EPOV

Have you ever had one of those moments where suddenly everything became clear? You know, where the universe becomes all aligned and everything was perfect?

This was not one of those moments — at all.

No, this was one of those moments were suddenly nothing made sense. The woman — no, the angel — standing at the end of the booth where Alice and Emmett sat had turned my entire world around and all she had done was look at me.

"And for you?" she asked.

I needed to speak, but I couldn't seem to find the words. The woman in front of me was the most exquisite woman I had ever seen: long, luscious mahogany hair; dark, sensual chocolate-brown eyes; and pink, sultry lips that begged for me to kiss them, suck on them, lick them, to worship them.

"Um," I gasped, clearing my throat and trying to regain some sense of normalcy. Looking back at the door, I muttered, "I've gotta . . . go."

Without looking back at her, or Emmett and Alice, I took off out the door. Climbing back on my bike, I took off, going too fast but needing to get away. She was intoxicating and I had only stood in the same room with her. How could anyone have that kind of an effect on me? Much less a woman I had just met?

I parked my bike outside my building and ran up to my apartment, locking the door behind me. Dropping my keys and helmet on the floor, I crossed over to the piano and sat down. Without even thinking about what I was doing, I placed my fingers on the keys and began playing, all while a pair of chocolate eyes haunted

—SMTS —

By the time I made it to the bar for my shift, I was exhausted. I had spent the entire day at my piano: playing, writing, breathing the music flowing through my fingers. For the first time in months — maybe even a year — I could feel the melody inside of me, begging to be released. I hadn't felt this in so long, and it both scared and thrilled me. As much as I hated to admit it, I knew my angel had everything to do with it.

"Dude, what the fuck was that shit last night?" Alice screeched, jumping on me the minute I walked the back door of the bar — literally jumping on my back and beating the shit out of me.

"Fuck, Alice, that's my ear," I muttered, easily pulling her off of me.

She narrowed her eyes at me, grabbing my arms and digging her claws into me.

"Shit! Fucking let go," I goddamned cried, trying to pull my arm out of her grip.

"Oh, she's got you now, Edward," Emmett snickered, coming in front the front. "Serves your ass right, too. You owe me for pie and coffee."

"How many fucking times have I paid for all three of us?" I scoffed, trying to dislodge Alice's nails. "Goddamn it, Ally-Cat, let go!"

"You just left," she jibed, finally pulling her nails out from my arms.

"You fucking left marks," I muttered, rubbing the skin and trying not to cry like a pussy.

"You fucking left and acted like a goddamn motherfucking loser!" Alice brought her hand up, threatening to claw my ass again.

"Fuck, I'm sorry," I groused, moving out of her reach.

"Dude, what was with that?" Emmett folded his arms in front of him.

Shifting my eyes away, I shrugged my shoulders and clocked in for my shift. "I was tired."

"That's why you look like shit right now," Alice scoffed, popping me on the back of the head.

"Alice, stop hitting me," I bit out.

"You left me with that asshole," she laughed, gesturing to Emmett, who winked at her. "He was putting the moves on me all goddamned night."

"Oh, Ally-Cat, you know you liked it." He snickered, palming her ass. "You were shoving this fine ass in my face and junk all night, baby."

"Ugh, get off of me." Alice pushed him away, but had a huge smile on her face.

She and Emmett flirted relentlessly with each other, but we all know it would never happen between them. Emmett laughed and headed back into the front of the bar to get ready for his shift up at the door.

Alice turned back to me, shaking her head. "I don't know what the fuck really happened last night, E, but if you ever do that shit again, I'll fucking cut you and that's a promise."

Alice popped me on the back of the head again before heading back out to the bar, swaying her fucking ass like the bitch she was. But she was right. I had acted like a jerk last night and I was sure both she and Emmett would make sure I paid dearly for leaving them high and dry, even if I always paid in the past.

Murphy's Law was slammed tonight, more than usual, at least. Friday night and payday meant we had a mixture of our usual drunks and the assholes that were drinking away their hard-earned money. The ones who cash their checks and instead of paying their rent or buying groceries, they'd come in and spend a few hundred bucks moaning and groaning about their piss-poor jobs, lousy marriages, pain-in-the-ass kids, and just how shitty our drinks were. What did I get to do while they bitched and whined? Call them cabs and make sure that none of them got behind the wheel of their cars.

