Page 104 of Sweet Wicked Vows

Evelyn was a talented writer who deserved the recognition.

The wall beside her bed was covered in personal photographs. Pictures of her friends, family, work colleagues, and, low and behold, her ex-fucking-fiancé. Her whole former life was mapped out in front of me, the life she had before I came along and upended it.

Lifting the photograph on her bedside table, I smiled at the rosy-cheeked Evelyn in the center, dressed as a mermaid and surrounded by her two best friends who wore similar attire.

There wasn’t a morsel of unhappiness in the photo.

“That was for a charity function.” Evelyn leaned against the frame of her doorway, her eyes roaming the room before falling back to me. “Mermaids and pirate themed to raise money for the coast guards. Always thought the theme was a bit tacky, but it was an amazing night.”

“It looks like it.”

“I wanted to go as a pirate, but Laurence wasn’t having it. He said it was unladylike.”

“Have I told you yet that your ex is a piece of shit?”

She laughed lightly. “I think when you broke his nose and ribs you made your feelings for him quite clear.”

“He deserved a lot worse than that.” I set the photo down. “How’s your father?”

She shrugged, her foot toeing the line of the door.

“Something wrong?”

“I am over the moon he is awake, but the past couple of months have been hell. All his dirty company secrets, the fact he paid to silence those poor women, and don’t even get me started on the mob stuff. I am finding it hard being in that room with him acting like everything is fine.”

Those two things were only the tip of the iceberg.

From scouring through Kerry Zhang’s encrypted folders, I knew there was something bigger, something seedier that Lexington had hidden in those secure files. I just hadn’t pushed to find out exactly what that was.

“It was easier when he was in a coma,” she said. “That way, I didn’t have to look him in the eye knowing what I know and pretend that, although I love him, I don’t particularly like or understand him.”

“I’m sure he believes he has reasons for the things he did.”

“He did a lot of shitty things. Things I am struggling to forgive him for. He should have to answer for what he did, right?”

“Is that what you want to happen?”

“I know he is still incredibly sick, but what he has done is wrong. God, I am an awful person, aren’t I?”

I shook my head and walked to her. Opening my arms, she fell into them and buried her face into my chest. “You’re not awful, you’re simply being honest. Trust me,ma douceur,there isn’t anything you could say to me to make me believe you’re an awful person.”

“What if I told you I stole candy from babies?”

I huffed a chuckle. “You’d probably have some reason for doing it. Whatever the reason, I’d help you hide your loot after I took my own cut, of course.”

She smiled against my chest. “I feel like I could show you every side of me, ugly and twisted, and you’d love me, anyway.”

“Every side of you is beautiful to me.”

We stood there, her perfectly slotted into my arms, until footsteps sounded in the hallway. Flynn cleared his throat. The siblings hadn’t spoken since Lexington fell into a coma, but Evelyn informed me that it was the youngest Reynolds doing that Laurence found himself on our front doorstep.

A mistake I wished to ensure Flynn knew not to repeat.

“Sorry,” Flynn said, avoiding all eye contact. My arms remained locked around Evelyn as she unhid her face. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. Dad is asking for you.”

Evelyn exhaled. “Okay, I am coming…”

“Not you,” Flynn interrupted. “He’s asking for Jaxon.”

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