Page 12 of Cruel Vows

“So you promised that I would marry the spawn of Satan himself?” My voice rises, hands gripping the edge of the counter to keep myself steady. “You didn’t, Aiden. Tell me that you didn’t do that.”

Aiden’s jaw flexes. “You were the one Malcolm wanted. I did tell him that there was no way it was happening, but we need him, Ellie. We don’t have the numbers on our own to take on the Rinaldos.”

I step closer to him, nails digging into the palms of my hands. “You had no right to go out there and tell Malcolm I would marry Sean. No right at all.”

“I’m the head of this family. I had every right,” Aiden says, his voice booming through the kitchen as he steps into my space, forcing me to take a step back, hitting the cabinets. “You’ll do as you’re told, and you’ll marry Sean in three days.”

“You might be the head of this family, but you’re a bastard.” I put my hands on his chest, pushing him back a step.

Aiden raises his hand, and for a moment I see our father staring down at me. I see the cold look in his eyes, ambivalent to the damage he was about to deal.

Instead of cowering the way I once did, I stand taller, even though my legs feel like they’re going to collapse beneath me. “Go ahead, Aiden. Do it.”

His hand drops. “I’m not that man and we both know it, but you’re testing me, Ellie. You’re an adult and you know what this world is. It’s time you start acting like it.”

“It’s time you stop making decisions about who I’m going to marry!” I gesture to Royce. “Would you have done the same if Malcolm wanted him?”

“You’re damn right I would. If it’s for the good of the family and making sure we survive whatever shitstorm the Rinaldos are about to throw our way, then I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

“Even handing your sister over to the man who killed our father.” I bite the inside of my cheek as tears prick at the corners of my eyes.

Aiden isn’t going to see me cry over this.

I take a shuddering breath, wishing that I had gone to bed when I got home instead of making myself some food. If I had, I wouldn’t be standing in the kitchen right now, talking to him about how the rest of my life is over.

Pulling myself up, I stand a little taller. “This was supposed to be the one thing in my life that you didn’t have a hand in. I was going to fall in love with someone and get married. We were going to be happy. Have an actual life together. Now, I have to marry a man I hate. I have to spend the rest of my life tied to him because it’s for the family.”

“Yes.” Aiden crosses his arms, looking down his nose at me with the same judgment our father used to. “You’ll do it for the family. You might even start to like Sean once you get to know him.”

“I’m never going to like the monster who killed our father. I was right there, Aiden! I watched Sean shoot him and that plays over and over again in my head every time you bring that bastard into this house.”

Royce clears his throat. “I think everyone just needs to take a step back. A breather before we start throwing punches and saying things we don’t mean to each other.”

Shaking my head, I slump against the counter. “I don’t have the energy to deal with you right now, Aiden. I lost a patient tonight. Not that you bothered to ask me how my shift went. You never do.”

“Do I look like I have time to sit here and talk about your day?” Aiden scoffs, hands falling to his sides as he rounds the island and heads for the doors that lead to the backyard. “You’re going to marry Sean whether you like it or not!”

He slams the door shut behind him, leaving me vibrating with anger.

I want to go after him and insist that this fight isn’t over, but I would never disrespect him in front of his men.

He may not see the need to treat me like I’m still his sister and not some pawn in his game, but I haven’t lost sight of the fact that he’s my brother. The men out there need to respect him and they’re not going to do that if his own family openly challenges him.

It doesn’t change the fact that I would love to charge out there and wring his neck right about now.

Royce sighs and crosses the room to me, pulling me into a tight hug. “Everything’s going to be okay. He loves you. You know he does. Nothing bad will happen to you.”

I lean into Royce’s embrace, the comforting scent of his sweet and spicy cologne wrapping around me. “I don’t know how to go through with this marriage. There has to be some way out of this.”

“You’ll go through with it because you have to.”

It hurts to swallow as I fight against the lump in my throat. “I can’t marry Sean. You have to see that. After everything he put our family through and the hell he’s put me through over the last sixteen years, I can’t.”

“The way he treats you has only made you stronger, Ellie.” Royce smooths a hand down my hair. “I know this isn’t fair and I should have killed him myself years ago, but this is the way life is now. We all have our crosses to bear, and this just happens to be yours.”

“Aiden might see some sense if you go talk to him.” I pull back and glance up at Royce, knowing my hope is misplaced but still daring to do so anyway.

With a slight shake of his head, those dreams of escaping the fate Aiden assigned me to disappear.

---