“It was a mistake.”
“And now I’ve got to deal with it. You heard her. She will do everything she promised. She will have private investigators looking for every misstep I can possibly make. Hell, they’ll probably make up a few. I bet she can pay for that. I’ve got to be perfect, and that means no dating. I’m sure she’s already trying to come up with a way to use you to make me look bad.”
“I won’t ever let her do that,” he promised. “In fact, I’ll do something that will prove I’m on your side. Marry me. Let me adopt Luc. She won’t be able to break up a family.”
Here he was again, trying to be Captain America and save the day. He felt bad that he’d put her in this position, and he would do anything to fix it. It wasn’t a feeling that would last forever. “But, Harry, we’re already a family. We don’t need a man to complete us. It would have been nice for Luc to have a dad, but he’s surrounded by love no matter what your aunt says. I think I loved you, but I have to focus on me now. I can’t marry someone out of obligation or guilt. Your family should know that by now.”
It was precisely why she wouldn’t date Wes.
“I love you. That has to mean something.”
It meant everything to her, but she couldn’t trust him. What happened when he decided his aunt was right? And how could she trust that he truly loved her? He was feeling guilty, and that would be powerful to a man like Harry. “I’m sorry. I have to go. I’ve got to find a lawyer.”
And hold her son. It was time to protect her family.* * ****
A volcanic rage threatened to boil up from deep inside Celeste.
How dare she. How dare that little tramp keep her grandson from her? How dare she steal that last piece of Wesley.
Wesley. God, what had he been hiding from her?
“Mom?”
Her daughter’s voice broke through the roiling anger. Her daughter. Angela. She remembered holding her and cuddling her close. How she’d looked up at her like she was the most important thing in the world.
Her daughter had known. “Why?”
She couldn’t look at her yet. She had to find some control. It had been a near thing when Sera had stood in front of her, telling her lies. She’d felt the need to strike out, to create a physical manifestation of her rage. She’d wanted to smack that smirk off her face.
Except there hadn’t been a smirk there. Sera had stood up for herself, and if she wasn’t wrong, there had been a hint of pity in her enemy’s gaze.
Yes, that was what she’d truly wanted to erase.
“It’s complicated,” Angie replied quietly.
Now Celeste turned and took in her daughter’s face, how pale it was. Well, it was good she at least felt some guilt at what she’d done. “I don’t care how complicated it was. You lied. You betrayed this family and I want you out.”
Angie’s eyes flared. “What?”
“You heard me.” She didn’t care. It was time to call on the numbness she was so used to. It had been cracking through the ice she’d built up—that was the trouble. She’d found a place where she didn’t have to feel, and that had saved her. Wes’s death had broken it all apart, and she’d only recently begun to come out of it. She’d thought it was safe, but it wasn’t. “You have a fiancé. You can go to him, but you should tell him you won’t get a dime out of me. And you can certainly not expect me to pay for your wedding after what you’ve done.”
The door swung open and Harry strode in.
“How could you do that?” Harry asked. “How could you stand there and tell Sera you’re going to take her son away from her? That was horrible. Do you know what you did to her?”
“She doesn’t care,” Angie said, her voice weary. “She’s got a piece of Wes back. None of the rest of us matter now. You should know that she’s disinherited me, and I’m homeless. I’m sure she’ll move Luc right in and go back to having a child she can worship. Oh, and my wedding’s off.”
“You betrayed me. You betrayed this whole family,” Celeste accused her before turning to her nephew. “And you . . . I brought you in. I treated you like family, and this is what I get?”
He simply shook his head. “If this is the way you treat family, I don’t want any part of it. I always wondered why you never brought us here to meet you. I think my mom thought you were ashamed of us. But I know the truth now. You were ashamed of you. At least you should have been. How proud your own parents must be of you. You got the money, Aunt Celeste, but you damn well sold your soul for it. Angie, I’ll help you pack up what you need. I’m not staying here, either. I wouldn’t want to taint my aunt’s perfect household.”