Page 24 of Angel

‘Reese never allowed me parent her. Or discipline her. He spoiled her rotten, and this hot mess is the result. As for Angel, I’ve always thought the best of him.’

My uncle wasn’t as convinced.

‘He seemed pissed at having to marry you, Roxy. If he does you wrong -.’

I took a breath and shook my head.

‘He won’t. He’s angry right now, but we have to let him cool off. OK?’

Ed pursed his lips and huffed.

‘Fine.’

I hugged them again, my heart wrenching.

‘Thanks, you two, for the support.’

I was sick with weariness and filled with a desperate craving to sit alone with my feelings for a while.

Elsa caught on to my mood and stroked my cheek.

‘We’ll give you some space, honey. Find us at the bar when you’re ready.’

I nodded in gratitude as they looped hands and took off.

I went back into the alcove and sank onto a velvet chair.

My dry, hot eyes were on the far-off merriment, more lonely in this moment meant to be the happiest of my life than any other before it.

Chapter 7

ANGEL

Iwent searching for my family across the ballroom floor.

I found them huddled at Table #4, Marnie and Claire having escaped the bridal table.

My parents abandoned their plates of wagyu beef, baby potatoes, and Caesar salads as soon as they spotted me.

My sisters rushed to me, wrapping their arms around me, then Mum held me close, lending me her comfort.

‘How are you?’ she murmured, peeking up at me.

‘Surviving a train wreck, mother,’ I muttered. ‘Ask me again in a week.’

‘It’ll be alright, Angel,’ Mum whispered in her soft Midwestern accent. ‘We’ve got you.’

Dad stood right behind her, arms crossed over his chest, eyes gleaming with fury, not at me, but at the fuckin’ fire Reese was flinging our way.

‘That’s fuckwit is asking for it,’ my father snarled. ‘I’m going to dump three tons of manure right on his country house driveway. Better yet, I’ll introduce his precious lawns to a gallon of industrial weedkiller by midnight.’

Even though he’d lived in Nashville for decades now, Dad remained a pure Australian larrikin at heart, with a street fighter’s spirit, rowdy but good-hearted to the core.

He was brawling for a fight, unaccustomed to backing down from an assault on his family.

He muttered under his breath; his retaliatory schemes grew wilder by the second, each one more illegal than the last.

‘Chill, Dad,’ I drawled, somewhat amused, wrapping an arm around his broad shoulders. ‘Let me handle it. Reese promised not to touch our family now that I’ve married Roxy, and I’ll make him eat his promise if he violates that trust.’