Page 20 of Dangerous Vows

I shrug my shoulders, keeping my expression neutral. “Let’s just say… she’s not easily forgotten.”

Matteo and Niccolò exchange knowing glances, and their smirks widen.

“Oh, shit,” Niccolò laughs. “You actually like her.”

I glare at him. “Shut the fuck up.”

Matteo chuckles, lifting his coffee again. “To Pietro finally meeting his match.”

I shake my head but can’t shake the thought of her as we return to business.

Or the way she had looked at me.

Or the way she had felt in my arms.

And, more than anything, of the dangerous thoughts that occupy my mind?—

PIETRO

YOU AGAIN?

Iexhale, dragging a hand through my hair as I lean against the cool leather seat of the Hummer. The club looms ahead, a beacon in the city’s darkness. It’s into the belly of the beast for me. The city is hungry, and it pulsates in the colored spotlights, the promise of indulgence, and the crimson blood spilled between enemies that line the streets.

Tonight is my first official night at the club. I anticipate chaos as everyone finds their footing. There will be thugs and drugs, but it’s business as usual.

In time, it will become my new routine. Simple. Even predictable.

I should be focused on work, but I can’t forgether.

I remember the way her body moved beneath me and her soft moans that filled the room. I loved the fact that she screamed as she came. I’d be lying if I said her intense orgasms didn’t stroke my ego.

I loved how her nails dragged down my back like she was trying to carve herself into my skin. It was sublime.

It was one night.

That’s all it was supposed to be. She left before I could even see her in the morning light. I thought we could have breakfast together. I can’t believe she left me, and I decided it’s probably for the best.

I’m used to women hanging around, hoping our fling will lead tosomething more, but they aren’t the type of women I want to be with. Those women are insecure and willing to attach themselves to the first available man. They are lonely women who will go home with anyone so they don’t have to go home alone.

Amara had a subtle confidence about her. When she looked at me, I had an epiphany. She’s different than the others. She’s someone who captivated me from the second our eyes met.

She has no idea who I am. She doesn’t belong in my world.

Or maybe I don’t belong in hers. But either way, it’s over, and the world will continue to revolve around the sun unscathed.

And that’s why I tell myself it’s a good thing she left.

Amara, it’s a pretty name for a gorgeous woman.

I’ll never see her again. One day, I’ll look back and see it for what it was—a fleeting moment. If we had stayed together, the heat would consume us, and we’d burn out like a falling star.

Why be together when it can only end with one of us dead? I live and breathe in a dangerous world—and then there’s the family curse. It's safer this way for both of us.

It’s how it has to be.

Because she has the power to make me forget my past.

She made me feel alive. I loved her quiet confidence—the way our eyes locked across the dance floor, unspoken passion burning between us. The way she slid down my body, slow and deliberate, her mouth hovering just above my cock, full of promise and wicked intent.

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