Page 34 of Poison Vows

Ty passes over Angel’s phone and true to his word, there are several texts and missed calls from my cousin… all from his private number that has nothing to do with Family business.

I grip the phone, remembering the way he pressed a kiss to her cheek last night at the auction dinner and the way he tried to get a rise out of me with the bidding.

It was never about the money… after all, Vaughn is still an Easton. He has his own fair share of wealth. It was about reaction.

Vaughn was looking for a reaction from me and from Angel.

He wants to see how he can get an opening with her to win her over.

Well, he doesn’t have to worry about that. He’ll never have her.

As for me, the bidding was about the look on Angel’s face.

She’s attracted to sad things.

Lonely things.

Abandoned things.

It’s not rocket science as to why, but in trying to understand why the hell that girl affects me so much, I can’t for the life of me crack that code.

“Where are they?” I grumble, breathing hard.

Kai brings over the box with the rings in it and places it on the desk.

“Sir, maybe sharing with the young miss what’s happening will help with the situation?” Ty suggests quietly. “The doctor said he’s very close to?—"

I stare at the rings, remembering the story behind them from last night.

“No,” I cut Ty off. “There hasn’t been any concrete progress in the past ten years, so why hope on that now?”

“But, sir?—”

“Never plan on the weather, or times and seasons. They all belong to God…”

“And we’re just mere humans and should stay in our lane,” Kai finishes quietly. “The young mistress used to say that.”

I look away.

My mother was a force to be reckoned with. Then she suffered because of it.

Inasmuch as people think they can control everything, in the end, we can’t.

Absolute, unyielding power does not and will never belong to flesh and bones… this I learned from my mother.

She was levelheaded, cerebral, and undaunted in the face of danger.

She focused on what she knew and what she could do and for me, there are two things.

One: Iamdying.

Pretty soon, judging by the level of pain, the increased frequency of pills, and the increasing number of times I can’t get up from bed lately.

And two: Angel is my everything. Nothing and no one will ever come close.

I can’t leave her with the burden and grief of having a potentially sick child because of me.

I can’t give her what she wants. She’s out of her mind if she thinks she can threaten me with that.

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