The Color of Her Lips

Chapter Fourteen

Michael

"It was about time!" Ariana exclaims when we get to our room. As soon as I close the door she throws herself on the bed and sighs of relief.

I lean my back against the door. "It was awful," I think out loud.

Ari takes her heels and those scary knives off. She gets up and goes to open to minibar.

"What are you doing?" I ask, still leaning against the door.

"Let's pop some champagne open to celebrate our survival."

"No, save it for tomorrow," I tell her. "We'll open it at midnight, for Christmas' Eve."

She thinks about for a moment. "Okay, fine." She goes to her luggage and takes out a short black dress. "But I need a drink, and I need to change, so turn around."

"Why don't you go to the bathroom?" I ask, confused.

She eyes me like I've gone crazy. "It's freezing in there!"

I lift my hands in surrender. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you were this chilly. Calm down, babe."

She glares and points a finger at me. "Don't call me that."

"What? Babe?" I tease and go sit on the bed.

She rolls her eyes and gives her back to me. "Could you help me unzip the dress?" She asks.

I get up and reach her. "Sure, babe," I smile, amused. I slowly unzip her dress, grazing her skin involuntarily. This time, she shivers. I zipped it up when she was getting dressed earlier, but we were in a hurry so I didn't pay attention to my movements and her body, and neither did she.

The zip reaches the bottom of her back, but doesn't reveal her ass.

"Thanks," she says, sounding a little short of breath. She takes off her gloves.

"You're welcome," I whisper in her ear. Then I head to the bathroom. When I come back, I find her sitting on the bed with a new white dress that reaches her mid-thigh, her hair down in loose waves, and busy in texting.

"So? Let's have this drink," I say, stuffing my hands in my pockets. Ariana keeps texting and makes a preoccupied face. "Ariana, who are you texting with?"

She drops her phone on her stomach and sighs. "My sister. She's still mad at me. I don't know what to do!"

"She's mad at you? Why?" I ask.

She shakes her head and stands up. "Let's have that drink first and then I'll tell you, maybe."

"Okay, let's go."

• • •

Ariana

"Could you please drop that phone and talk to me?" Michael tells me, annoyed that I haven't stopped texting yet.

I'm sorry, Sally, I gotta go, I text my sister and finally shut the phone.

I take a long sip of my martini. "My sister is making me crazy."

He frowns and looks at me through his glass of bourbon. "What's the matter?"

I sigh. "She's upset that I'm not spending Christmas with her."

"Well, she has a right to be," he says.

"That's really reassuring, Michael, thanks," I give him a dry smile.

He chuckles, showing me that beautiful smile of his. "She's a teenager without parents, Ari. It's obvious she wanted you with her for Christmas."

"Of course. I wanted to stay with her too, but I had to be here!" I take another huge sip and I've finished my drink. I need a refill.

"She's also too young to understand. She doesn't get what you found yourself in."

"Yes, but it makes me feel guilty that I left her alone..." When tears are threatening to come down, a waiter brings me another martini, and I push back the tears. "Thank you."

"Go slow with that," Michael nods at my new drink, "you don't want to get wasted."

"Maybe I want to," I say, and sip my drink.

"Why? To forget about your problems?"

I nod and swallow, the alcohol not burning my throat anymore.

"Don't act like a teenager, this is childish," he says.

"I don't want to go to another dinner," I blurt out. "I don't want to see that man again."

Michael sighs heavily. "Yeah, I don't want to be around my brother either."

I frown. "Your brother? What?" Oh my God. Oh my God.

"Uh...yeah. That man, Mr. Brown, is my brother," he confirms. "He changed his last name to his wife's and..."

I no longer hear what he is saying. I go deaf and my mind races through memories, horrible memories.

I down my entire drink, stand up, and hurry away from him, racing to the elevator. He can't be his brother, it's impossible that Michael DeAngelis is this different from him.

I was starting to trust him, but now that I know he's that monster's brother I don't know anymore.

Brandon DeAngelis is a demon.