Page 57 of Never Fall for an Angel

“You’re right, Bella,” I sigh, looking out at the lights of Shipwreck Island. “I’m sorry I haven’t been there.”

I can tell she’s surprised because she actually falls silent.

“Oh . . . well . . . I know I am,” she says with an air of aloofness in her tone. I stifle a chuckle. Sometimes, she reminds me so much of our mother; it’s uncanny.

“What about the Founder’s Day banquet? Are you at least coming to that?”

“I’m not a founder.”

“Christian,” she groans. “You can’t make me go through that alone. You know I hate Founder’s Day.”

“You’re in charge. Why not just skip it?”

“Because it brings in atonof revenue, which, in case you forgot, we need. Or do you want to have to get a real job again?”

“I have a real job,” I reply.

“Oh, really. And what is it? Another six years in LA doing God only knows what?”

“Yak grooming in Southern Montana,” I reply without missing a beat, and she scoffs. I can almost hear her roll her eyes. “You should try it sometime.”

“Yeah, I’ll take your word for it.”

“I’ll take your word for it. You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you guys are hitmen.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You really think Levi could keep it a secret for this long?”

Our brother, the middle child, has a knack for running his mouth about anything he thinks will land him in a woman’s bed. I have a feeling, being a hitman, would be one of those things.

“Fine,” she grumbles, falling silent on the line.

“Bella?”

She lets out a shaky breath. I know she’s lonely. I know she hates that we left her at home to handle the lodge on her own. I also know she’s well taken care of and protected there.

“He’s dying, Christian . . .” she says softly, and I can hear the tears in her voice.

“I know.”

“You should see him. Before . . . his mind is completely gone.”

I grit my teeth, my hand tightening on the phone. Seeing my father is the last thing I want. We’ve never gotten along, especially after my mother died.

He was always a dick. Harsh and demanding, even when Mom’s death was fresh. He was hardest on Levi, but I think it’s just because he knew he couldn’t control me and that, eventually, I grew too big for him to hit. That’s when he turned to my youngest brother, and I regret not killing him when I had the chance.

Now, he’s a husk of who he once was and not even able to go to the bathroom by himself, let alone hit anyone. He’s just a decrepit old man, dying alone in his overpriced bed in the lodge my mother’s father built from the ground up while Bella runs things there. Getting his ass wiped by a nurse who hates him and couldn’t care less if he died tomorrow.

Where Mom was a bright, shining light in our family, Dad was the darkness that snuffed that light out.

I guess my biggest fear in life, if I wanted to be truthful, is turning out just like him, so I do whatever I can to never have to face that version of myself.

I’m not sure I could live with it.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I murmur. “I’ve got a few things to finish up before I come home.”As soon as Mila’s not waking up in a cold sweat every night.

Bella is as far removed from both Levi’s work and mine as humanly possible. Not that I’vebeenworking. I haven’t worked a real job in an entire year because I’ve been too busy chasing after the little blonde brat who waits for me beyond the water.

I guess it does pay to be a billionaire’s son, sometimes. Even if I don’t want anything to do with the money or the lodge that reaped it.

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