Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Angel
We arrive at the country club in an entourage, Knox driving behind Killian’s car, Rush and then Mason driving behind us. Filing in behind Mason is Axel, who arrived just as the plan had been detailed.
We’re late.
Don stands on the front steps of the club, tension clear in every line of his body. Next to him, his campaign manager, a few men I don’t know, and then Vincent Morelli and his son, Vinnie.
Vinnie is wearing a fucking tux.
It only takes me a second to piece it together.
Don has plans to change grooms for today’s event. How he plans to sell that, I have no idea and I don’t care. Promise is mine.
Who did he think he was fucking with, and how did he think this would go down?
Did he think I was just going to give Promise back? Let another man touch what is fucking mine?
And this isn’t just about Don anymore, or even attraction. Promise is mine to protect, to care for.
I’ve always been loyal to my brothers. But they are also free to come and go, able to protect themselves.
They have provided brotherhood, but Promise…
she is like a beautiful ray of sunshine, a reward, the person who could fill my life with a sort of happiness that I’d never thought I’d experience…
and in return, she requires me to fight for her.
It’s not about me or my ambitions. And that life I was fighting for…it’s right in front of me if I can get past my own shit long enough to see it.
And that has been clarifying in ways that I never imagined possible.
But my first move is to keep Promise away from her father. Possession is nine-tenths of the law and Don isn’t getting his filthy fucking hands anywhere near her.
Which is why as our vehicle stops, my hand covers Promise’s. “You stay in the car, love.”
She looks at me, cocking her head, before something else catches her gaze. She turns. “Candy,” she whispers, nodding her chin.
“Knox,” I say to my brother. “Collect our favorite esthetician and put her in the car next to Promise.”
“How come I don’t get to collect Candy?” Rock complains.
“Because,” Knox answers for me, “everyone knows how you operate.”
“I can be a fucking gentleman,” Rock spits.
“Rock, I need you to be at my side and ready to bring the crazy.”
Knox gets out of the car, crossing to where Candy sits in an old Volkswagen Beetle. I almost don’t recognize her because, for the wedding apparently, her hair is a very demure shade of brown.
Killian gets out of his car, walking to the passenger side and handing out a blonde woman. His lips brush her forehead before he hands her into the back of his car.
One by one, Rush and then Mason do the same. Axel gets out last, all four men converging outside my car door. “Show time, Rock.”
That’s when Knox comes back with Candy. Promise scoots over even as Candy is placed into the car. Promise pulls her into a hug.
“Promise,” Candy gasps. “Why is Vinnie here? Did you invite him too?”
Vinnie? How does Candy know the Morrelli heir?
Promise shakes her head. “I don’t know why he’s here.”
Candy’s eyes bug out. “You’re talking.”
“A fact we don’t want anyone else to know,” I warn. I’ll get more information from Candy later. Right now…
It’s my turn to step out of the car.
A major element of this plan is to keep this meeting public. Even now, other guests are arriving.
But the other part. I’m keeping a buffer of powerful men between me and Donald. The sort of men that a future president would never dare to make his enemies.
Closing the car door behind me, Knox and Rock flank me, the Smiths and Mason Kincaid stepping up on either side of us.
Don approaches, his smile so—what was the word Promise used? Plastic—it looks like it will crack his face.
I don’t smile back. “Daddy Don,” I rumble, intentionally referencing the intimacy of our relationship.
“Not even Promise calls me Daddy.”
“I’d imagine not,” I answer, baring my teeth.
“You think you have the advantage because of yesterday’s paper?” Don asks, stopping a few feet away.
I look to Knox, who shrugs. We’re not exactly morning paper kind of guys. But Rush chuckles lightly. “Painted you Promise’s hero,” Rush answers. “The man who is going to heal her from her trauma.”
I nod to Rush before turning back to Don. “Donald Winthrop, Rushton Smith.” Now I’ve revealed my true advantage. It has the intended effect.
Don instantly relaxes, looking all kinds of friendly. I’m really understanding what Promise has been telling me. It’s all fake.
“I’ve been hoping to meet you, but we always seem to miss each other,” Don offers, holding out his hand.
Rush looks down at Don’s extended hand. He doesn’t shake it, his expression full of irritation. “I don’t do political events or social rallies. They’re tawdry,” Rush answers calmly, still not taking Don’s outstretched hand.
Don’s smile slips, his hand dropping. “But you’ve made an exception for my daughter’s wedding.”
“Weddings are a beautiful affair and the backbone of our social structure.”
“Yes,” Don answers. “I agree.”
“Provided the match is correct,” Rush adds, his gaze flicking to Vinnie.
