Page 31 of Toxic Salvation
“And my mother needs a room, too.”
He thinks he’s pushing me, testing my limits. But I’m already ten moves ahead. “I already offered that to Vesper. Annabelle can move in whenever she’s ready.”
Waylen blinks, processing this. “You’re… you’re actually okay with that? Our mother is really sick. She’ll need constant care. Medications. Hospital visits. Expensive treatments.”
“I can handle all of that. As for around-the-clock care, I know an excellent oncology nurse. After my team vets her, she’ll have a room right next to your mother’s.”
Waylen squints at me for a long moment. “That’s a lot of concessions for a woman you supposedly threw away a month ago.”
“I didn’t throw her away because I wanted to. I ended things because I had to.”
A line appears between Waylen’s eyebrows. He looks puzzled, working through something. “You love her,” he says at last.
“Drop it,mudak.”
“Holy shit. You do actually love her.”
“I said drop it. Just take the job and the room and get out of my face.”
Instead, Waylen steps closer, his jaw jutting forward aggressively. “You know what? I was just starting to like you.”
“I don’t need you to like me. I don’t need anything from you.”
“See, that’s your problem, Kovan. You think you can handle everything alone. But no man is an island, no matter how powerful he thinks he is.”
“You don’t know me.”
“No, I don’t. And I thank God for that every single day. But my sister had the terrible judgment to fall for someone like you. Worse, she’s carrying your baby. So here’s what I need to know: Do you have a plan for keeping them safe? Both of them?”
“What the hell do you think I’m trying to do?” This pisses me off more than it should. “That’s exactly what I was doing when I broke up with her. Then she shows up after a month and tells me…” I run my hands through my hair. “The baby caught me by surprise, alright?”
“Someone never got the birds and the bees talk, hm? You ever heard of a condom?”
I shoot him a death glare, only to realize the bastard is actually smirking.
“Look, I get that you’re trying to step up now,” Waylen continues, more serious now. “But I need you to keep your distance from Vesper emotionally. She’s been through hell lately. She doesn’t need you going hot and cold depending on your mood. She’s not your personal stress ball.”
“I know that.”
“Good. Don’t worry—I’ll be around to remind you every day.”
“Blyat’.” I push past him toward the door. “What the hell have I gotten myself into?”
“A family,” Waylen calls after me. “Better late than never, right?”
12
VESPER
There’s shattered glass all over the floor when Luka and I rush into Kovan’s office. The remnants of what used to be a crystal tumbler glitter across the hardwood, and Kovan stands in the center of it all, his knuckles split and bloody.
“Everything alright?” I ask, though the evidence suggests otherwise.
“Everything’s fine,” Kovan replies, but his posture tells a different story. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that he is the one responsible for the mess. Looks like he cut his palm in the process, too.
“No, it’s not.” Luka’s playful demeanor from moments ago has vanished. “I’ve seen that look before. Something’s wrong.”
“Luka—”