Alice was working the VIP room again. Tonight's guest were out celebrating some kid turning twenty-one by getting him shitfaced drunk and trying to get him laid — probably for the first time. It wasn't the first time we'd dealt with this type of group, but these assholes made me uncomfortable. I didn't really want Alice back there with them, but it was her job. Emmett had his hands full between the front door and the rest of the drunks so I was trying to keep an extra close eye on the back room.

After taking the fifth round of shots back to them, she came up to me, looking pissed off.

"Edward, I need you," Alice snapped, gesturing to the VIP room.

That could only mean one thing: some motherfucker got a little too handy and needed to be taught a lesson. Motioning over to Ben — the other bartender — that I would be right back, I climbed over the bar and followed her into the room. Inside, I found six guys who were drunk, humping the couches, and yelling about Alice being a cock tease.

"There's the whore," the birthday boy sneered.

Alice rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time she'd had a drunk call her a whore.

"That motherfucker grabbed my ass while his dick friend — the fuck-nut with the busted lip — groped my boobs," she explained, placing her hands on her hips. I had no doubt that the busted lip was her doing.

"Did not," the fucker holding the napkin up to his lip muttered.

I looked down at Alice. "I got it."

She understood and left. I turned back to the boys. They had better be glad Emmett wasn't the one brought back here. You don't mess with his Ally-Cat and expect to walk out without a limp.

"Let me make this as fucking clear as I possibly can. You do not touch her, look at her, think about her, or dream about putting your fucking dicks inside of her. She took it easy on you, but if you ever mess with her again, she will fuck you up. Then I will fuck you up. And just because I'm a bastard, I will get the big guy at the door to come fuck you up. Do we have an understanding?" I asked, looking around.

They all nodded their heads, clearly realizing that they had fucked up big time.

"Are you driving?" I asked.

They shook their heads.

"Limo," the asshat with the busted lip muttered.

"I suggest you take your sorry asses' home and sleep it off before you do something truly fucked up."

Leaving them sitting there, scared and probably having just pissed their pants, I headed back up to the bar, where Alice waited, tapping her nails rapidly. She looked up at me expectantly.

"I took care of it," I assured her.

"Did you kick their asses?" she asked, eagerly.

I laughed, but before I could reply, the boys from the VIP room came stumbling out. They took one look at me and Alice before bolting for the door, nearly pushing Emmett, which would have been bad — very bad. Emmett cocked his eyebrow as he came over to the bar.

"What the fuck was that about?" he asked, gesturing to stampede of scared, drunk boys.

"Usual," Alice said, shrugging her shoulders. She looked back at me. "So did you kick their asses or not?"

"Was there a need to kick their asses?" Emmett growled, turning back to the door. I could tell he was trying to decide if he could catch up to them or not. Again, nobody messes with his Ally-Cat.

Emmett and I had started working at the bar around the same time, nearly four years ago. Both new to Vegas, we quickly became friends. A year later, Alice showed up. She wasn't the same foul mouthed, bitchy, violent Alice that she was now. No, she was an angry, bitter, messed up Alice, who told us all to fuck off two dozen times a day when she started. Then one night after we closed, Emmett and I walked out of the back of the bar and found her kneeling against the wall, sobbing uncontrollably.

Without even thinking twice, Emmett picked her up. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, letting us take her back to his apartment. She fell asleep in his arms, whimpering and screaming every ten minutes. Emmett never let her go, holding her all night. Alice never told us what happened in the alley, or what her nightmares were about, but she didn't tell us to fuck off anymore, either. Alice didn't share anything about her life with us, or anyone. It's just the way it was.

"Not this time," I said, passing a couple of beers over to Ben. "A couple guys got a little too friendly. Alice busted a lip, and I gave them the usual shit."

"The 'I will fuck you up' speech?" Alice asked.

I nodded.

She laughed. "Thanks, E. That almost makes up for leaving us last night."

