Page 97 of Porter's Angel

West shrugged carelessly. Porter wasn’t fooled.

“And Hudson and Mimi couldn’t make it.” She shook her head.

Shocker. It was all they could do to keep Hudson from punching West at their last family reunion.

Their mother turned to Porter next. “Where’s Angel? This garden looks absolutely stunning. Tell her she’s a genius when you see her. When are the two of you going out again?”

West’s lips twisted into a sneer. Porter ignored him while their mother began making plans for Angel to join the family. “She’s a gem. You’re lucky to find her.”

Porter agreed, feeling West’s mocking eyes on him.

Satisfied that she’d solved all of her sons’ problems, their momma grasped tightly to the railing to make her way down the stairs of the gazebo. Both Porter and West grabbed her from either side to help her down. She chuckled breathlessly when she reached the grass on the bottom. “I’m fine. I’m fine. Enough of ‘Operation Save Lily.’ Seriously! Go on! Enjoy yourselves.”

Judging by West’s broad grin, he fully intended to. As soon as their mother was out of earshot, he elbowed Porter. “Aww, you too, huh? You’re in love. How cute. I knew something was bothering you. Who’s the girl?”

Porter glared. How did West manage to diminish everything that he cared about?

West got a blast of water down his face. It dripped down his aviators. He whipped around to call out the author of this madness. “Cole! Why did you give these boys water cannons? Are you crazy?”

Cole stilled. He was soaked from his tank top to his jeans. His glower found its home on West. It was no secret that he wasn’t a fan of West’s tendency to dump his responsibilities on them. Being the youngest, Cole got the worst of it. “Well, maybe you should’ve shown up to your son’s birthday party earlier.” Cole strode over like the Hulk and shoved his multicolored water cannon into West’s surprisingly strong grip. “Glad you could take over the party.”

West sighed. He turned to Charlie. “Isn’t it time to open your presents yet?”

As usual, West won the adoration of every child in the near vicinity—he’d done the same when he’d brought that puppy home. Porter didn’t see any sign of Lizardman now. He rolled his eyes.

All at once, Porter decided that he’d never be the kind of man that his brother was—not the same father, not the big brother, not the businessman. He didn’t care who or what West could buy with his money, Porter was through with him.

The children ran for the presents as Porter turned to West. “Girl, yeah… You know Lacy Lynch, right? You’re best friends, from what I hear. Well, he happened to date the woman who’s the love of my life. Yeah, love. I reckon you don’t know much about something like that. Now Lacy’s hounding her, trying to make her get rid of her baby.”

West’s eyes narrowed.

Porter scowled back at him, remembering that West had played a similar card with Liv. “I know that doesn’t mean much to you—you tried to pressure Liv to get rid of Charlie, but…”

“Stop right there,” West snarled. His voice lowered to a hiss. “You don’t think that doesn’t kill me, what I did back then? I’ve done a lot of things… but that’s theonlything that I regret, so… you can shut your filthy mouth. I thank God every day that Liv slammed the car door in my face and drove off and left me in the dust like the idiot that I was.”

Porter was taken aback.

“And I deserved worse than that,” West snarled. “A man’s no better than a worm who can’t protect his own children.” He turned on his heel to leave.

Confusion filled Porter. West wasn’t acting like the villain that he thought he was.

But of course, he was! He’d sold out the family.

“And I suppose you don’t know about Dad selling off our ranch to Lacy Lynch, either?” Porter told his retreating back.

West circled back to him so fast that Porter took a few steps away. “What did you say?”

“Dad’s…”

“No, don’t repeat it. That’s not happening! Where’s Jase?” West was calling their old man by his first name now—that meant there really was going to be a fight.

For a moment hope rushed through Porter, but then he quickly squelched it. West would ask for something in return for his help, he always did. “There’s nothing you can do,” Porter said. “It’s practically a done deal, and Momma doesn’t know…”

“And you’re not telling her,” West said. “This would kill her.” He studied his brother’s face and then growled in frustration, running a hand through his hair, leaving the immaculate style a mess. “I’ll take care of it.”

“How?”

“You might thinklittleof what I do, but having my connections comes in handy, little brother.”

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