Page 28 of Brutal Vows

Evaline gifts me with a soft smile that radiates peace. “I am. Despite how we started. You can be too.”

I scoff. “Vitali and I aren’t you and Kenzo.”

She huffs a small laugh. “No,” she admits. “You aren’t and you never will be. But that doesn’t mean you can’t create something of your own, together.”

What. The. Fuck? Is she trying to matchmake us right now? For real? In what reality does she think that would work? This isn’t some arranged marriage like her and Kenzo or a second-chance romance like Adrian and Vanya.

Vitali is my captor.

The man who forces me to submit.

Cold. Cruel. Uncaring.

His sole focus has been the relentless pursuit of my brother’s demise and now the reclamation of his crumbling empire. Never, not even for a fleeting moment, has he exhibited any sign of genuine affection or regard for me. In fact, he has bluntly declared that I am nothing more than a mere plaything, a tool to be wielded at his whim and discarded just as easily.

“No offense, Evaline.” I shake my head in disbelief. “But the medication your doctor has you on is messing with your head.”

Evaline shrugs a shoulder as if she almost agrees with me.

“You never know.” Something in the way she says those words, so blasé, has the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.

“What do you think is going to happen?” I ask, laughter bubbling up inside of me at the ridiculousness of this conversation. “That I’ll throw on a random wedding dress and happily skip down the aisle to marry Vitali De Luca?”

“That is exactly what is going to happen,piccola cera.”

Well fuck.

Fifteen

“You are barking mad.”Adrian shakes his head amused at how I broke the news to my little deer. The angry soon-to-be bride is currently sulking in our room after I dropped the wedding bomb on her this morning. “You want to force her to marry you?” I nod my head, liking the idea more and more.

“Why?” Kenzo questions. “She doesn’t hold much value.”

Anger races through me at Kenzo’s statement. My fists clench at my sides, but I keep my face unreadable. Something about him saying she has no value irks me when it shouldn’t. Gia is nothing but a pawn. This marriage won’t last long, but it will serve my purpose.

To get her brother to come out of hiding and also divert Fino’s attention just long enough to eliminate him. When he’s out of the picture, all of Fino’s assets will automatically transfer to me, being Gia’s husband. Not that I have any real need for the bastard’s wealth, but he remains oblivious to that fact. Salvatore, however, will recognize the maneuver for what it truly is—the ignition of a conflict, the firststrategic move I intend to execute on the chessboard of power.

“Always make your first move obvious and the rest in secret.”

Kenzo and Adrian nod, their expressions tight, a flicker of shared pain and purpose passing between them. Their fathers, like mine, once drilled that same sentiment into their heads growing up. It is the initial maneuver in a meticulously crafted strategic battle plan, a guiding principle etched into our consciousness. This same piece of wisdom was also given to Salvatore by my grandfather. He’ll think he knows exactly what I am doing.—the play I intend to make and then he’ll attempt to subvert it.

My uncle will play right into my hands.

Right where I want him.

“You really think that is going to work, brother?” Adrian grimaces. “Never mind that Fino is locked up in his compound, where he thinks he is safe, but Salvatore? He’ll be nearly untouchable. The old man is paranoid, he’ll sacrifice a thousand men before he lets his guard down.”

A dark smile curves at the corner of my mouth.

“Exactly.”

Loyalty is the one thing Salvatore doesn’t have in abundance. As Don, he chooses to instill fear in place of having a soldier’s admiration and trust. Once they see how easily he sacrifices them for his own gain, they won’t be as willing to stand by his side.

Marrying Gia and killing Fino, will provide me with an inside hand. His men will become mine, and I will do the one thing someone like Fino would never do. Show them mercy.

“What about your mother?” Kenzo asks quietly. “If what Gia says is true”

“It’s not,” I snap at him, narrowing my gaze. “She is doing what she needs to survive.”

---