Page 3 of Sweet Wicked Vows

I frowned, slamming the file shut. “She’ll never go for it.”

“Leave that to me,” he said. “She will think it’s a good idea.Trust me.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Don’t worry,frère cadet.You just do what you’re told, and I’ll handle the rest.”

Chapter Two

No one wants to watch their parent die.

It’s one of the hardest things to do—sitting by and watching them deteriorate before your very eyes without being able to do a single thing to stop it.

I’d already done it once with my mother.

Mom passed away before I was barely six years old. She was there one day and gone the next. Quicker than a blink, she vanished from my young life.

The harsh reality was that losing her didn’t change much for me. She was rarely at home, taking every chance to jet across the world with her friends, and only came home whenever my dad required her. When she did spend any length of time at home, she acted more like a distant relative than my mother.

Getting older, I soon realized that she never wanted the family life. She married my dad for his wealth and the protection it gave her. She bore his children because that was whathewanted.

He wanted heirs and she gave them to him without a thought. Whatever it took to keep the money flowing into her bank account.

Her death was a distant, foggy memory.

Dad’s, however, was crystal clear. His health had taken a serious dip in the past couple months. The man was as stubborn as a mule and refused to speak to our family doctor untilI practically trapped him in the same room as the medical professional.

When the doctor finally checked him over and ran countless tests, the news we all tried to ignore was confirmed.

Lexington Reynolds was dying and there was nothing we could do to stop it.

I didn’t want to lose him, not after watching my fiancé walk out the door without rhyme or reason. I didn’t want to watch the one man in my life who truly loved me die.

Every time I faced the harsh reality of life without him, my stomach violently twisted itself until I vomited.

My dad. My rock. My lifeline in a storm.

And selfishly, his illness meant my life was about to no longer be my own.

“Stefan is here to see you,” Polly said as I entered the kitchen. “I told him to wait for you in your father’s office.”

I swallowed the groan of annoyance. “Where’s Flynn? He is better at dealing with Stefan than me.”

Polly chuckled. “That man is the closest thing your dear father has to a brother.”

“Doesn’t make him any less creepy. I mean, just being in the same room as him gives me the ick.”

She shook her head in disapproval, yet the knowing smile on her face confirmed that she thought the same about my mother’s only brother.

Stefan Ryans may have been my uncle, but he acted as if we were commodities, not family. He only showed up whenever he was looking for something, mainly money, or because he had once again landed himself in hot water and needed his brother-in-law to dig him out of a deep shithole.

Time and time again, my father would do it without question.

Dad always said,‘family comes first, no matter what’.A constant reminder that no matter how much I disliked Stefan orthought he was nothing more than a sleazebag who used my dad like a walking bank machine, he was still regrettably family.

“Flynn isn’t home.” Polly handed me a cup of freshly brewed coffee with three sugars and a healthy dash of sweetened creamer. “I haven’t seen your brother since Friday afternoon. He stopped by for something to eat and then left before I got the chance to clean away his plate.”

Damnit.

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