Page 95 of Surrender (Angels Halo MC Next Gen)

“Your plan sucks.” I followed the IV line in the back of my hand up to the nearly empty bag of saline. “First, we need to switch that out. I’ll need at least a few more. You’re going to leave Papa alone. He’s safe where he is. And I don’t want to trigger him.”

“They will come for him,” Vaughn argued.

“Of course they will. But we can use that to our advantage.” Breaking the nail on the pinkie finger of my free hand between the edge of the cupholder and my chair, I used the sharp point to unlock the cuff. As soon as I was free, Vaughn cursed, but I just rubbed at my raw skin.

“I expect a manicure when we’re done,” I told him, mourning my broken nail. I’d just gotten them done, damn it. “You’re going to throw in a pedicure as well. I expect to be pampered afterward.”

“How did she do that?” Abi wondered aloud, her face full of fascination.

“Our mother, I suspect,” Vaughn told her, easily switching to English when he spoke directly to her. I didn’t miss the hint of amusement in his voice. “Anything else you expect, princess?”

My heart contracted painfully. Princess. God, I missed Elias so much.

“Daddy is going to be so angry when I get home,” I mused, but I quickly had to shift gears. I couldn’t think about Elias or anything else. If I did, I wouldn’t be able to focus, and it was already going to be a challenge with my head pounding and my vision still off.

“What kind of artillery do you have access to?”

* * *

“Why did you pretend not to know Vaughn when I told you he was my professor?” Abi asked quietly as we sat in the back of the SUV that had been waiting for us on the private tarmac in New Jersey.

Vaughn was speaking to the pilot and copilot a few yards away, but I kept my eyes on him. I might have believed him about being my long-lost brother, but I would have been stupid to completely trust him. Fuck, I didn’t completely trust Ryan or even my mom. Elias was the only person I fully put my faith in.

Shifting my gaze to my friend, I shrugged. “I didn’t realize my brother was your Professor Vaughn. He and I haven’t kept in touch. I didn’t even know he became a college professor.”

That he was only pretending to be a professor in order to get close to Abi was an entirely different story. But whatever. I wasn’t going to stick my nose in their business. Yet. Not when I already had so many other things on my plate, along with the headache I was still experiencing.

“He was really worried when he found out about your accident.” She touched my hand that still had the IV in it, a fresh bag of saline hanging from the pole above my head. “How are you really feeling?”

My lips lifted in a tired smile. “Like I’ve been hit by a truck. But I’ll be back to normal in a few days. This isn’t my first concussion.”

“I’m so nervous,” Abi confessed after a moment of silence while we both watched Vaughn continue to converse with the pilots. “Do you think your dad will like me? I’ve never had a boyfriend before… Not that Vaughn is my boyfriend. Or a boy. Or even a friend.” She groaned. “Tell me to shut up already, Sammy.”

“What are the two of you, then?” I couldn’t stop from asking.

Her eyes flickered to the man outside the SUV then quickly back to me. “I don’t know. Everything has moved super-fast this past week. One minute, I was trying to figure out how to get into his summer class—the next, we were kissing. And now I’m on my way to meet his dad. I know fuck all about him. And my parents are going to freak out when they find out I’m into a much older guy. But I really like him. I mean, like-like him.”

If I hadn’t already known she had no knowledge of what was truly going on, her lack of fear about the current situation would have quickly clued me in. Abi only thought she was going with me to see my sick papa so he wouldn’t worry after my accident. She had no idea who we were or the danger she was in.

Guilt tried to eat at me, but I pushed it aside. It was better, at least for the moment, that my friend remained ignorant. Once Polina and Daria were dealt with, and Abi was safe, then I could figure out how to handle whatever was going on with her and my brother.

It was bizarre to even think that I had another brother. I could barely tolerate the one I’d grown up with. Meeting Vaughn changed so much. Mom was going to lose her shit. All the pain she’d suffered thinking she’d lost her baby, and he’d been alive all along. My heart ached for her and Papa. They’d missed so much of his life. My parents had been robbed of their child.

How different would my life have been if Vaughn had been raised as a Vitucci? Would Ryan have existed?

Would I?

Without Ryan, and his fascination with Nova when they were children, I didn’t think I would have grown up with the MC being such an integral part of my life. There probably wouldn’t have been regular trips to Creswell Springs. Which meant Elias never would have been mine. I might never have even met him.

I didn’t want to contemplate any of that.

It hurt that Vaughn had been denied our family, but it hurt worse to think of never loving Elias.

Everything happened as it was supposed to for a reason. I was meant to be with Elias. As Ryan was meant for Nova. And… Reluctantly, I had to admit that perhaps Vaughn was meant for Abi.

Maybe.

She needed to know the truth first. About who we were. Why he’d dropped into her life so abruptly. I wasn’t clear about that myself, but there wasn’t time to ask him about it. And I wasn’t sure he would tell me the truth even if I did ask.

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