Page 79 of Sweet Wicked Vows

“Do you have any idea what I have been through?” Flynn continued his tirade. “He got so sick so quickly. One second, he was there, and the next, he wasn’t.”

“I get that you’re scared…”

“Scared?” he laughed coldly. “Scared doesn’t cut it. You left me here to look after him all by myself.”

“Who the fuck do you think was looking after him while you were yachting to the Caribbean? Or spending nights in jail? Or the time you were so wiped out on drugs that you spent a week in hospital?” Evelyn moved up a step, coming eye to eye with her brother. “Don’t talk to me about doing this all alone, Flynn Reynolds. I’ve been doing it without you for months.”

“Then why the hell did you stop? Just because you got married doesn’t mean you can forget about your family.”

The sound of her palm ricocheting off his cheek echoed through the foyer.

“You seem to forget, baby brother, I put my whole life on hold for this family. I gave up my job, my fucking dream career because you weren’t ready to step in for Dad. You said you wanted the year to finish your undergrad, so I stepped up to the plate.” Her voice dripped with venom. “I’m the one who rings the lawyers and cleans up your damn messes every time. Hell, I got married for this family, because I wanted to protect Dad’s life’s work.”

Flynn looked between me and Evelyn. “You said you loved him?”

“None of that matters,” she said. “All that matters is that you understand that everything I have ever done is for the benefit ofthis family. How dare you stand there and question that?”

“Oh, boohoo.” He rolled his eyes. “Poor Evie, always the martyr. I am so sick of you acting like you’re better than me. You treat me as if I am nothing more than a fuck up.”

Her hand flew through the air, ready to brighten his other cheek, except this time he was ready. “Maybe if you acted like anything other than a fuck up, I wouldn’t have to.”

He caught her wrist. “How will you live with yourself if Dad never wakes up and you never got to say goodbye? All because you were too busy running around lying to everyone’s face, including mine.”

She winced as he twisted her wrist.

I acted before I thought. One second, I was watching their little performance, wishing I drove straight back to the airport. The next, I was on the staircase directly behind my wife.

“Let her go,” I attempted to speak calmly. “Unless you wish to join your dear father and breathe through a tube.”

“Stay out of this,” Flynn sneered. “This is between family, and you are definitely not that.”

“True.” I bared my teeth with a lifeless smile. “Which means I won’t feel guilty for breaking every finger you lay on her.” I couldn’t look at Evelyn. If I saw even a hint of her pain, I would be forced to burn the entire house down to the ground. “Let her go. Don’t make me say it again.”

“Listen to him,” Evelyn said. “If you don’t let go of me, he will hurt you, and I am sorry, but I am willing to let him do it.”

He did as he was told. “Fuck the two of you.”

Evelyn stepped back into me. Her body relaxed as I rested my hands protectively on her waist. We watched Flynn recede back up the stairs and when she was sure he wasn’t going to appear back like a charging bull, she left my touch.

I was surprised that they didn’t keep the dying man in the hospital where he belonged. But that was the thing about money,it pretty much gave wealthy people the illusion they could do what they wanted.

Lexington had been clear from the day and hour of his diagnosis that he did not wish to spend any time in a hospital.

He paid a great deal to turn his bedroom into a makeshift private hospital ward. Everything he needed to keep him comfortable and chasing away death for as long as he could.

The sound of a steady heart monitor beeping and the hum of a ventilator greeted us. Evelyn approached the bedside with her shoulders pushed together.

It was never easy seeing a parent so weak. So vulnerable. Growing up, we were all raised to believe that our parents were indestructible and that they would always be around.

How quickly losing one of them brings the harsh reality crashing down.

She sank to her knees, head burying in her hands as her shoulders started to shake. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. You have no idea how sorry I am.”

Sobs silenced the rest of the noise in the room. The sound caused blackness to shroud my vision, and it was as if someone was reaching through my chest and physically trying to remove my lungs with a hot poker.

I hated it.

I hated the sight of her broken and scared.