Page 1 of Cruel Vows

1

ELLIE

The devilincarnate rakes his gaze over me like I’m the scum of the earth coming to worship at his feet.

I’d rather take a flamethrower to his body than worship it.

After all the hell Sean has put my family through, I can’t imagine how my oldest brother remains friends with him. Another man would have killed Sean.

Aiden clears his throat, nodding to the chair beside Sean. “Take a seat, Ellie.”

If it were anyone else in the room with Aiden, I wouldn’t defy him. I certainly wouldn’t cross my arms and walk to the other side of Aiden’s dark and moody office, admiring the forest-green curtains instead of the raven-haired killer in the room.

But this is Aiden, and I know exactly why he called me into his office.

Aiden’s stare burns a hole into my back. “Ellie, this attitude has to end. I don’t care whether you like it or not, but the mafia is in your blood and it’s time to start acting like it.”

Whirling around, hands curling into fists and dropping to my sides, I try to crush the tightness in my chest. “Even if the people I love keep dying because of it?”

Staying at the edges of the family business is where I’m the most comfortable. I don’t want to be embroiled in the drugs and prostitution.

The last thing I want to do is deliver guns into the hands of people who send my patients to the hospital.

And yet that is exactly what Aiden demands of our family.

Aiden swirls around the amber alcohol in his fluted rocks glass. “This isn’t up for discussion. I’ve let you run wild for long enough. You’re going to take your place in the family, Ellie, and that is final.”

I bite the inside of my cheek, glaring at the picture of me and Aiden that sits on the matte black bookshelves behind his desk.

I wish we could go back to the time when he was just my brother.

There is nothing to do but agree, so I nod. “Fine.”

Sean snorts, shaking his head and leaning forward to put his glass on the smoky-black glass desk. “I don’t see why you keep pressing the issue, Aiden. She’s only going to be dead weight, and sooner or later, she’s going to get someone killed. Maybe one of your other sisters.”

Lunging across the room and wringing Sean’s neck would only cause more problems for Aiden. Rumors of the Rinaldo family resurfacing are already starting to circle around New York.

War with Sean and the rest of the Andino family will have to wait.

Aiden’s sharp gaze cuts between the two of us, his lips pressing into a thin line. “I’m not going to have the two of you fighting like children. It’s time that you figure out your shit and learn how to get along. We’re all going to need each other in the coming months.”

Pacing away from the window, I head over to the shelves and pick up the picture from my graduation day. “I promised to helppeople. I’m not going to go around killing them just because they’re competition.”

Sean rolls his eyes. “You always did have a passion for being dramatic, didn’t you?”

Aiden makes a noise in the back of his throat, shifting in his leather chair. “Enough. I don’t have the time or the patience to listen to the two of you.”

“Please, Aid.” I set the picture down, my pulse pounding in my ears. “I do enough to help the family. You call on me every hour of the night to stitch people up. I keep the local clinic in our back pocket. What more do you want me to do?”

He scrubs a hand over the scruff on his chin. “I want to know that when the time comes, you will fight for our family.”

I should tell him that I will stand at his side no matter what.

It’s what’s expected of me.

Instead, I shove my hands into the pockets of my lavender scrubs to hide the way they tremble. “Aiden, you know how much nursing means to me. I don’t want to give that up for this war with the Rinaldos.”

Aiden’s fist slams on the desk, sending a pen clattering to the floor and papers shuffling to the edge. “I’ve had enough of this, Ellie. You’re twenty-six now. It’s time to stop living in your imaginary world.”

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