AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“This asshole is marrying Raven to get back at Thomas,” Louie huffed. “You know the fucker’s daughter? Are you certain you can trust her? Like father, like daughter.”
“What?” Edmee narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“Hold on. Edmee is right. We don’t need to talk about this now.” Francois pushed his hand against Louie’s chest. “We have guests who have nothing to do with the family business.”
His attempt at soothing the anger failed.
I reacted instantly, wrapping my hand around my brother’s throat. “Don’t you dare talk about my fiancée that way. She’s innocent in all of this.”
“Innocent?” he snarled. Then my surgeon brother, the one who had more goodness inside of him than almost anyone I’d ever met, made a surprising move and a mistake by throwing a punch.
I tumbled backward into the chair, shocked from the force he used.
“No!” Sara screamed, racing forward.
“What in the hell is going on?” my mother barked as she approached. “This is a family event. No arguments. You’re acting like children!”
Raven cocked her head, purposely heading in our direction. I had a feeling she’d overheard far too much by the look of hurt slowly creeping up her face.
Francois tried to get in front of me, but I was having none of it, lunging toward my brother. I issued a series of brutal punches, my anger getting out of control. Then hands grabbed my arms, yanking me backward.
“No!” Pops yelled, throwing out both his arms. “This is not going to happen. We are a fucking family!” He threw a hateful look at both of us.
“Daddy. What’s going on? Is this about Uncle Thomas?”
“He was never your fucking uncle,” I said, instantly regretting barking at my beautiful daughter.
Raven pushed her way closer, her chest rising and falling and her shimmering eyes filled with uncertainty and pain. “What do you mean uncle? I don’t understand.”
“Not here,” I told her.
“Tell me!”
“It’s not what you think, Raven,” my father said, using a soothing tone of voice that we rarely heard any longer.
“Raven. Come with me,” Edmee said, trying to smooth over the wretched fucking situation.
Raven dropped her head, shaking it after a few seconds. “No, Edmee. I’m not some helpless child. I need the truth and I’m not going to be kept in the dark any longer. I know my father has caused you issues being the director of the FBI. I’m no fool. The marriage is really a sham, an arrangement out of contempt and the need for revenge. I made a deal with your son, your brother because of a stupid decision I made.” She looked everyone in the eyes, her courage and tenacity exactly the reason I was falling hard for the girl.
“You don’t need to go through this, Raven,” my mother tried to say in comfort.
“Thank you, Mrs. Thibodeaux, but I do.” Raven turned toward me, shaking her head. “I understood the score and maybe I was stupid enough to find your possessiveness exciting. My father forced me to live a sheltered life and you were like a dangerous alpha male refusing to take no for an answer. But stupid little ole me thought you’d developed feelings, especially after last night.”
“I do have feelings for you,” I told her.
“Bullshit,” Louie snarled, and I threw him a hateful glare.
When she lifted her gaze, she had tears in her eyes. “No, it’s apparent you don’t. Fine. Who is my father to you? This entire charade was personal. The fact you’re determined to marry me is very personal. Well, guess what? It is to me as well. Me, a human being and the girl I thought you were falling in love with. God, I was such a fool. Wasn’t I?Wasn’t I?”
The quiet in the room was heartbreaking. Then Louie huffed again. “You need to tell her. She deserves to know the truth.”
“What truth? What?” Raven demanded again.
I took a deep breath. It was past time to tell her, but I wasn’t given the chance. Zoe did it for me.
“Thomas was once considered my daddy’s brother,” Zoe stated with pride in her voice.
The words coming from my bright and amazing daughter rang clear in the room. And for a few minutes, it was as if all time stopped and our family had been transported back to when Thomas had indeed been a part of our family, my best friend and the kid who’d shared a room with me at first, taken me under his wing at school.
