Page 92 of Surrender (Angels Halo MC Next Gen)

Abi gently pressed me back into my chair, blocking my view of the monster who claimed to be my brother. “Easy, Sammy. Don’t hurt yourself.”

Breathing hard, I shrugged off her hands.

“Look, I understand if you two aren’t close. I mean…I’m trying to, at least. My family and I have never been at odds. They’re annoying at times, but I couldn’t imagine my life without them in it.” Abi tucked my hair behind my ear, her blue eyes glazing over with tears when she focused on the bruise that was on my forehead and around my eye. “But I know not every family is like mine. Everyone has their own dynamic. For whatever reason, you and your brother are at odds. He’s trying to rectify that, though. All he wants is to protect you. Show you how much he cares.”

He cared so much, he shot me?

Tried to start a war with one of my family’s enemies and nearly got Papa killed in the process?

I couldn’t say any of that to her. It would scare the hell out of her. Whatever the sociopath had told her, it made her think that Vaughn simply wanted to reconnect with his estranged family. She was so innocent. So pure. I didn’t want our world to touch her.

And yet, he’d dragged her into the middle of whatever this was. His vendetta against my family and me.

I lifted my cuffed wrist. “I’m chained to a chair, Abi. How many brothers do that to their sisters?”

“It was for your own protection. You kept trying to tear the IV out in your sleep,” she explained. “You need to stay hydrated because of your concussion.”

“Well, I’m awake now,” I said with a tense smile. “Maybe you can uncuff me.”

“When we land,” Vaughn offered in English. “We will be there soon.”

“Where exactly are we going?” Abi had said New York, but I wasn’t sure I believed that.

“New York, silly,” she told me with a soft laugh. “We’re taking you home to visit your dad since he couldn’t travel to check on you.”

I squeezed the bridge of my nose, much like Elias did when he was frustrated. My heart clenched. He was probably going out of his mind worrying about me.

If I wanted to get back to him, I had to figure this shit out. Preferably before we saw Papa. Fuck, I could barely think straight, but I needed to find a way to protect him from whatever the hell Vaughn had planned.

Rubbing at my aching forehead, I lifted my gaze to the man across from me. “Is she your collateral?” I demanded, switching to Russian again so Abi wouldn’t understand.

“No,” he growled.

“Then why make her a part of this sick game?”

“She is the only reason the rules have changed in this game, as you call it,” he clipped. “If not for her, and witnessing how wrong about you I was, the puppet masters who have been pulling the strings for three decades would have already gotten their wish and everyone you love would already be dead.”

“Don’t argue,” Abi chastised. “I may not speak the language, but I can tell from your tone that you two are not having a friendly conversation.”

Vaughn turned his head, his eyes caressing lovingly over her face. “I don’t mean to upset you, wildfire.”

Pleasure made her glow. “I want the two of you to get along. She’s one of my best friends. If this is going to work…”

“I will make it work,” he rushed to assure her. “But it may take a little time. My sister doesn’t trust me. Yet.”

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. Even with my vision still somewhat distorted, I could see Abi had moved miles past having a crush on her professor.

Christ.

“We have about thirty minutes before we land. Why don’t you two try to talk it out?” she suggested.

“We will need longer than that to sort through all of our issues, wildfire.”

Standing, she moved over to sit beside him on the sofa. Taking his hand, she entwined their fingers and gave him an encouraging smile. As I watched her, even I would have given her whatever she wanted if she would continue to bathe us in that beauty.

With his free hand, he cupped her cheek, lovingly brushing his thumb over her bottom lip. “Thank you for being here,zhizn moya.”

She leaned into his touch. “Where you go, I go.”

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