Page 1 of Fierce Vows

Prologue

A New Day

Rafe

Istare at my oldestfriend with my jaw set.My teeth creak against each other while I strain to keep my mouth shut.I’m not quite sure what will happen if I open it.

If I make this bullshit he’s thrown at me worse, or if we’ll end up killing each other.From the hard, unforgiving look in his eyes that I’m certain matches mine, it’s probably the best decision I’ll make today.

I open my mouth anyway.

“This isn’t the way I saw this ending.”

Dom’s chin tips down a fraction.Not enough for disrespect, simply an acknowledgement of a truth.I probably would’ve seen it if I hadn’t had my head up my own ass, pulling my house back together.I neglected the man who should have been born my brother.And all that time, while I turned my back to him, albeit unintentionally, he faced his own demons.

Alone.

“How did you see it ending?”

I run my tongue along my back teeth, and lean my thighs against my desk, relishing the pain that edges into the muscles.Enough to keep me sharp.The man on the other side of my desk might be my best friend, but he’s also the most lethal man I know.

“A sob story.One of us bleeding out in each other’s arms while the other took revenge.”

The ghost of a smile flickers at the corner of Dom’s mouth.“Poetic.”

I snort.“And fucking bullshit.That first day you walked in here and killed four men...Dom, that’s going to leave one hell of a hole when you go.”

A muscle kicks in his jaw.“I am going.”

“So you are.”

His dark eyes don’t so much as blink.“Fuck, Rafe.When are you going to drop all this mafia Princeling bullshit?”

“I’m Don now,” I remind him, then neither of us need to hear the words.In this room, they hang between us like a void I’m not sure either of us can breach.“I’m King now, not a prince anymore.”

“You’re a fucking asshole.Can’t even see what was in front of you.I’m taking her with me.”

I nod once.“I know.I’ve known since the day he brought her here.”

His mouth settles in a tight line that matches his shoulders.Rough thumbs brush his thighs in an absent and familiar action.I’m intimately familiar with that one.It usually precedes him pulling out his matching mirrored pair of American Joe pistols and sending damaged souls to hell.

I wonder briefly if he’s pissed enough to give me a final farewell in this moment.

“It’s not your fault.”I say the words softly, but he’s not listening.

Dom shakes his head.“It’s my fucking fault, and I know it.Can’t—”

I let out a soft breath.“That’s what being Don is.It means making shitful decisions and living with the unrealistic expectations of others as you fail them again and again.”I gesture towards the door.“I believe she’s waiting for you.”

Dom’s chin rises this time to the fraction of an inch placement he had before.Without another word, his eyes blazing with controlled fury, he spins on his heel and marches out the door, letting it close softly behind him.

The gentle click, and the fact that I’m still alive tells me one thing.My best friend will make one hell of an opponent.

I just hope he’s not mine.

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