Page 103 of Greed

“Pull over,” Shilo said.

“What?”

“Pull over now,” Shilo suddenly yelled, his hand smacking on the dash. The look on his face was fierce, his blue eyes shimmering with a power I hadn’t seen since before his fall.

Thrown off by the outburst, I did as he asked and watched in confusion as he got out and paced on the gravel shoulder. Luckily this was a quiet road, and there was no car in sight. I slowly got out and stared at the old angel. His face was almost as red as a tomato, his body vibrating with anger. I thought his wings were going to make an appearance next.

“Boy, you’re an idiot!” Shilo finally said as he pointed a finger at me.

My eyes went wide, and I took a small step back from the words that were as strong as any physical blow. “Shilo, I…”

“I mean it, you’re stupid, and I never thought I would say those words to you. I mean, seriously, after all this time and all these years, I thought you would have some common sense about you.”

“How have I angered you? It was me that was wronged.”

“Oh please! Spare me. Wronged you, my old wrinkly angel ass.” He made a gesture with his hands like he was done with me and walked a few strides away before whipping around to face me once more. “Tell me something, how many people have you wronged since you fell from Heaven? How many people have you purposely set out to ruin their business, ruin their reputation, or life without a second thought? How many people have you tortured or lied to if it suited you? Can you even fathom a guess? I can’t. I lost count after our first year here alone.”Shilo raised his hand and shook his finger at me, but the rage in his soft blue eyes held the real threat.

“That girl is the first real and good thing that has happened to you. She put her own fragile life and heart on the line to save not herself but millions and you. Can you comprehend that? She didn’t set out to scam you or hurt you, and she tells you the truth about why she came to see you, and you turn your back on her?” Shilo shook his head. I’d never seen disgust in his eyes for me before—nothing I’d done earned that look until now. “She is a kind and sweet person who was torn up about lying over one single thing to you, one thing that in the grand scheme of things means a piddle of shit! Shit! Do you hear me, boy?”

I held up my hands. “Yes, I hear you.”

“No, I don’t think you do. Me, of all people, has the right to hate Michael, and that hate burns hotter and brighter than any Hellfire, yet in this, he was not wrong. His obvious scheming aside, I’ve seen you and Minetta together, and the love that is between you is unique and special. That connection, that soul melding type of love, is one of a kind. I should know. I had that once.”His face fell, the hidden pain from all the years showing.

“I loved my wife and children more than my own life, and it was all ripped away from me. You have a chance to have that kind of love, and her time is fleeting, but to have even a few fragile years is worth more than all the buildings and fancy cars in existence.” He held his hand out toward the car to make a point. “Does this piece of shit love you back? Do your fancy buildings and expensive clothes make you feel whole?”

“But she lied and wasn’t even planning on seeing me again.”

“Ha! I wouldn’t have either.”

“What?”

“Maybe you haven’t looked in the mirror and really seen what was staring at you, but the man she met was a fucking asshole of the first order.”

Shilo pulled off his suit jacket and threw it into the dirt, stomping on it with his foot. He rolled up his sleeves, and I thought for sure he was going to throw a fist but instead, he pointed back the way we’d just traveled.

“That girl is the human embodiment of kindness and selflessness, something you used to know about, Maddix. Why would she have given the biggest asshole in the state a chance? Think about it from her point of view. If it had been me, I would’ve run as far as I could get and never looked back. And you know what? Human lives on the line or not, I still wouldn’t have given you a chance to hurt me and especially not at the cost of my own peril at the hands of Hell itself. I can tell you right now that she knew you’d hurt her, or she’d die for her efforts, and she swallowed the fear down to open herself up and give you a chance. That is real, that is…brave, and it’s more than you deserved when she met you.”

Shilo twisted his foot on the jacket, smashing it into the dirt, and pulled his perfectly tucked shirt out from his pants.

“And since you’re sitting so high on your pearly white horse there, did you tell her about Anthony Kent you had me go get?” I looked away from his eyes. “Or how about that guy Jared she worked with? Have you told her about any of the terrible things you’ve done or how you wanted her simply because Michael showed interest?”

“Okay, fine, I get it. I’m still an asshole.”

Shilo walked around the car and shocked me further by placing his hands on my chest. “My boy, you are the only thing that I have left in this world that I love and care about, and I’m telling you right now I will leave and never speak to you again if you don’t fix this right now.”

“You’re serious?”

“I swear it on my son’s death.”

“How am I supposed to know what is real and what is fake between us?”

“Think about it, my boy.” He tapped the side of my head. “Every touch and look you two have shared, even an old decrepit angel like me could see what was happening. She stared at you with so much love—it was like you hung the moon. Yes, Michael very well could have put the idea in her head to come to you, but he didn’t do anything else. For all the puffing of his annoyingly arrogant chest, even he doesn’t have that kind of power. He can’t make the two of you fall in love.”

I stepped back as the reality of his words sunk in. The anger lifted, leaving fear in its wake. What had I done?

“You’re scared, boy. Scared of the emotion that she has invoked. Scared to let someone in, and I don’t blame you after what happened, but you can’t let her go. The man I see before me is the man I always knew you would become, not that shell of a thing you’ve been for centuries.”

Loud thunder rumbled in the distance just before a sharp lightning crack. I looked back the way I’d come and into the storm. I stared at the black that was as dark as Hell itself, and a shiver raced down my spine. I sniffed the air and looked at Shilo.