Page 32 of Shattered Vows

Leave it to Nero to voice my own fear.

“She’s the only woman I’ve ever seen you give a shit about. More than that—you were going to marry her, Kol. You’ve never even bothered to really date anyone other than her. You fuck them for a bit and move on, never even talk about the women with any of us.”

“We can’t all be Prince Charming, kid.” I ruffle his hair, knowing that, coupled with calling him kid, will piss him off.

“Fuck off.” He shoves my hand away. “And nice try distracting me, but it’s not gonna work.”

It was worth a try. “I made the mistake of falling for her once. I won’t do it again.”

He shakes his head and falls to his back in the grass. “For the record, I think your plan is shit.”

“I didn’t ask for your fucking opinion.”

Nero doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I can totally do this. I just have to pull Rapsody in rather than push her away when I think of what she did to me and the anger surfaces. It goes against all my protective instincts, but I can make her fall for me again. She kissed me back after all, and she wanted a helluva lot more than a kiss.

God, that kiss.

No, fuck. It didn’t mean anything. It was just the first step in my plan. And the fact that I enjoyed it—thoroughly—just means that I’ll enjoy stealing Rapsody’s innocence from her. That’s all. It doesn’t mean I’ll fall in love with her.

I have a feeling she’s not going to let go of what she saw on Saturday night. I’ll have to think of some story to tell her that will appease her… unless… my thoughts travel.

Yes, maybe that’s it. Maybe that’s the perfect way to thoroughly destroy her.

The corner of my lips tips into a half smile.

“Do you think we’re cursed?” Nero asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

“What do you mean?”

He props himself up on his elbows so he’s only half lying down. “This family. This manor. Do you think it’s cursed and that’s why we’ve gone through all the shit we have, or do you think it’s karma for all the bad shit or something?”

I pull a blade of grass in front of me. “Most people would say we’re lucky to have been born into a billionaire’s family.”

Nero gives me a cutting look. “They obviously didn’t know our father.”

The mention of our father, especially today, squeezes the air from my lungs. Flashes of images from that day nineteen years ago play like a slideshow in my brain.

“I think some people are just evil, and we happened to be the sons of one of those people. But then we had Mom, and she was… she was everything.” I reach for the whiskey and slug back another mouthful. “Maybe karma is just what balances the scales. We had Mom, and we were born into money, so it gave us Dad. I dunno.” I pass him the bottle.

He sits up to drink some, then wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “What happened that day?—”

My head whips in his direction, and I narrow my eyes at him. “We agreed we wouldn’t talk about it. Ever.”

He looks properly chastised, but then a smirk plays on the edges of his mouth when he looks over my shoulder.

“Hey, Rapsody,” Nero calls, waving. “Why don’t you join us?”

Chapter

Sixteen

RAPSODY

With a small canvas and some paint in hand, I wander the grounds of Midnight Manor in search of the pond. It would be a pretty place to paint, and more importantly, I need to clear my head after what happened with Kol.

Maybe staying here isn’t what’s best for me. I feel more confused than ever. Maybe my mom was right all those years she told me I couldn’t handle the real world.

I come over the crest of a rolling hill and see the pond down below. But apparently, I’m not the only one who wanted to hang out here today. The sun goes behind a cloud, and I shiver. At least that’s the reason I tell myself. It has nothing to do with Kol and Nero sitting near the pond’s edge.

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