut up or else.” he snapped.
What did he expect Angel thought. They’d taken the sleeping child from it’s bed and hauled him into the darkness. She‘d done her best to shield Nicky from his lifeless mother on the floor. She resented the fact as a woman men always expected her to automatically know what to do. Instinctively on some level she did. She’d always been careful to keep her distance from children. The pain of her loss was just as fresh as if it had happened yesterday. She couldn’t help but hold and comfort Nick’s child. She looked into the tear filled chocolate colored eyes and saw his father staring back at her. The thick wavy hair and dimple had been passed on to the next generation. As she comforted the troubled child she fell in love with Nick all over again and she hated herself for what she had done.