Vincent steps up. Learning from Don’s mistake, he doesn’t raise his hand. “I’m also glad to meet the man who is heading the waterfront’s largest development project. We have a lot in common—”
One of Rush’s eyebrows raise.
Vincent clears his throat, trying again. “I’ve got several crews that could be of use—”
Rush doesn’t even flicker with emotion, his exterior cold as ice. “Contracts of that nature will be moving through Angel. Talk to him.”
I keep the shock off my face…barely. Because one, this is news to me. But two, this makes any move Don was planning against me nearly impossible.
And Don knows it too. I see his features harden, his lip curling the slightest bit.
Vincent shifts, tugging at his collar.
But Vinnie looks at his father, confusion marking his brow. “Wait.”
“Shut the fuck up, Vinnie,” Vincent growls at his son.
“But I thought—”
“Whatever they told you, Vinnie, Promise is mine.” My gaze narrows as I look at the younger Morrelli. His slicked-back hair and hook nose only accentuate his beady eyes.
Don’s lip curls. “I appreciate your new position, Angel. But Promise is still mine.”
Finally, we’re getting to what really matters. “How do you figure that?”
“We don’t have a signed contract. You know it.”
“Promise is a twenty-two-year-old woman. If she wants to stay with me, she stays,” I say with a plastic fucking smile of my own. “She’s not bound in any way to whatever shitty fucking contract you signed with the Morrellis.”
Don snarls. “Give me my daughter back.”
“Careful, Don,” I rumble back. “Someone might hear you.”
He lets out a growl deep in his throat. “You piece of shit upstart—” Vincent’s hand stops him. I’ve got to give Vincent credit. While he’s known for his shit temper, he’s holding it today.
“Don would like to see his daughter,” Vincent adds, smiling apologetically at Rush. “Just to know that she’s safe and well cared for.”
“He saw her yesterday,” I rumble back.
“Today,” Don steps up, his nose almost touching mine. “Promise is all I have left. It’s important for me to hear from my daughter’s own lips that she’d be happier staying with you.”
Fucker thinks he’s trapped me. Like everyone doesn’t know the truth—that he would kill her in a second just for the press.
And I am well aware that this is a trap. His chance to try to snatch her, and with the crowds watching, he thinks I won’t react.
But one, I don’t have a public image to protect, and two, he’s not laying a finger on Promise ever again.
The window of the Escalade cracks open, Promise’s hands appearing as she signals by pretending to write on one palm.
I pass her my phone.
I already know she knows my phone unlock code, but it’s a tell to everyone else when she unlocks the phone and types in a note.
It only takes her a second, the message…
I’m staying.
I hold it out to Don, who looks like he might spit nails. “It’s been well documented that Promise does not have all her mental faculties.”
“Bullshit,” I answer.
Don’s hands clench into fists. “As we speak, I have a conservatorship being drafted, and a court hearing where Promise’s many mental health struggles will be brought to light.”
Neither Mason nor Rush react. But Killian steps in front of Rock, so close to Don that the politician steps back. “Do you know who I am?”
“Kill,” Rush warns, but Killian is moving closer, pushing Don back.
Vincent takes a giant step away from Killian, Killian’s reputation clearly preceding him.
From my right, I catch a movement.
I see an older woman walking toward him, her blonde hair streaked with gray, her blue eyes the exact color and shape of Promise’s. I know exactly who she is, and though we’ve never met, I am clear on what to do. “Aunt Patti.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Don growls, before Killian uses his chest to push the man back another few feet.
But I reach for Patti, taking her hand, as I open the car door. Don darts forward, attempting to reach his hand into the car.
I don’t hesitate and close the door on his hand.
His scream echoes over the parking lot, everyone turning.
“Don, are you all right?” I feign, even as I open the door just enough to let his hand out. The hand is already swelling, Promise’s wide eyes meeting mine through the crack. But I lean close to her father. “Try to touch her again and I will break something far worse than your hand.”
He spits a string of curses at me, even as I pull Patti toward me, opening the door. I position my body between her and Don as I calmly hand the women into the vehicle. Killian reaches for Don, but Rush raises his hand. “Stand down, Kill. It’s too public.”
Killian freezes, baring his teeth as he stares at Promise’s father.
“We’re not done,” Don spits, cradling his hand. I see Promise wrap her arms around the other woman before I close the door and turn to Don.
“I agree. We aren’t even close. Pursue the conservatorship, and I will open the gates of hell.
You and I both know I hold the keys. It’s why you contacted me in the first place.
” Then I look at Killian. “If you and Rock wouldn’t mind staying with the women, I’ve got a public announcement to make before we go. ”
“Go?” Don lets out a strangled cry.
“I’m not sure how you thought this was going down, Winthrop, but Promise and I are getting married. And you’re not invited.”