All Mye Queen's Men, Chronicles of Love - Volume II (33 page)

“
Who
was
she?
”

“
She
was
my
daughter
in-law,
Katelyn
’
s
mom.
”

“
But
what
does
that
have
to
do
with
X,
I
mean
Xavier?
”

Mr.
Hope
hesitated
before
speaking.
“
Queen,
I
don
’
t
know
how
to
tell
you
this
but
Angel
was
Xavier's
wife.
She
died
in
childbirth.
”

“
Angel
…
and
did
you
say
wife?
”
Queen
asked
stunned.

“
I
can
’
t
believe
Xavier
didn
’
t
tell
you
about
her.
Then
again
it
doesn
’
t
really
surprise
me.
He
took
Angel
’
s
death
really
hard.
We
had
to
take
Katelyn
home
from
the
hospital
with
us.
He
was
so
distraught
he
couldn
’
t
even
stand
to
look
at
her.
We
’
ve
had
her
every
since
she
was
born.
”

Queen
stood
up
abruptly
to
leave.
“
Excuse
me
Mr.
Hope
I
need
to
talk
to
X.
”

“
Please,
let
me
finish.
”

Queen
draws
a
deep
breath
and
agrees
to
stay.

“
Queen
I
know
what
you
’
re
thinking,
but
Xavier
loves
you.
”

“
No
disrespect
Mr.
Hope
but
X
loves
Angel.
He
’
s
practically
renamed
me
Angel.
Oh
my
God
I
can
’
t
believe
…”

“
No,
Queen.
Xavier
is
in
love
with
you.
No
matter
what
he
calls
you.
Yes
I
’
m
sure
he
probably
has
slipped
up
and
called
you
Angel
a
time
or
two.
But
Queen
look,
you
have
to
admit
that
you
look
exactly
like
her.
”

Mr.
Hope
shows
Queen
a
picture
of
X
and
Angel
apparently
taken
on
their
wedding
day.
If
Queen
did
not
know
better
she
probably
would
have
thought
that
Angel
was
her
identical
twin
sister.
Unfortunately
none
of
this
made
her
feel
any
better.
In
fact
it
was
all
worse
than
she
could
ever
imagine.
X
was
using
her
as
a
clone
of
his
dead
wife.

“
But
he
calls
me
her
name
even
when
we
make
love.
”

“
I
know
this
must
hurt,
but
I
’
m
telling
you
what
I
know.
He
is
in
love
with
you.
He
’
s
different
since
you
’
ve
been
in
his
life.
You
’
ve
made
him
okay
with
losing
Angel.
He
’
s
finally
able
to
hold
his
daughter
in
his
arms
and
not
fall
apart.
All
of
this
is
because
of
you.
Please
don
’
t
take
that
away
from
him
by
pulling
away
from
him,
because
he
occasionally
calls
you
his
deceased
wife
’
s
name.
Queen
search
your
heart
and
I
’
m
sure
that
in
there
you
’
ll
find
that
he
really
truly
loves
you
for
who
you
are.
”

Queen
wiped
the
tears
that
ran
down
her
face
like
pouring
rain.
She
had
no
doubt
in
her
mind
that
X
loved
her.
Yeah
at
times
she
probably
did
remind
him
of
Angel,
but
that
was
undoubtedly
a
very
small
per
cent
of
the
time
that
they
spent
together.
From
the
very
beginning
all
he
asked
was
to
be
near
her.
He
didn
’
t
use
her.
He
needed
her.

She
’
d
lost
someone
that
she
loved
and
she
knew
firsthand
how
debilitating
it
could
be.
It
didn
’
t
take
much
to
realize
that
she
couldn
’
t
walk
away
from
him
now
even
if
she
wanted
to.
X
needed
her
just
like
she
needed
Bear
to
help
her
make
it
through
when
Paul
died.
And
she
loved
him
enough
to
endure
whatever
was
necessary
to
get
him
back
to
his
precious
little
girl.

“
Are
you
okay?
”
Mr.
Hope
asked
concerned.

“
This
hurts
really,
really
bad,
but
I
’
m
going
to
be
okay.
I
lost
someone
that
I
loved
a
little
over
a
year
ago,
so
I
know
what
he
’
s
going
through.
I
’
m
not
going
to
leave
him.
I
’
ll
be
here
for
as
long
as
he
needs
me.
”
Queen
promised.

“
Bless
you.
I
just
didn
’
t
want
you
to
walk
away
without
knowing
the
whole
story.
I
’
m
not
sure
what
he
would
have
done,
if
you
…”
X
’
s
dad
replied
trying
to
hold
back
tears
that
strained
to
pour
like
rain.