"Almost but it doesn't," Emmett added, pushing away from the bar and heading back to the front door.

—SMTS —

By the time I locked the bar up for the night, I was dragging. However, instead of driving back to my apartment, I found myself parked in front of the diner — her diner. From my seat on my bike, I could see my angel sitting behind the counter, bent over something. Why the hell had I come back here tonight?

Without thinking, I climbed off my bike, pulled my helmet off, and headed inside. The bells chimed as I pushed the door open, causing my angel to look up at me. Once again, I was lost in sea of chocolate brown. She stared at me, cheeks flushed pink. I let the door close behind me, but just stood there, staring at her.

"Hi." Her voice was calm, passionate, sensual, and sexy.

"Hi," I replied, dumbly. "Can I sit anywhere?"

"Anywhere you can find a seat," she said, smiling. "As you can tell, we're very busy."

"Yeah, practically overflowing." I laughed, looking around at the empty diner. Sitting down at the counter in front of her, I smiled. "I hear you have good pie."

"Um, it's okay," she murmured.

My angel reached up, pushing her hair behind her ear. I noticed that she had a smudge of orange paint just next to her ear. I reached out to wipe it away, but pulled my hand back. The urge to touch her was overwhelming. I just wasn't sure I'd be able to stop at just touching her face. My body craved hers, and I didn't even know her name.

"You have paint," I explained, gesturing to where she had it. "Just there by your ear."

"Oh, thanks," she muttered, rubbing the spot profusely, but it was still there. "I thought I got it all."

"It's orange," I mumbled, feeling like an idiot.

She nodded her head, but offered nothing more.

"Did you want some pie or . . . something?" she asked, biting on her bottom lip.

Fuck, if my cock wasn't already rock hard, that sent me over the edge.

"The kitchen is closed, but I could make you a burger or a sandwich or something. I mean, you know, if you want."

"No," I said, quickly — too quickly because my angel frowned. "Pie would be good, though. If you have any."

"A la mode?" she asked smiling.

"Please," I murmured. My angel nodded her head and stood up, grabbing the sketch pad in front of her. She moved over to the glass pie cabinet and pulled out two pies.

"Apple or cherry?" she asked, looking over at me.

I smiled. "Surprise me."

Blushing, she turned back to the pies, dishing us both a large piece of apple. She added two scoops of vanilla ice cream on top and set them down in front of me, pulling her stool up and sitting down.

"This looks good."

"They're okay," she said, taking a bite. Her tongue snaked out, licking all over the spoon. Averting my eyes, I picked up my spoon and took a bite.

"Oh, fuck me, that's good!" I moaned, all throaty and porn star like.

My angel burst out laughing, covering her mouth so she didn't spew her food all over me. I quickly swallowed, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand. Her laughter increased as she reached over, grabbing a couple of napkins and placing one in front of me. Mentally slapping myself, I wiped my mouth and the back of my hand off, but this was good pie — like fucking good pie.

"Sorry," I muttered, feeling like a world class idiot.

She laughed again, but before she could say anything the door the diner opened again. We both looked over as a tall, thin blond guy wearing green scrubs came in. Turning back to my angel, I noticed she no longer had a smile on her face. Pushing her pie away, she moved from behind the counter and over to him.

"Car, what's wrong?" she asked. Car shook his head, taking her hands in his and bringing them up his lips.

"I couldn't save her," he murmured. "Never save her."

My angel looked over at me, frowning. A single word trickled from between her lips: "Sorry,"

"I should go," I mumbled, standing up.

My angel didn't say anything or even try to stop me as I pulled some money out of my back pocket and tossed it onto the counter. As I walked over to the door, I looked back at her. She had pulled him over to a booth and was sitting with his head on her shoulder. He got to feel her touch, the soft whispers of her breath as she comforted him, soothed him, and nurtured him.

Jealousy spiked through me.

Turning away, I walked out and climbed on my bike, heading back to my apartment. Slamming my apartment door shut behind me, I shuffled into my bedroom, falling on my bed. Toeing off my shoes, I covered my eyes with my arm and drifted off to sleep, where my angel haunted me, dancing to the melody that played in my head.

I was truly fucked.

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