She fell silent, and I watched a tear stream down her cheek. “And you?”

“I couldn’t stand him,” she answered dryly and then laughed. “I thought he was arrogant and overrated.” Angel chose that moment to reappear, and it was like déjà vu as he set down a tall glass of ice water. I quickly picked it up and took a healthy sip.

“What changed?”

“For the life of me, I couldn’t see what she saw in him,but she was sure he was the one… So, one day, I cornered him. I thought if I talked her up to him, then maybe he’d notice her.”

“Except he noticed you.”

“I talked and talked and talked about your mother and he just listened. I had his undivided attention. I thought he was interested. I can still remember how much he unnerved me when he never looked away.” She looked down at her manicured fingers as her shoulders trembled. “I suppose I should have known. I didn’t want to see until he forced me to.”

“What did he do?”

“He kissed me.”

“So you fell in love from a single kiss and decided it was worth my mother’s heart?”

She whimpered. “I—I kissed him back. I lost myself in him for so long that she caught us. It was horrible. She wouldn’t talk to me for weeks. Art chased me the entire time. I tried to get Ceci to forgive me. Word spread around school that Art was pursuing me. I think it only made it worse. Some time after, it became clear she would never forgive me, so I gave in to him.” She looked over my shoulder at Angel whose presence I felt. “I became pregnant with Angel shortly after. I was too young, and many people assumed he was a mistake, but that wasn’t the case. Art eventually knew that if Ceci decided to forgive me, I would have chosen her.”

Suddenly, I began to see Art in an entirely different light.

“He trapped you?” When she nodded, I was tempted to look over my shoulder. “But you loved him.”

“I still do,” she said. “Art is manipulative and calculating, but he’s mine. I just wished it hadn’t cost so much to keep him.”

“So, if you never saw each other again, how did my dad and mom meet?”

Her gaze was steady as she looked me in the eye. “I have no idea.”Chapter Twenty-ThreeFriends are there for better or worse… and then some friends just make it worse.

ANGEL

PresentI watched thesmall man in a white lab coat squirm in his high back leather chair.

“How can I help you, Mr. Knight?” The good doctor tried to sound in control and failed miserably. His gaze nervously swept from me to the infant in my arms.

“I need your discretion.”

“Of course.”

“The kid is sick. Run some tests. Make him better. Do it quietly.”

His gaze flitted back to the kid. “I—I wasn’t aware you had a child.”

“I don’t.”

He flinched. “A—and where are his parents?”

He’d already figured out the answer. “His father is MIA, and his mother is unavailable.”

“Why, may I ask—”

“You may not ask. I’m sure your wife’s trips to Paris and your kid’s private schools aren’t paid for with questions. If your morals are getting the better of you…” I pulled out my gun with a silencer and laid it on my lap. “I can take care of that.”

He paled at the sight of the gun. “I can assure you my morals remain corrupted by your money. I’ll just need something viable to tell my staff.”

Mian’s kid wheezed and coughed causing my patience to evaporate. “I don’t care what you have to tell them, just get it done. If this kid dies, I’ll consideryouresponsible.”

I stuck around for the diagnosis, and when the Doc told me the baby would need a closewatch for a few days, I kept one of my men on guard in case the Doc’s conscience got any ideas.

Lucas called as I pulled up to my next stop. I was nervous as I answered the phone and wondered what trouble Mian might have found in the few hours I’d been gone. “Is she behaving?”

“Like a tigress in captivity for the first time,” Lucas muttered. “How’s the kid?”

“Doc says it’s an infection called respiratory syncytial virus.”

“Is it as bad as it sounds?”

“Doc wants to keep him for a few days, so I’ll be here longer than expected. They have him on a fucking ventilator.”

“Son of a bitch…”

“Doc isn’t taking chances, and neither am I.”

“What do I tell his mother?”

“Nothing.”

“You don’t think she has a right to know?”

Lucas had been questioning me more often than normal since the day we found Mian in my father’s house, and sometimes, it took more patience than I possessed not to lose my shit. For the sake of brotherhood, I decided to focus on the other half of my business trip.

“I paid another visit to Jonny. Ross has been moving quietly, but Jonny thinks something’s up.”