Page 13 of Shattered Vows

“You’ve been looking for years, so I’m not surprised you finally tracked her down, but I assumed it was so you could have it out with her and get answers to why she didn’t show up to your wedding, not so you could kidnap her.”

“I thought the same until I saw her ready to marry another man. Then…”

His lips purse, and his arms cross as if it’s not a good enough excuse for what I did.

“Are you telling me that if Anabelle ditched you, and you found out she was marrying someone else, you wouldn’t take matters into your own hands?” I ask.

He doesn’t bother answering, but the way his mouth tightens, it’s clear that I’ve struck a nerve. His tough alpha exterior slightly lessens. “What is your plan for Rapsody?”

“I don’t know.”

He inches closer. “Well, you better figure it out and fucking soon, because if I had to guess, her picture is going to be all over the fucking news and internet, if it’s not already. You know how the media loves when a young, beautiful blonde girl is missing.”

He’s right, of course. Asher’s one of those rare breeds with the ability to think before he acts. Even if it doesn’t make national news, her disappearance will make the rounds in the Seattle area.

“I’ll take care of it.”

“You better. Otherwise, I will.” He pokes me in the chest with his finger, and I tamp down the urge to grab it and break it.

Then he turns on his heel and heads back to his bedroom and his pretty little wife.

What a nice fucking life for him.

Chapter

Six

RAPSODY

Two days pass, and all I’ve done is lie in bed and mourn the life I’ve lost, wondering whether I’ll ever be allowed to return to it. I was finally going to be able to see more of the world by marrying Alistair. Sure, it would never be a fast-paced, exciting life, but I wouldn’t be stuck in a tower.

God, Alistair. What must he be thinking? That I just ran off on him, that’s what.

He’s the second man I’ve left at the altar, and for some reason, picturing Alistair waiting there, unknowing and innocent as to why I wasn’t showing, feels less like a punch to the gut compared to the agony I felt when it was Kol I pictured.

No part of me wants to explore what fucked-up reason explains that. All I know is that with Kol, I mourned for months—years really. Alistair has only been a brief thought when I’m not worrying about how long Kol plans to keep me sequestered here or what he might ultimately do to me.

The faint sound of footsteps on the stairs registers before a key is inserted into the lock. The door swings open, and like every time he’s visited me, I don’t face him. Instead, I keep gazing out the glass doors that lead to the outside and freedom. Freedom I’ll never get during my lifetime.

Kol probably thinks I’m being difficult just to piss him off, and maybe a part of it is payback for leaving me here, but it pains me to look at him. He reminds me of what I thought I’d found once upon a time, only to find out it was all a lie—something that’s been made even more clear to me since he kidnapped me from my own wedding.

Any romanticized version of him that still lingered in my head has been destroyed.

I don’t know this man. I never did.

Kol’s strong legs clad in jeans come into view when he comes to stand beside the bed. “Get up.”

I don’t blink, just stare blankly ahead.

“Get up, Rapsody. You need to shower and get dressed and then eat.”

Again, I ignore him.

A growl rips out his throat. I really shouldn’t enjoy making him angry, but he’s leaving me here with too many unknowns. “Rapsody, either you get up on your own, or I will drag you into the bathroom myself, strip you, wash you, and force-feed you. The choice is yours.”

I glance at him for a second then back at the window.

Kol grabs the edge of the blanket, tearing it off me. He bends and lifts me up and over his shoulder like a fireman saving a victim.

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