The Secret Angel Book 2
Автор
Melanie Gomez
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Jocelyn Maxwell's first day of high school is anything but ordinary. With a family deeply entrenched in a dangerous underworld, her life is a constant balance between normal teenage experiences and the looming threats that surround her. As she navigates new friendships and a mysterious admirer, her protective family becomes increasingly wary of the dangers lurking in the shadows. When a sinister figure from their past reappears, Jocelyn's world spirals into a web of intrigue, danger, and unexpected alliances.
Chapter 1: Jocelyn
JOCELYN
It’s finally here! My first year of high school! Freshman year. The start of a new school, and to say I’m a little nervous is an understatement.
I wake up and quickly jump in the shower using my strawberry-scented body wash. I just pinned up my hair so I can quickly style it this morning.
I’m on the shorter side at five foot four inches, and on the slimmer side thanks to Uncle Frankie and Dad’s rigorous training over the summer, but I have just enough curves.
I have green eyes from my grandma Gracie, brown hair that curls down to my lower back, and slightly tanned skin.
I threw on some skinny jeans with a cute pink top, a warm jean jacket, and some ankle boots. I put on some simple makeup, nothing too much, just some mascara and lip gloss. I pin half my hair up and spray some body spray.
I grab my backpack to head downstairs to get some breakfast. Some of the men that work for my dad and brother are downstairs because they have an important shipment coming in today.
They are meeting here first with some men, then they will head over to the other mansion, and then to the old business building to get the rest of the guys.
I head downstairs, and a lot of the younger guys stop and turn to stare, because, hey, being the boss’s only daughter and sister to the next in line is a sure way to keep your ass safe.
They are cute, don’t get me wrong, but I can’t date till after I’m eighteen. If my dad and Uncle Frankie have their way, it will never be happening.
Just in case, they had me training as soon as I could walk to learn how to fight. They always had me training so I could take care of myself. I am standing there when my dad yells out, followed by Frankie.
“Hey! Focus!”
“What the fuck are you all looking at?”
They all snap back to what is going on, and I just chuckle internally. I walk through the hall into the kitchen, grabbing a muffin and some orange juice and go sit at the kitchen table.
When I sit down, I see some guards sneaking looks my way and whispering to each other. I won’t lie—there are a few that I think are cute, but no way am I saying anything.
I know how Frankie and my dad work. I will see them one day and not the next.
I’m eating my muffin, looking at my phone, when I hear them adjourn the meeting for the moment and people start walking into the kitchen to grab their breakfast.
I am swarmed by guards all trying to sit next to me, wanting to make small talk. As soon as I go to respond my dad and Frankie boot the two guards sitting next to me to sit down themselves. They sit down and everyone leaves the table, of course.
Uncle Frankie opens his mouth. “Don’t you be talking to no boys! Not in this house!”
“Or anywhere,” I add.
“Jocelyn Gracie Maxwell, don’t you get smart with your uncle!”
“Dad, seriously! You guys have trained me to fight, kill, and shoot. I can’t even talk to a boy?”
“NO!”
I roll my eyes and that’s when I see Jessie. He is one of my dad’s younger guards at nineteen, and he is built. He is also my brother’s best friend. He practically grew up here when his parents died.
He is almost as big as my dad and Uncle Frankie, with muscles upon muscles. He has tattoos all over his body, and I only ever see what’s on his arms and neck outside of his shirt.
If I could only see under that shirt and maybe a little lower… I just stare, looking at him, and Frankie and my dad must catch what I’m looking at.
Jessie catches me looking and gives me a wink. I quickly look down at my muffin, which seems very interesting right now, as my cheeks flush.
Tank walks in and points to his watch. Shit, we gotta go! I quickly get up, grabbing my backpack, and start walking to the front of the house.
My dad is in front of me and my uncle is behind me when we walk right in front of Jessie. He looks down at me, and I can’t help but smile and wink. He winks back, and my uncle grabs him by his shirt and pushes him into the wall.
“Don’t even think about it!”
“Uncle Frankie, stop! He didn’t hurt anyone!” I say.
“Listen, Jocelyn, no way are you looking at him. He’s nineteen.”
“Holy moly, I’m not doing anything with him.”
Why, oh why, do they have to be like this! They bring eye candy here, but I now I know—no touching. But flirting, to me, is not a big deal.
We slowly make our way toward the front, and I see my brother Nate ready to head out also. He works for our dad at the office in town.
We live on the outskirts in a huge estate with so much family and my dad’s main guards and their families. It’s been a tough year this year as we lost my grandma Gracie, who I’m named after.
She fell asleep next to my grandpa Fernando and just never woke up. So now he busies himself working in the main house doing paperwork for my dad and Nate.
The estate we live in they apparently got by taking out some rival. My mom was pregnant with me at the time and killed him herself. My mom is such a badass.
The house is a huge three-story house with light gray marble flooring and cream walls. The first floor consists of the kitchen and dining area (as we have a lot to feed), a large conference room, and a large entertainment room.
