Page 166 of Poison Aches

They might be cousins, but their disposition is entirely different.

Where Emmett is tall, huge, intimidating, and quiet, Vaughn is also tall but on the slim side, smiles a lot, and seems to be friendly and open.

However, the two are similar in that both of them have an aura.

An aura I should’ve picked up years ago. Or maybe I did, only to ignore it.

Does Samuel know that Emmett is in the Mafia? Is that why he said war would break out?

My mind is whirling with so many thoughts that I can’t even hear anything else until Vaughn taps my hand.

“Huh?”

“Oh boy,” he says softly. “You’ve had one hell of a night.”

“Wouldn’t you if you found out that the parents who abandoned you have been living well and only kept you separate from their beautiful lives so you can be the thing that fulfills their power-hungry shady mafia contract?”

Anger, shame, and pain slither their way into me.

I’m ashamed that I fell for the bait.

I’m horrified that I was made a fool of.

But I’m even more angry at myself.

I knew building fantasies in my head of a beautiful family reunion was just looking for trouble, but nowhere in my wildest dreams was I expecting this.

“Well, if it helps, I believe Governor Hughes and his wife were both not expecting you,” Vaughn says.

“I gathered from the way my so-called twin sister announced that she found the girl who will take the fall for her.”

And her parents agreed.

Not once did any of them stand up for me. Hell, they didn’t even know my name but now, in five days I have to marry?

Like hell.

“How did you know?” I turn to look at Vaughn.

He sits comfortably, like Emmett does in any room, but where Emmett is natural, Vaughn is intentional.

“That you are from Westbrook Blues?” Vaughn asks as he turns to look at me and gives me another charming panty-melting smile. “I guessed but you just confirmed it.”

“Really?”

“Well, my cousin is not a friendly person, nor does he give a damn about anyone else. The only people ever reported to be in his life are the kids from Westbrook Blues, and sorry to say but I already knew there was a black girl too.”

“And you just guessed it’s me?”

“No, I guessed that you are the black girl he saved from drowning when he was ten and since then, things changed.”

A shudder goes through me at that.

“What do you mean things changed?”

“I mean everything changed. Daphne Easton, Emmett’s mother and my aunt, was the heir of the Outfit. She died and then a few days later, her son who assumed her position as heir almost died while saving some girl, so of course it completely changed everything,” Vaughn says, now looking at me deeply and meaningfully. “But seeing you now, though you’re grown, I completely understand.”

“Understand what?”

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