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Gael and Angela\'s father, Charlie, were a team, and they squared off in one foursome against Wilfred and his son. Oliver was glad not to play this morning and just watched the game—just like his sister, he wasn\'t much into golfing. He was rather very fond of basketball and was once part of the varsity team back in high school, where he was classmates with Samantha.

Noticing his sister taking a shade under a tree, he joined her as they watched the game. The Platinum Club Resort and Golf Course had a dramatic landscape with pine trees rooted around the course. It was famous not only for the golfing experience but also for its facilities. Families loved to stay in their hotels and villas and indulge in a luxurious spa. Angela and Oliver grew up coming here frequently with their father and the other Sus. Their other cousins and uncles played in the second group after this one. They should all be done by noon, just in time for lunch back at the clubhouse.

"Damn, I\'m hungry. I should have taken something earlier." Oliver rubbed his stomach.

Wordlessly, Angela pulled out a white paper bag and handed it to her brother. "Here. It\'s a chicken club sandwich." She ordered some while they were there, thinking that any of her family might get hungry. 

Was it bad that she actually just thought of Gael but didn\'t want to leave out her brother and father, so she got more than she initially did? 

"Ha! Sweet!" Oliver immediately gulfed down the toasted sandwich. The crunch made her look at her brother and chuckle. He momentarily stopped and questioned, "I\'m not eating your boyfriend\'s food, am I?"

Hearing the term \'boyfriend\' over and over from her family made tiny crackles on the back of her neck. She and Gael hadn\'t labeled their relationship, and their situation right now was on the rocks. She couldn\'t fully enjoy that term, though she wouldn\'t lie that she liked it. Ignoring her thoughts, she answered, "Nah. I got three just in case."

"Nice." He peered from side to side, looking for something. And as if she knew what he was searching for, Angela took out a bottle of water from her bag and gave it to him. Oliver stared at her strangely while receiving the bottle, thinking his sister was like Mojacko, who kept random stuff with her and pulling them out of her bag. "Thanks."

Clutching her hands together, she was quiet for a while, watching Gael play his best from a distance. Occasionally, he\'d glance at her with an expressionless face, and she\'d look away, afraid that if she stared too long, he\'d read what was on her mind. She tugged on the jacket around her, his scent lingered in the air as if he was just standing next to her every time she breathed.

Her phone buzzed, and it was her best friend Nina checking in on her.

[ Nina: I\'ll drop by at your house in the late afternoon to give you my present. Doesn\'t it look cute? ]

A photo of a black box with a red bow on top sat on a table loaded on her screen. It made her instantly smile.

She tapped her reply.

[ Angela: Can\'t wait to give yours too! See you later. xoxo ]

Angela gripped her phone as she turned it off, the smile on her face slipping when she imagined her best friend\'s face. The last time she\'d seen her was two nights ago. Nina had texted her the next day, and it was hard lying to her. Sure, this wasn\'t the first time that she kept things from her, but this time was different. The information she was keeping involved her family. The guilt burned in her core, and she could literally feel the acid in her stomach rising up. 

"Hey, Oli…" 

"Hmm?"

"Say… Do you tell Chase everything?" she wondered. Chase was Oliver\'s best friend.

Not thinking much of it, he shrugged, crossing his arms across his chest. "Sure. I mean... I don\'t have anything to hide. I\'d tell him if he asked."

Angela thought about the second question that she wanted to ask her brother, but there was no way she could ask it without divulging too much. She hadn\'t reached out to Samantha yet, and the longer she waited, the harder it was becoming for her. Opening and closing her mouth like a fish on land as she was hesitant to speak, she cleared her throat and whipped out her phone, pretending to check messages. That was dumb to initiate a question and not follow it up. She just hoped Oliver wouldn\'t notice.

He glanced at her. "What\'s up?"

"Nothing. Forget it."

"It\'s obviously not nothing when you bring up Chase out of nowhere. Is something wrong?"

Letting out a long sigh, she wished that all her troubles would leave with her breath. "I\'m just re-evaluating myself. It seems that my loyalty has been tested lately, and I don\'t like what\'s happening."

His brows furrowed, unsure what to make of what she just said. "I\'m not sure I\'m following. Does this have something to do with Nina?"

"Sort of."

He stared at her, and she looked at him without saying anything else. "Are you hiding something from her?"

"Maybe."

"Does she know you\'re hiding something? Is she asking you to tell her?" He cocked a brow.

She shook her head. Angela didn\'t really have anything else to say except keeping her answers brief.

"Is what you\'re hiding going to hurt her?"

The question made her heart sink to her stomach. Her brother had been asking the right questions so far, and she wanted so badly to tell him everything, but she couldn\'t. "Possibly. What should I do?"

"Tell her," Oliver said without hesitation. "Whether or not she will be hurt, she\'s your best friend. You\'ve been through a lot, and she has always been there for you. She deserved the truth, no matter what it is."

Angela already knew that, yet still hearing it from someone else made her feel even guiltier. She swallowed, trying to mince the words in her head as if doing so would actually help her do what she\'s afraid to do.

"Looks like they\'re winning." He nodded towards Gael and their father, tapping her arm to follow him towards the golf carts. "Come on."

She was thankful that he didn\'t press on the matter. As they moved forward, Gael met her halfway, asking, "D\'you mind if I ride with you?"

"As long as you don\'t mind riding with Miss Ursula Tempest."

A crease formed between his brows when he heard a familiar name. Ursula Tempest was a hateful character in Chasing Summer, and Gael had read far enough in the book to know about her. Angela flitted her eyes at Lyra, and he followed her gaze. His eyes landed on the book in the hands of Angela\'s cousin. Lyra was so immersed in her reading that she was biting her nails like a nervous wreck, her eyes rapidly moving from side to side.

Gael lowered his voice and leaned towards Angela "Does she…"

Angela shook her head, knowing that he was asking if Lyra knew about her secret identity. "She\'d crap her pants if she knew." He threw his head back and laughed. 

"Is it okay if I ride with you?" he asked Lyra as they approached.

Lyra blushed, shaking her head in response. She then moved to the front row seat, letting Gael and Angela take the second row. 

As the cart moved, he scooted closer to her and placed his arm on the backrest. It was getting chilly that morning. However, he\'d sat close enough so that she was pressed up against his side, keeping her warm.

"I\'m sorry for keeping you from your family. You should have been with them by now," she muttered.

"Don\'t be. I\'m actually enjoying my time here."

Angela looked up, meeting his stare. "You are?"

He nodded, leaning even closer so that he could speak to her without the others hearing. "I thought about you a lot last night… I couldn\'t sleep just thinking about the things I want to do for you."

Her eyes involuntarily closed. She couldn\'t help but lean into him—too weak to fight her heart\'s desires. She felt his lips press on her temple.

"Angel... Do you want to meet the rest of my family?" he whispered.

Angela snapped her head towards him, her heart beating wildly inside her chest. "What?"

Gael\'s jaw ticked, and he swallowed, seeing the million questions in her eyes. "I want you to meet my father."

"Your father…" she breathed, averting her gaze to the side. His father, Alessandro—the current leader of the De Luca crime family. Every brave hair down her spine stood like the spikes of a thorny devil.