The second floor is where all the guards and their families live, and the third floor is our floor. We have a pool out back, with separate houses for my grandpa and Tank’s parents.
I run and give Nate a hug as Tank and Frankie head past me to get the car going.
“Have fun at school, kiddo!”
“I will! See you later!”
I quickly run through the door and jump into the SUV then we head off down the driveway toward the high school. This drive seems to be taking forever! I just watch the scenery go by out the window, hoping it will be quiet.
“Tank, man, our girl was checking out Jessie!”
Well, there goes this being a quiet ride. I just roll my eyes because now I know it’s going to get loud.
“Jocelyn, what the hell? That kid!”
“Man, they even winked at each other!”
“Jocelyn, I swear! No one gets to look at our girl!”
“O-M-G, you two! You have been doing this shit since elementary school. Jesus Christ, give it a rest. You know at some point I will be over eighteen, right?”
“Even then, you ain’t looking at no boys! Right, Tank?”
I roll my eyes. I see the high school come into view and thank God I can leave this drama behind me. When we pull up to the front, Tank throws it in park as both he and Frankie jump out to open my door for me.
All the people in front of the school stop and stare because these two look like Mafia guys—earpieces and all. As I slowly get out, I see the girls giving me dirty looks and the guys turning their full attention on me.
I can feel the hate coming off Tank and Uncle Frankie toward any of the guys who are looking. I can see them out of the corner of my eye giving dirty looks right back at everyone. If they had a choice, I would be homeschooled.
I laugh at myself internally as I walk into the school and head toward my locker. No one seems to want to chat with me because either they don’t want to or they think they might disappear tomorrow if they did.
I make it to my locker, open it, and start to shuffle stuff around when two girls come up to me. I am taken aback—maybe this won’t be too bad.
“Hey, that was a little intimidating, huh?” I say.
“I can’t imagine dealing with that every day. I feel sorry for you!”
“Well, they live with our family and one is an uncle, so they are always around me.”
“Yikes! By the way, I’m Kerri and this is Mary.”
“Hi, guys. First year?”
“Yep, and I think Mary and I will stick around you. It might make the year go quicker.”
“Okay, sounds good. I have a feeling not a lot of people will talk to me.”
We all laugh. I shut my locker, and we head off to our classes. The morning seems to drag on, but before I realize it, it’s lunchtime. I go to the cafeteria, grab my lunch, and spot Mary and Kerri at a table.
They stand up and flag me down to sit with them. They start chatting about a kid named Ricardo that’s in Mary’s elective art class or something.
Mary keeps going on about how dreamy he is, and big. He’s a junior, and whenever he walks in, all the girls suck in their breath.
“I heard from others that he always has girls trying to get his attention but never gives any of them the time of day. A girl in the class that’s a junior said he has been waiting for one girl to come along and would wait for only her.”
“That seems weird. Is he sitting out here yet, Mary?”
“No, not yet. I don’t see him.”
We all just shrug our shoulders and start chatting about our other classes so far. We hear the bell ring, ending lunch and signaling for us to get back to classes. We quickly get up and turn in our trays and hustle out to our classes so we won’t be late.
The day seems to go by quickly, and soon it’s over. I run to my locker, grab all my stuff, and head out toward the front of the school.
I see Tank and Frankie standing there, of course, with scowls on their faces. I walk up, and Frankie looks at me and starts talking.
“How was your day?”
“It’s okay. I made some friends.”
“What kind of friends?”
“Don’t worry. They are girls!”
We stand there chatting about my friends when they both stop and stare past me. I stop and turn around and see this huge muscular brute of a guy. He looks like that badass kid who causes nothing but trouble.
Dark hair, dark brown eyes, and dark skin…oh my! He spots me looking at him and as he walks by, he winks at me.
We watch him as he walks by us and goes over to his ride. There are two men in suits that open up the SUV for him to climb in. We’re all staring when Frankie grabs me, throws in the car, and slams the door.
I see him and Tank talking quietly to each other staring at the SUV, then they grab their phones. They talk quickly then both get in the SUV, and we drive in silence all the way home.
When we pull up and park, my dad is already standing in the doorway. The moment we walk up, my dad stops to talk to me.
“Jocelyn, who’s the boy?”
“I don’t know who it is. I think he’s a junior.”
“Boss, you don’t think it is who we think it is do you?”
“I don’t know. The age fits.”
“Do you know his name, Jocelyn?”
“If it is who I think it is, Mary said his name is like Richard or something.”
“We will have to do some digging, that’s for certain. Anyways, how was your day, sweetie?”
“It was okay.”
I go upstairs, and now I wonder who this kid is that they keep talking about. Why did they get so nervous and concerned? Does it have to do with something from the past?
Oh my, though—he is dreamy just like Mary said! I can’t quite remember his name, but I wonder who the girl is that he’s waiting for.
