Page 32 of Dangerous Vows

I have no free will. I’ll always be controlled.

But tonight, I control my destiny. Filled with a hollow heart over the fact that my dream of independence has died a silent death, there’s only one play left.

The Borrelli family is untouchable, so why not use this to my advantage? I can hide in plain sight!

PIETRO

WHAT THE DARKNESS LEFT BEHIND

The celebration was everything it should have been—a grand affair filled with laughter, good food, and the entire family gathered under one roof for something other than bloodshed.

The last time we were all together, we were burying my father. I'd be happy never to see another funeral again, but in this life, that’s asking for the impossible.

The night air is cool as I step out of the vehicle and into the hotel lobby—my home, for now. The walls are familiar, and the hallways and bar echo with the remnants of conversations from my last visit. But tonight, the silence is heavier than usual.

I push open the door to my suite, and immediately, I feel it—something is off.

Again. It’s three a.m. who the fuck wants a piece of me at this hour? The room is dark, but I see her silhouette.

Amara sits in the corner chair, half-hidden in the pale light. Her posture is tense, and her shoulders are stiff as she stares at nothing. I know she worked tonight, and I can’t shake the feeling that someone hurt her.

I close the door behind me, shrugging off my jacket as I step closer. “What happened?”

But she doesn’t answer.

She doesn’t know I’ll kill anyone who hurts her.

I crouch in front of her, trying to catch her gaze, but she keeps her head down. I pull her hands into mine, and I feel her racing pulse. Someone scared her. I don’t like this. Amara doesn’t get shaken easily, but she’s a live wire, barely holding it together tonight.

“Who hurt you?”

Still, nothing. Her lips part like she wants to say something, but whatever it is, she swallows it down. That only makes my frustration build. I don’t like seeing her like this. I don’t know what she’s running from, and I don’t like it.

I should be relieved that she ran to me. I knew she was burying her feelings for me all along, and this proves it because we just fit. She’s the only woman I’ve ever wanted.

I could push her for answers. I should demand she tell me what’s wrong. But I know better. Some wounds aren’t meant to be pried open. Some things have to be given willingly.

And for now, I let her keep her secrets.

Instead, I reach for her, sliding my fingers along her jaw and tipping her face to mine. There’s something raw in her eyes, something haunted, and it makes me want to burn the world down until whatever put that look there is nothing but ash.

I don’t ask again. I kiss her.

I pull her to her feet. She stiffens at first, but then she’s melting into me, and her fingers clutch my shirt and pull me closer. Her breath is unsteady. My cock is hard against her body. She’s pressing into me like she’s trying to anchor herself to something solid, something real.

I don’t know what happened tonight. I don’t know who or what left her in this condition. But I know one thing—whoever it was, whatever it was, I’ll find out. And when I do, there won’t be a safe place for them to hide.

She’s standing in my arms, and I take a second to contemplate how lucky I am. Then, her arms slide around my neck.

“We don’t have to do this.”

“I want to,” she says as she nibbles on my earlobe. She quicklyslides out of her heels and unbuttons her shirt before she steps out of her suit pants.

I don’t need a second invitation. My hard cock presses into her. I reach down and rip her lacy panties off, tossing them onto the plush white carpet.

I run my hand through her hair and hold her immobile as my lips devour hers. I love the taste of her. She’s warm cotton candy on a fall day.

I bury myself in her lips, then pull back to trail kisses up her neck until I smell the familiar scent of raspberry and vanilla wafting around my nose.

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