Page 40 of Vows of Betrayal

Surprisingly, that revelation didn't cause the pain I thought would follow.

Not at all.

In fact, it only made me feel—lighter somehow.

Maybe it was the cheesy macaroni and hot dogs. The same shit Carlo used to cook for us at college. He made it the best. You wouldn't think there was a good way or a bad way to make that macaroni. But there was.

Fuck.

I missed my goddamn brother. My father would be crushed knowing we weren't speaking. Thankfully, our mother was in Italy, so she didn't know the extent of what was really going on.

And then there was Nick. My best friend. He and Eve had gotten tangled up in all of this garbage, too. I missed my best friend. I'd been lonelier than I wanted to admit without all of them.

Could I forgive those assholes for what they'd done?

Giselle and Eve had begged me to come back and rejoin the family.

Could I do that?

Could I forgive all the shit my brother and Nick had pulled?

Was I a big enough person?

“Chesca, come here,” I whispered as I reached out and rubbed her back.

“Tired.” She yawned. “And full. Sleepy.”

Fuck, she was adorable.

I smiled into the dark and leaned over and kissed her shoulder. “Just for a minute. And then you can go to sleep.”

She shook her head. “Tired.”

My hands slipped around her and turned her to me.

“Stefan,” she whined against my chest. But she didn't fight it.

No.

Instead, she cuddled in and laid her head on my shoulder and chest. Her hand rested on my stomach, avoiding my bandages.

“I'm sorry, Chesca. So sorry.” I kissed her forehead and held her tight.

“Sorry for what?” she asked against my chest.

“For yelling at you the other day. When you went outside mostly naked.”

She laughed softly, her body shaking next to mine.

“I wasn't naked. And nobody's down there, anyway.” She snuggled in closer to me and I felt my cock stir. Not that it wasn't already stirring. Because it was. Just like it was most of the time when Francesca was around.

Or when she wasn't around, and I was simply thinking about her.

“Yeah, you were. And we need to talk about that. You're mine, Chesca. I don't think you understand what that means. But you will. For now, all you have to understand is that this body belongs to me. No one else gets it. No one else gets to see it. Just me. Only me. So, when you go out in see through as fuck clothes, that pisses me off. And you can't pull that with me. Not anymore.”

Her body stilled, and her hand began sliding off my stomach. But I grabbed it and stopped it.

“I'm not yours, Stefan,” she whispered and tried to pull away.

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