I dreaded knocking on my Kaiden's door and waiting for him to open up. Every second felt like much longer. There was no more delaying, it was time face the truth even if I wasn't sure I was ready to.

Jack was hesitant to remain outside but I told him in no uncertain terms that I needed to speak to my brother privately. I did wonder if it was Angel who had played a part in the request.

When Kaiden answered he was subdued and looked deep in thought. His usually neat hair was a mess and he was dressed in a shirt and jeans. Not his usual suit. It wasn't a good sign.

He opened the door and I entered reluctantly. I wanted to be anywhere but there. There was a part of me that wanted to pretend that none of what was happening was true and I wanted to hold onto what I shared with Angel last night without questioning his motives.

"You better sit down," Kaiden instructed and I bristled but reminded myself that none of this was his fault. He wasn't the person to blame.

In fact, he was the one who had warned me, I was the one stupid enough to believe that Angel was capable of caring about me. I had been the gullible one who had believed everything Angel had told me. There had been no reason, not to.

I sat down, trying to fight the urge to run so far no one would be able to find me.

"I thought we had agreed not to say anything about me finding dad?"

"I'm sorry," I said, knowing I had been in the wrong to break his trust. "It's just he was so determined to find out what was going on. He just wouldn't let up until I gave him something. I thought it would be easier to tell him about Dad than my biological dad. If I hadn't said something he would have kept at it. I can't tell him about my real father or what that means."

I still didn't fully understand it but that was a problem for another day.

My biological father's business card still lay in my bag. I hadn't been able to call him to set up a time to meet and discuss things further.

"Yeah well, I got an irate call from him this morning. He wasn't happy that I hadn't told him about finding dad."

"I should have let you know but he got to you before I could get out the house." I shrugged.

"It's fine. I know how persistent and relentless he can be."

Now that we had discussed that it was time for him to reveal what he had discovered.

"Tell me," I forced myself to say and I made a point of giving looks up to him as he stood with his arms crossed.

"Remember you asked about Angel's brother?" he began.

I nodded. What did that have to do with any of this? I frowned. Julian had died years before.

"What do you know about it?" he asked, watching me closely.

I shrugged. "Not much. Angel was pretty tight lipped about it. All I got was he died when he was eighteen and Angel was nine. He had an accident, a car accident. I don't know why Angel didn't want to go into details, maybe it hurts to talk about it. It couldn't have been easy for him."

Angel's mother had run off with another man when he had been a toddler. I can't remember all the details but I know she never bothered to keep in contact. No one had ever heard from her again.

Kaiden nodded.

"What does this have to do with Angel marrying me?"

"I'm getting to it." He rubbed his chin. "It was discovered after the accident that Julian, Angel's brother, had been high on drugs at the time of the accident."

I couldn't imagine what it would have felt like to lose someone so young, especially a sibling.

"I still don't get it."

"It was later revealed the drugs that were given to Julian came from the Vincents."

The link was clear but I still didn't understand why that would explain why Angel married me. None of that he was saying made any sense.

"Okay. I still don't get it."

"Later it came to light via a snitch that Andrew Vincent's father, your grandfather, paid a drug dealer to single out Julian to get him hooked on drugs. He was a bit of a wild rebellious teenager who got in with the wrong crowd. It wasn't a difficult order to execute."

It was horrible to think that someone would do that, never mind my biological grandfather. I was glad he was gone, and no longer around to hurt anyone else.

"It must have been devastating to hear that," I murmured, feeling sorry for what Angel had gone through. "Why would someone do to that?" It seemed ruthless and senseless.

"It was about money and power. How do you hurt a family empire? You take out the heir."

I inhaled and exhaled, I was the same target now that I had discovered I was in line to inherit from Andrew Vincent. I couldn't understand a world where that meant more than the life of an eighteen year old boy. And there was no sense in family members out harm someone purely because of power and money.

"But none of this has anything to do with me," I reminded my brother, still not seeing the link.

"I'm getting to it." He began to pace. "You just discovered your real father is Andrew Vincent. What if Angel knew this?"

I got where he was headed with this. "But you have no proof Angel knows anything."

He stopped pacing. "No, I don't have any proof that he knows. But it would explain everything Kira. It would explain why he was so insistent on marrying you. My gut says he knows and that's why he married you Kira. It was for revenge."

I shook my head. "I'm not blowing up my entire life on your gut feeling Kaiden."

I was annoyed and angry that he had made such a big deal out of something he had no proof happened.

"But think about it Kira. It makes sense."

"If you can prove it I will believe it but until then I don't." Was I naive to believe that Angel had done everything because he wanted to protect me and no other reason?

I stood up and Kaiden stepped into my path to stop me. "Don't leave Kira."

"I can't stay out for too long. I have to get back before Angel starts getting suspicious."

"I know I'm right Kira. You have to trust me."

I sighed. "I want to trust you more than anything but I can't do that on a hunch. I need more Kaiden."

My brother studied me. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

When I couldn't meet his gaze, he swore.

"Kira, how could you be so stupid," he said, making me feeling an idiot for falling in love a normal woman. It was a natural thing, not something to be hidden or viewed with disgust.

He ran a hand through his hair and turned his back to me.

I stood waiting for him to work his way through my revelation. Finally he turned to face me.

"Does Angel know how you feel about him?"

It was a strange question but I answered it anyway.

I shook my head. "No, I haven't told him. I'm not sure I'm going to."

Despite our closeness the night before, I did not believe he would welcome it. In fact, it might destroy everything we had, and I couldn't take that risk.

"As a kid you always followed him around, I thought it was something you would grow out of." He sighed.

"Well, I didn't." I had different memories, memories where Angel had stood solid when no one else had. That's what I remembered most. He was the one who had shown up when I had needed someone. I couldn't believe he would have only married for revenge, I just couldn't believe it. That's why I needed proof, then I would have to believe it.

It didn't matter how I got to this point, all that mattered was where I was standing now.

Never once did I believe I would fall in love with him, a man who couldn't love me back. I was a sucker for punishment.

And I didn't want to think about Kaiden's theory either. What if he was right? What if Angel had done all of this for revenge and I had so easily fallen into his plans without even suspecting a thing?

I couldn't think about it.

"I need to head back," I said. "Call me if you find proof."

He nodded. "Be careful Kira. Angel isn't who you think he is and I will prove it."

I didn't want to argue back and forth anymore so I nodded. "You show me the proof and I'll believe you."

On the way back to the house my mind went round in circles trying to figure out what I would do if Kaiden was right. Although I didn't believe it, I had to prepare for the possibility. I couldn't allow it blind side me.