Page 241 of Toxic Temptation
“I’m Luka’s uncle?—”
“And right now, you’re being a fucking shitty one. That kid loves Vesper. She loves him. I get it—you don’t want to be tied down. You want to be the free-wheeling, arrogant bastard I always knew you were. But why punishthemfor it?”
Fuck, that stings. But he’s right. Because I’ve hurt the two people who matter most. And even though it was a noble reason, even though it was to protect them from worse pain down the road—they don’t know that. They see only what I’ve done. The pain I’ve caused.
“When will you be back at work?” I ask. It’s the closest I can come to asking how she is.
“I don’t know.”
“You said family emergency?—”
“You care about that?”
“I need facts.”
His eyes blaze. “You know what? I was starting to think there might be a decent man under all that arrogance. Turns out I waswrong.” He steps into his doorway. “You want to know where Vesper is? Why don’t you just ask?”
For a second, I almost do. The question burns on my tongue, desperate to escape. But just before I let it loose, I change my mind. Vesper isn’t my concern anymore. She never should have been.
She’s a liability. A distraction.
Most importantly, she’s too extraordinary to waste on someone like me.
“I think it’s better if you don’t come back at all,” I say instead. “Luka needs a change. We all do.”
He doesn’t look surprised in the least. “Fine. Send my last paycheck whenever. Or don’t. I don’t give a shit anymore.”
I turn to leave, then stop halfway. “She’s better off without me, Waylen.”
He just shakes his head. “You poor, stupid bastard,” he says quietly. “Our mother has cancer. That’s where Vesper is.”
The door slams in my face. The deadbolt slides home a moment later.
“Where is Vesper?”
Luka stands across from me at the dinner table, small fists clenched at his sides, refusing to sit. Osip and Pavel study their plates like they can’t hear or see anything that’s happening right in front of them.
“Listen, buddy?—”
“No!” he screams. “You’ve been lying to me for weeks. I know she’s not busy at work. I want to talk to Vesper. I want to know where she is.”
“Luka—”
“I want Waylen and I want Vesper. Why don’t they come around anymore? Tell me the truth!”
“Kovan…” Pavel glances at me with those wounded eyes. “I think the kid deserves to know.”
Osip throws his napkin down. “Agreed.”
Traitors.Both of them.
“Luka, I’m sorry, but you won’t be seeing Vesper or Waylen anymore. We broke up?—”
“I want Vesper!” His face turns red and blotchy. “I want to talk to her right now!”
“That’s not possible.”
“Stop saying you’re sorry when you’re not sorry!” His voice shatters with fury and heartbreak. “If you were really sorry, you’d let me talk to Vesper. You wouldn’t have broken up with her. You?—”
