And according to Anya, Kane had grown up in a house similar to the one I was standing in front of.
My Kane had grown up surrounded by this magnitude of power and wealth.Ryder had been pulled into it when he’d left the group home at eighteen.
A part of me almost understood why he’d married Amadea Bianchi now.A taste of this kind of life would have been intoxicating to him, impossible to resist.I wasn’t made for this kind of world.All I’d ever wanted was a family of my own, a little money in the bank so that I didn’t have to worry about the bills, and, more than anything, people who loved me.
“Now or never,” I muttered to myself, taking that first step forward.
Someone was waiting inside for me.Someone who Anya assured me loved me more than all the money in the world.A man who’d started and won an entire war to get to me.
I hadn’t wanted to come here, but I knew Anya wouldn’t give up easily.She wasn’t the type of person to bow out when she owed a favor.If I wanted to keep the small amount of peace I’d created for myself, I needed to get this over with.Meeting Ernesto Vega didn’t mean I had to uproot myself again.It was nothing more than a sit-down, on neutral ground—the Vitucci estate, since I didn’t want to risk someone stalking me.
I would meet this mysterious man who was hell-bent on speaking to me, then get home before I had to be at work on Monday morning.
Easy plan.
I wanted it over so I could get back to the life I’d chosen for myself, officially close the book on one that I’d only been a side character in.
A tiny foot kicked just below my navel, the baby making itself known.I welcomed the reminder, warmth building in my chest from the knowledge that I didn’t have to face this moment alone.
After Anya explained who was calling in their favor, she’d gone with me to my house and waited while I showered and then packed a quick overnight bag.Now the sun was coming up, and supposedly, I was meeting my father.
It was all a mistake.No way I had a dad.Someone had gotten it wrong.A name on a file missing a comma wasn’t a simple answer to this complex equation.Estrella Vega and Vega Estrella were two different people.I wasn’t either woman anyway.
My new name was Vay Stern, the name chosen specifically in hopes of remaining a star to someone, if only myself.
Two men in suits were waiting at the front door, much like the men who had opened the doors of the bombproof SUV we’d just stepped out of.They bowed their heads to Anya as she stepped through, as if she were royalty.Three more men were inside, hands folded in front of them like they were soldiers awaiting orders.I barely had time to take in the foyer, the sweeping staircase, the grandeur in a single entryway that could have covered the cost of care for an entire low-income neighborhood.For a decade.
“Any word on when my guest will arrive?”Anya asked the men, handing her purse to one while another helped her take her coat off.
I stepped back when the third man tried to assist me with my own long coat, shying away from his touch.
“They arrived an hour ago and are in the library.We set them up with coffee.”
Of course there was a freaking library.I kind of wondered if Sammy had stocked the shelves with any of the books we’d read atMocktails and Steamy Ever Afters.She would definitely do something like sneak a dark romance about shadow daddies in between the first-edition classics.I adored that about her.
Since this was supposed to be a quick trip, no one else was home.Anya’s husband was back in Creswell Springs, along with several other members of their family, who had been waiting for the arrival of Abi and Vaughn’s baby.She’d promised we could fly back as soon as this was over—or whenever I was ready, whatever I wanted.
As if I held all the power in this situation, which we both knew was absolutelynotthe truth.
“Vega didn’t bring his own men?”Anya asked, brows raised, glancing from one man to the other.“I didn’t see any extra cars in the driveway.”
“Just the three of them,” the one who had tried to help me with my coat informed her.
I froze.“Three?”I was only supposed to be meeting one person, Ernesto Vega.Who were the other two people?
My tummy did a little flip, because I could already sense them.Heart in my throat, I rubbed my hands over my belly, internally screaming.
No.
No, no, no.
I wasn’t strong enough to see them.It was why I’d left in the first damn place.Just sharing the same air as my men made me weak.
All those weeks—freaking months—of progress, telling myself that I was better off without them.That I was happy.That I could survive without them.I could feel it slipping away as my heart began to race.
Leaving was for the baby’s sake, yes.Absolutely.But it had also been because I knew, married or not, I wouldn’t be able to tell Kane and Ryder no.I would have remained their mistress, their dirty secret that they only saw on their selected nights.Whatever scraps they would throw to me, I would have gobbled up like the sad, desperate-for-love fool they had trained me to be.
“You said it would only be him,” I hissed, turning to Anya accusingly.“You promised it was only Ernesto.”
