Page 16 of Vow to Me

“I’m a software engineer and I work with a company creating software for their operations while I also help them find their missing… shipments,” I say dryly.

I’m not entirely sure why I don’t just tell him what I’m doing, I know his family don’t deal with sex traffickers so he’d probably try and help where he could, but I’ve always kept what I do a secret from the world. I guess old habits die hard. The look on his face is hilarious, he’s completely stunned, it’s like he expected me to be some ditzy little girl and instead he’s left with one of the world’s highest skilled computer nerds.

He seems as though he’s about to say something, but his phone buzzes. After checking the text, he says, “Needed to come back and get ready, we’re hitting Novikov tonight,” before disappearing into his room.

Thirty minutes later, I’m still working at the island when he comes out of his room dressed in full tactical gear.Fuck, now I’ll be having fantasies of him wearing that get-up and keeping me prisoner.

“I’m texting you a list of take-out places that are good in the area in case you want to order something for dinner. I won’t be backuntil late, so I’ll grab something when I get in,” he says while typing away on his phone.

“Thank you,” I whisper before clearing my throat and wishing him good luck tonight. He thanks me and walks towards the elevator. He makes it a few steps before stilling, seemingly lost in thought.

He turns around and gazes at me through darkened eyes for a beat. “Fuck it,” he murmurs and quickly stalks towards me, I’m so shocked and confused and don’t know what the fuck is happening or how to react that the next thing I know his hands are cradling my face and he’s slamming his lips on mine.

I freeze for a second before I can gather myself and kiss him back, his tongue teases my bottom lip with a languid stroke and I open for him, letting him take the kiss deeper as I wrap my arms around his neck. The world fades away and we lose ourselves in each other. I open my legs where I’m sitting on the stool tug on his hair, he steps closer and his hard body presses into to mine, making us both groan in unison.

“Fuck baby, you’re my new favorite flavor,” he rasps between kisses, making me whimper into his mouth.

All I can feel is his body heating mine, he tastes like cold winter nights and smells like cedarwood and citrus. His hands roam from my face down my body to where he stops at my hips and squeezes them. I’m so lost in his kiss that when he finally steps back were both panting. I have to take a moment to gather myself before I open my eyes. I feel dizzy, I’m a shaking mess of hormones and lust.His kisses are like a shock to the system, and I need a moment to reboot.

By the time I steady my breathing and pry my eyes open, he’s gone.

Chapter Fifteen

Luca

Walking away from that kiss with Izzy was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, I left before she even had a chance to open her eyes because I knew I’d see the same lust reflected back in hers that were in mine and seeing that isn’t something I’d be able to walk away from. I’d end up dropping to my knees right there and begging her to let me worship her like the queen she is.

Kissing her set my fucking soul on fire, as soon as my lips met hers, I felt like I was finally home. I don’t know how to describe the feeling of her body pressed to mine, just that no matter how close I could get, it wasn’t enough. All thoughts of tonight left my head and it was just her and me, nothing and no one else existed, I could fucking lose myself in that woman and not give a damn about real life if it’s like that every time.

Fuck, get your head right, man. Now is not the fucking time of this shit.

I’m thinking like a fucking horny fourteen-year-old boy who’s never kissed a girl before.

I shake my head to dispel my lustful thoughts and focus on my dad’s voice, we’re driving through Queens towards Novikov’s safehouse. “Luca, you’re with me and group A, we’re going in through the front. Marco, you're with team B going through the back patio and Enzo you're with team C going through the side entrance while the rest of our men are positioned around the perimeter in case any of those fuckheads think they can get away.”

We drive up the gravel driveway of our destination. Our men are already here, scattered around out of sight.

“Enter on my count, andfor fuck's sakedo not get shot. I donotwant to bury one of my sons, so stay fucking alive and Luca, you’re married now—let’s not make the girl a widow a week after the wedding. Kill anyone who isn’t one of ours,” he growls as the car comes to a stop and before adding “Novikov belongs to Luca, he owes him a debt.” Damn right he does after last week. We all exit the car and split up into our groups. We’re all wearing headsets so we’re able to communicate with each other.

“On three, one, two, three!” Dad says and we all make our way into the house, one man comes rushing towards me, he’s just flipping the safety off his gun when I land a bullet into his neck and he drops the floor. Two more men come around the corner, they’re too close to get a decent shot so I throw a punch to the one on the right and put a bullet between his eyes as he falls to the floor just as of our men grabs the one on the left and slices his throat from ear to ear.

I can hear the commotion of the other teams through my earpiece, but I drown it down while I make my way up the stairs and into the bedroom, we knew Novikov was likely to hide in his panic room, but rather than having Alec disable it completely, wethought it would be fun to keep it active and instead I’m using the code to enter.Ha! Let the little fuck face think he’s got a shot at surviving.

I walk through the closet and enter the code into the reader on the back panel, the door unlocks, and I kick it open to see Novikov reach for his gun on the table.

Seriously? Your house is being attacked and you leave your gun out of reach?

Fucking amateur.

How he’s survived this long is one of the world’s biggest fucking mysteries, like on those god-awful tv shows I’ve noticed Izzy likes to watch about crop circles and shit. Great, I’m thinking about her again, this is why I’ve never bothered with a girlfriend, they’re fucking distractions.

I shoot Novikov in the shoulder, not wanting this to be over too quickly, he manages to get a shot off at the same time that narrowly misses me. “Get fucked, Italian piece of shit!” He shouts,oh no, he hurt my feelings.I narrow my eyes at him and cock my head before donning and wide, maniacal grin.

“Good to see you, too, Dimitri,” I sneer as I step closer and fire off another shot to his right hand and making him drop his gun, so he doesn’t get any more ideas of shooting me. “You’ve been a pain in our asses for months, but that’s finally coming to an end, did you know that your best friend, and second in command, was planning on overthrowing you? It seems even he’s had enough of your shit.”

“Fuck you, you're lying,” he growls, and I just laugh. I grab a knife from my ankle strap and throw it at him, hitting him in his left eye. His knees buckle so he’s kneeling before me. “That’s right, sunshine, kneel for me,” I laugh.

Fuck, this is so much fun.

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