Page 10 of Shattered Vows

Once alone, I spring into action. There has to be a way to get out of here besides that door. First, I check the bathroom—which is beautiful with a large tub and separate walk-in shower—but sadly, no exit. I check the rest of the room for any breaks in the stone on the walls or the floor that might signify a secret passage.

This place is clearly old, and aren’t secret bookshelves that take you to a hidden hallway a thing in old mansions like this one?

My shoulders sink, not finding any way to secretly escape. Then my eyes land on the set of double doors. I hurry over and push them open.

I was right about a balcony. It wraps around the entire spire. I step up to the edge and stand on the bottom of the thick stone railing to look for a way down, but I’m stunned by the gorgeous view of the expansive surroundings that must belong to the manor. Green grass covers the rolling landscape, and the edge of what appears to be a large pond sits way off in the distance.

I walk to both ends of the balcony, but there are no stairs or anything else that might allow me to free myself, and we’re way too high for me to jump to safety. I stomp my heel like a frustrated child, but the impact with the stone reverberates up my leg, and I cringe from the pain sprawling from my foot to my hip. Never do that again.

I make my way back into the room, and Kol stands in the middle of the room with a crooked smirk. As if it’s humorous to him that I’m trying to find a way out, away from him.

“You’re wasting your time.” He tosses a folded set of clothes onto the bed. “I brought you some of Anabelle’s clothes. You look like you’re probably about the same size, so they should fit. Get out of that fucking dress. It’s ugly as shit.”

He says it as if he doesn’t think I picked this dress. But how does he know that my mother refused to allow me to go around to all the wedding shops, trying on gowns, and instead ordered me one off the internet?

“I’ll get you clothes tomorrow.” He rubs his palm over his shaved head.

Who is this Anabelle? I hate the way my stomach turns with jealousy at the thought because I have bigger things to worry about. Is she his girlfriend or, God forbid, his wife? Is that why I’m being sequestered up here? To hide me like some secret mistress?

“Why do I need my own set of clothes? How long do you plan to keep me here?” I bite my bottom lip.

He scoffs, his face void of emotion except for maybe annoyance. “For as long as I like.” Then he turns and heads toward the door. “I’ll bring you some food in a bit.”

He walks out the door, the lock clicking behind him. Leaving me alone in this godforsaken tower where I’ll be kept from the world until he sees fit to either release me or kill me. My throat closes, my nose tickles, and tears spring up again. The world I knew might have been a small one, but it was bigger than one measly room.

Chapter

Five

KOL

Itrudge down the steps of the tower and enter my bedroom across the hallway.

It’s not lost on me that I put Rapsody exactly where I did so that she’d be close to me.

“Fuck!” I shout, wishing I had longer hair so I could run my hands through it.

For an ex-military man who took the time to have a perfect plan, I sure am fucked. Because now that she’s here, I don’t know what to do with Rapsody. I hadn’t really thought that far ahead. All I saw was red when I found out she was marrying another man. I wanted to punish her, and the best way to do that was to stop her from marrying the man she chose over me. She left me high and dry on the day we were to be wed, but she was dressed in her gown, waiting to walk down the aisle to a man who would never satisfy her.

I shake my head. Looking back, all those years ago, I don’t understand what the hell made me ask her to marry me so quickly. I knew it was my last deployment, and that after, I’d be back on US soil. I was leaving the military to return to Midnight Manor and take my place within the family business at Voss Enterprises. I’d bailed on my family and enlisted the minute I turned eighteen in an effort to leave my past behind me, not realizing that once pain has its claws in you, it follows you anywhere and everywhere.

Asking Rapsody to marry me in the first place was a mistake. I’m unable to have a normal relationship. Not only am I fucked in the head from my upbringing, but I don’t deserve to have happiness after the things I’ve done over my lifetime.

Pacing, I rub my palm over my shaved head, trying to clear my head of emotions and think strategically like my training taught me.

The fact I wanted to marry her so quickly has no bearing now. She’s the one who did me wrong. She made a vow and didn’t live up to it. She made me feel like a fool for allowing myself to think for even one moment that a woman like her could love someone like me. I know what and who I am, and she pretended to be someone she isn’t. She deserves to be punished for her bait-and-switch move.

So I’ll punish her by keeping her from her fiancé long enough that he moves on, and she loses the best thing to come into her life. Just like I did.

Sweat falls off my skin and onto the wooden floor, my biceps burning from the last of my push-ups, when there’s a knock on the door. I drag myself off the floor and move steadily toward the door.

My body feels as if I’m hungover because I slept like shit last night. Rapsody refused to eat the meal I brought to her, saying she didn’t trust me not to have poisoned it.

I whip open my door, and Sid stands on the other side. He pushes past me, his shoulder brushing mine, without waiting for an invitation to enter my room.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” he says in a deceptively calm voice.

I turn to face him and blow out a breath, hands on my hips. “What are you talking about?” Since I am about done with my workout, I walk to the en suite bathroom.

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