Page 182 of Poison Vows

This man is a possessive, shrewd, dangerous monster that’s trapping me both in life and death.

And he knows it.

The next morning, I feel sore all over.

When I roll over, I discover I’ve been ditched by my husband yet again…

Just when I thought we had connected in a way we never had before, he goes and does this.

Why can’t he just surrender? Why does he keep escaping it?

Its wounding my pride at this point.

Yes, last night was beyond spectacular. I lost count of the number of orgasms he gave me… and the things he taught me.

After screwing me in the falling snow, he took us to our room to continue.

When I passed out, spent and exhausted, it was in his arms, listening to the slow beat of his heart. I could feel him pressing kisses all over my body, coddling me, and yet still, he’s nowhere to be found when I want to talk to him about what I want.

Deciding to not think about him anymore, I have breakfast in the sunroom with Grandpa Armando who tells me about his upcoming birthday.

I have no idea why he’s been treating me with so much warmth lately, like gifting me boxes of diamonds and rare jewels that any red-blooded woman would preen over.

“Uh, these are for me?”

“Of course they are,” he says with a smile. “Your mother-in-law would want you to have them, I’m sure.”

In my shock, I learn about Daphne’s outcome after the night we parted.

It turns out this old man that I’ve been scared of my whole life had been protecting his daughter and grandson as best he could without letting others know.

I don’t ask about Vaughn or the mess beneath that, but I do get the sense the final bomb is about to drop soon. Who knows who’ll be caught in the wreckage?

“I told you this because you’re now the queen of the Family. You’re in the know together with your husband, but don’t tell him that you know,” he tells me. “I imagine he’s been trying to wrap his mind around this since he came back, so give him a little grace, sweetheart.”

Having suffered from retrograde amnesia for a few years of my life, I’ve seen firsthand the pain this causes to your loved ones. Now imagine looking for someone for almost two decades, half-believing they are dead, only to find that they are alive. They just don’t know who you are?

He’s going through so much right now… but is that why he’s been so sullen and brooding?

“I believe only you can keep him grounded,” Grandpa Armando continues. “I’ve seen it for myself, and so now I can confidently leave him to you.”

I don’t have the heart to tell him that my relationship with his grandson is complicated at best. Not only that, why am I hearing all this from his grandfather and not from him?

Why does he always keep things from me? Does he see me as too stupid to understand?

But more than that, I don’t know if I can risk my already shattered heart again…

I don’t reveal my inner thoughts, though. I just make a silly joke instead.

“Ah, so the blinding stones worth more than some countries’ entire GDP are a bribe, huh?”

He laughs and then winks. “Just be ready to fight off Scar.”

“By the way,” I start, my heart racing. “Do you still have that letter? From my grandfather?”

Grandpa Armando stares at me with a gentle smile. “I was wondering when you were going to find the courage. I’ve been keeping it with me, just in case.”

He produces the letter he brought out the night he revealed all the truths that everyone in my life has been hiding.

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