Page 7 of By His Vow
“Come on, Helena,” Michael says, pandering to Mom. “Let’s leave the kids to sort this out while we have a coffee.”
“Seriously?” Miles gasps. “You think we can just sort this out? Dad wants…Dad is demanding they—” He swallows the rest of his sentence as Michael and Mom begin shuffling around.
I catch their movement in my peripheral vision behind Kingston, but I don’t look over. My entire focus is on conveying just how much I hate him with my eyes alone.
Mom hasn’t said a word. Not a single word throughout this whole thing.
I know she’s suffering, drowning in grief, but her only daughter has just had her life turned upside down.
Surely this is the time to pull her ass from the pits of despair. Or at least to say something, for fuck’s sake.
Kingston’s eyes continue to hold mine. His stare is cold and hard and totally unwavering. While I might be trying to silently tell him how much I despise everything about him, he’s happily reminding me that I have no power here.
He has it all, and he’s fucking reveling in it.
Asshole.
It’s not until Mom and Michael reach the door that someone speaks.
“Tatum, I know this is a shock,” Michael says. There’s concern in his voice, but something tells me it’s as fake as his current wife’s tits. “But you need to trust your father. He knew what he was doing when he changed his wishes.”
Finally, I rip my eyes from Kingston and look toward them. Michael has his arm around Mom’s waist, holding her up.
She looks frail, a lot older than she actually is.
For long seconds, she stands there unresponsive, but just before Michael encourages her out of the door, she finally looks up.
Her eyes lock with mine and something passes between us.
Mom is a good person. She’s always done her best for us. Unfortunately, she’s also very easily led, so her best was always controlled, her intentions always steered in a certain way. And despite Dad now being gone, I have a feeling nothing is going to change. He’s always going to be in her head and whispering in her ear, and if not him, then it’ll be Michael.
Her lips part, and I pray that she’s going to say something to help me. Some kind of advice. She’s lived a life surrounded by these controlling men. Surely, she has some kind of insight that would help me right now.
But before a word can leave her mouth, her lips close again, she dips her head and shuffles out of the room with Michael hot on her tail.
With them gone, the tension immediately ramps up. The air turns thick with anticipation to the point it’s hard to draw in a breath. And it only gets worse when Miles steps up to Kingston.
They might have been best friends their whole lives, but it doesn’t stop them from doing what needs to be done—and it seems this is one of those moments because before Miles comes to a stop, he pulls his arm back and throws his fist into Kingston’s beautiful face.
His head snaps back as a surprised grunt spills from his lips.
“No,” I shriek, lunging for Miles’s arm before he throws another punch.
But I’m not quick or strong enough.
Miles’s bicep tenses under my tiny hands as he prepares for his second hit, and I panic.
“Stop,” I beg. “Please. You’re only making this worse.”
It takes a couple of seconds, but my pleading cuts through his anger.
“Miles,” I warn, as he shakes me off and steps toe to toe with Kingston.
Everything about them is so similar, their height, their size, and if they seriously got into it, I don’t know who would come out on top. I’d rather not know. And I certainly don’t want to witness it.
Miles’s chest swells with anger before he seethes, “I don’t know what the fuck is going on here or what kind of game you’re playing, but if you so much as hurt a hair on her fucking head, I will end you.”
Kingston glares back.