Page 45 of Ruthless Vow

I freeze. “No. She’s more than that.”

I stand abruptly, my chair scraping back. I pace to the window and look out. My jaw clenches as memories of Nicole tease my thoughts—her defiant stare, the way she grabbed my gun, the way she didn’t break, even when cornered. She intrigues me in ways I can’t explain, even to myself.

And that is dangerous.

When I turn away from the window, I catch Cass looking confused and Dante shrugging in reply to some silent question.

“More than that in what way?” Damian asks carefully.

I look at my brother, remembering how he’d stood against me when I threatened Alina before I learned she wasn’t a spy for the Ivanovs. He had been willing to fight for her. Not just willing. He’d come at me with all the strength of his rage. I had been utterly confused, unable to understand why my brother was so furious that I had threatened her.

And, well, I’d also choked her. Just a little. And pulled a knife on her…

But now… now, I think I understand.

Nicole is mine. I will decimate anyone who touches her.

“She is… not just bait,” I say, unable to find the words to explain. “She thinks she’s outsmarting me, that she’s running to freedom. But all she’s doing is leading us straight to him. We’ll track her and once she meets up with him, we’ll move. Her boss dies tonight. By my hand only. But Nicole…”

I pause, the weight of my unfinished thought hanging in the air. My mind flashes to her again—her dark eyes, the way she’d held my gaze with a mix of fear and defiance. I will not let her slip away. Not because she is a piece on my gameboard, but because she is mine.

She has no idea just how far she is from freedom.

When I find her, I’ll make sure she never forgets who she truly belongs to.

Me.

"I want her back," I finally say. "Unharmed. No one touches her, no one lays a hand on her. Understood?"

Damian laughs softly. “Oh, understood loud and clear. Never thought I’d see the day.” He looks at Luca, his dark brows rising. “The thunderbolt.”

“Looks like it,” Luca says with a grin.

“The what?” Cass asks.

“In The Godfather, Michael Corleone got hit by the thunderbolt,” Damian says.

“Love at first sight,” Luca clarifies.

“Well, this isn’t first sight,” Cass says. “He’s known her for years. We all have.”

“Who the fuck said anything about love?” I snarl.

Luca and Damian both laugh.

“Sound familiar?” Luca asks him.

“Very,” Damian says.

I glower at them, refusing to ask for an explanation. Damian offers one anyway.

“That’s exactly what I said when Luca asked me if I was in love with Alina,” he says. “I was. I just didn’t know it yet.”

“For fuck’s sake. I am not in love—”

“Uh, guys…” Dante says, cutting me off.

I turn to see him standing behind my desk watching the screen.

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