Page 69 of Dangerous Vows

“You gave that up last night. You don’t want me or this baby.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he says as his eyes flash. I know that look, and I flinch as if he’ll strike me. “I very much want this baby. Iwanted a family with you before I learned that you’re only here as a means to an end. What did you plan to accomplish by bedding me, Amara?”

“There was no plan. I ran from my father, he made demands I refused to meet.”

“I find that hard to believe. You’ve been living with me for two months. It’s more than enough time to set up a plan. What does he want with me?”

“Nothing. He wants me,” I murmur. Why does it matter? We’re over. There’s no point in arguing.

I’m ruined.

And soon… I’ll be wed into a family of monsters.

Not the kind that hide beneath beds, but the ones who sit at gilded tables, drink from crystal, and bleed ruthlessly in the name of power. My future is carved by fate and sealed with blood. There is no escape.

The echo of who I used to be will become a faded memory, replaced by the woman I’m destined to become.

AMARA

THIS IS HOW MONSTERS LOVE

Ileft Pietro a note. I write with a shaky hand.

I can’t live like this. A.

It’s short. To the point, it says everything and nothing all at once.

My hand shakes as I set the pen down. My heart sinks like a rock in a shallow lake. My life with Vukan won’t be a cake walk, but it won’t rip my heart out of my chest like Pietro. I’d rather be a madman’s wife than live with Pietro when it’s clear he doesn’t love me.

I don’t know what I expect—tears? A revelation? That my heart will magically detach itself from the man who has taken it and never once promised to keep it safe?

I exhale and push off the desk.

Matteo will see right through the note. He’s sharp and too perceptive, but that’s why he’s who he is—the don. I can hear him now as he puts us on an emotional balance sheet.

“She’s in love with you,” he’ll say. “Any idiot would see it.”

But Pietro won’t. Or maybe he will, and it won’t matter.

Either way, I have to do this.

I told Pietro I was tired, and he left for work earlier than normal, and it fits neatly into my plan.

I’ve been watching Luca, and he’ll need a cigarette break. I’ll tell him the smoke on the patio gives me a headache. That way, he’ll haveto leave his station for a smoke. This gives me the window I need to slip out the door and walk to Elio’s waiting SUV.

As if on cue for a Disney Movie, Luca knocks on my door.

“I’m grabbing a smoke.”

“Would you mind not using the patio? I have a headache, and the smell of smoke right now is too much.”

He pauses—my heart races. Seconds tick by like I’m waiting for midnight on a dateless New Year’s Eve.

“I’m not supposed to leave you,” he says thoughtfully, weighing his options. “But I’ll only be gone a few minutes.”

Jackpot.

“Thank you so much.”

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