Page 30 of Vow of Silence

She nods, her brow furrowed as though she can’t understand my confusion.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. De Santis. I don’t know what Benito told you, but I wasn’t the one who broke it off.”

Her frown deepens as she leans back in her chair, hands relaxed in her lap, and her chin tilted high.

“Hewas the one who brokemyheart when he slept with my cousin.”

FOURTEEN

Benito

My mother can intimidate the most authoritarian men. Politicians, lawmakers, underbelly kingpins: she’s had them all cower at her feet with a few words alone. When she stole Nastasya from the room, I figured I knew how it would end.

Seeing my mother’s shaken face when they return, it appears I assumed wrong.

Whatever the fuck Stas said to Mama, she’s left my mother distant and unsettled as she lowers herself to Papa’s side. I connect with Mama’s gaze and lift my eyebrows a fraction.What happened?She stares back, mouth set in a flat line, and then, with the grace of the socialite she is, turns her head slightly to give her attention to the person currently speaking: my uncle.

Ouch.

The cushion shifts on my left, the floral notes of Nastasya’s perfume wafting past me as she settles in the seat. I rip my phone out and smack a question into my notes app.

What did you say?

Her eyes settle on the words before she lifts her chin to smile. “The truth.” Two words whispered from soft lips.

Two words that deal so much fucking damage.

I never directly lied to Mama about Nastasya and me. My mother made her assumptions, and like the coward I was at the time, I let her believe whatever was easiest. If I’d told her the extent of the truth, it would have not only broken her heart to know her son could be so callous when spurned, but it would have leaned toward me needing to disclose the truth about my silence.

Sure. She knows why I can’t talk. The whole family does. It was impossible to hide when Vinny carried me in the front door, blood streaming from my jaw, and barely conscious.

It was even more impossible to hide when the laborious task of healing began. A cut, a scrape, or a graze—they’re easy to care for. But a wound in your fucking mouth presents numerous problems. Most of all, the fact that it never truly has time to mend before you aggravate it again with food, drink… hollering into the fucking void out of sheer frustration.

It shocked the fuck out of me the first time I heard my changed voice. It disgusted me when I tried to use it to make a distinct sound.

The decision to take a vow of silence wasn’t hard to make. The resolution to not retaliate until the time was right was harder.

“It was decided while you ladies were out of the room that the wedding will take place within the month,” Papa details, staring Stas straight in the eye. “I trust that is enough time for you to organize things?”

She glares at her father as she answers. “Papa had me start already.” She switches focus to Mama and adds, “With the help of my cousin, Lana.”

I taste the cold that fucking chills my veins.She what?My hand finds its way to Nastasya’s wrist before I register what I do: I tug Stas to her feet.

“Benito.” Mama frowns. “Is something the matter?”

I know that saccharine tone—she fucking knows precisely what pisses me off. My nose twitches with the flash of a scowl, and I guide my wife-to-be from the room with determined strides.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Papa appeases Arseni when thepakhanshifts to the front of his chair.

“What the hell are you doing?” Stas hisses as we cross into the foyer.

I don’t answer until we’re safely tucked in the passageway to the servant’s quarters.“Lana?”I mouth, releasing her.

She lifts one eyebrow and folds her arms. “Will that be an issue?”

My nostrils display my irritation.

“Unless, of course, you’re worried you might slip over and have your dick fall in her again?” She’s the spitting image of her father when she wants to be nasty.

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