Page 67 of Ruthless Vows

“Sabrina likes her nickname,” he states with a grin. “Don’t you, shortcake?” He nudges her shoulder and she slaps his hand away, rolling her eyes.

“I would say it’s nice to see you, Rossi, but it’s really not. Crawl in a hole and die, would you?” she asks, looking up at him, green eyes filled with fire.

Damn, harsh.

Adrian should be offended by that but his grin is still as wide as ever. “We’re best friends,” he tells me with a wink.

“No, you’re not,” Aurora speaks up. “Sabrina hates your guts, and with good reason.”

I’m about to ask why exactly she hates him but Adrian speaks up before I can.

“So, what were you gorgeous ladies talking about before I came in?”

The tension in the room returns as soon as he asks the question. Aurora’s face falls, while I sigh.

“You don’t need to know,” I answer simply. “But it’s good that you’re here. I need to talk to you.”

After one last look at my sister, I pull Adrian out of the door. Aurora needs time to take in all of my revelations. Adrian’s here for a reason, so we might as well get it out of the way now. I lead him outside, toward the bench we sat on the other day.

We’re both silent for a couple of moments.

“Come on, talk to me. What’s been going on at the house of horrors?” he prompts.

“It’s not a house of horrors,” I retort. “Things have been pretty great.”

“Meaning you haven’t found any evidence your fiancé’s a cold-blooded murderer?” he questions, arching an eyebrow.

“Not for a lack of trying,” I reply, avoiding his gaze.

After Ivan left earlier today, I went back into his room to look for clues or anything that could point me in the right direction. I knew Adrian would have questions as soon as I came here. He and I haven’t spoken about it since he’s worried Ivan might have bugged my phone. Which is honestly a legitimate fear.

“He doesn’t conduct any business at the villa,” I state.

“I know. Most of it is done at his hotel. It’s his home base. He has an intelligence team there, top-of-the-line hackers and equipment that probably rivals that of the Shadow,” he says, frowning.

“Who’s the Shadow?”

Adrian smirks. “Some annoying dude. He’s not important. Tell me about Volkov. Has he at least been treating you well?”

I feel guilty. Adrian’s my friend and he deserves to know the truth. I know I shouldn’t, but suddenly my mouth is moving and I’m telling him everything. I guess today’s the day I come clean to everyone. Who’s next? Nico? Explaining all of this to my brother-in-law is the last thing I want to do. I’m sure his wife will be happy to do so on my behalf.

“What the fuck, Lucia?” Adrian asks when I’m done. “So you actuallywantto marry him? You don’t care about what I asked?”

“Of course not. I do care.”

“Lucia, I told you that man was responsible for my mother’s death and your response was to, what? Sleep with him?” he asks angrily.

I inhale softly. “I’m trying to help you, Adrian. I’m trying to do what’s best for everybody. Calm the hell down!”

He actually does seem to calm down. Adrian doesn’t like losing his shit. He’s a pretty chill guy, which is how I knew I could tell him. He’s quiet for a long time, thinking it all over.

“What are you planning, chipmunk?” he asks finally, his expression resolved.

“Honestly, I’m just biding my time until everything makes sense. And I’m not going to stop until the truth about your mom comes out,” I assure him.

“And what are you going to do when it does?”

“If he was really responsible for what happened to your mother, then he’s not the man I’m falling for,” I reply, feeling brave enough to say the words for the first time.

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