Page 40 of Fierce Vows

The only contact I have with anyone after I enter the property is a suited Matre’d who meets me at the door to a ballroom ostentatiously outfitted with Romanesque columns and parquet flooring.A string quartet plays on a raised dais.

“Don Gallo.”The man stands a little off to one side, his feet angled toward me and offers a clean bow and a glass of cognac.“Master Singleton requests the pleasure of your company for a short period.”

My lips form a tight line.“How interestingly phrased.”

The man’s eyes rise to meet mine, though his body remains stiff and bent in supplication.“Indeed, sir.”

“Please.”I gesture for the man to show me the way before he breaks something, like his back.

He straightens and leads me away from the party.I glance over my shoulder, seeking Willow, but she’s nowhere in sight.Breath leaves me as I follow Singleton’s man, surprised when, as I round a corner, he drops back a step, fighting with a potted palm that seems out of place.

“Good God.”I free him from the plant that did nothing to harm him, though his hair is askew.

“Thank you, sir,” he mutters, fixing his part that looks suspiciously sideways, and stumbles into me.“Oh, I do—I am sorry,” he splutters, gripping my hand with his white gloved one.

“No apology needed—” I blink at him as a small pistol is pressed into my palm.

The pressure is swift and precise, far more so than the bumbling servant act that continues convincingly before me.

“I appreciate it, sir.If you could not report me to Master Singleton, I would be v-very grateful.”Red faced, the man casts his eyes toward the carpet, his rounded shoulders trembling slightly as he walks away.

I follow at a distance, uncertain if he’s crying, or laughing.The weight of the tiny handgun tells me it’s loaded and not just a fashion piece or a cigarette lighter.I trace the smooth butt with my thumb where it’s inlaid with shell.It’s a very specific gun provided for a specific purpose.

If I hadn’t come along at the precise time, I wonder whose hand it would have been pushed into.Ivanoff’s, perhaps, or Willow’s?I frown at the servant’s back, wondering at his role in this farce.Can I trust the weapon not to blow my hand off, or be shot myself the moment I raise it against Singleton?Either way I must be certain of the situation before I pull the weapon.

One shot.

My earlier thought echoes around my head, more pertinent now than ever.Before I can form a larger plan, the man pushes open a concealed door set into a wood panel along the hall and ushers me inside.

His eyes connect with mine as I pass him, and once more his shoulders angle him so his body gives him the best vantage point for his actions.He leans backward and I know his face can’t be seen from within the room as he mouths a single word.

“One.”

That’s all.

One shot.It’s what I have to end the man who took my wife and tortured her.Who sold and trafficked countless women and has no intention of ever stopping.

Over the years Dom and I have talked of the situations we’ve been in, how lucky we’ve been to walk out of each one afterward.The narrow escapes we’ve had, the defining moments that could have gone either way.My preference is to live a long, happy life with my wife, my man by my side and see children of our own.I regret not making Willow fat with babies earlier, but our lives have been too complicated until this point.

Perhaps, if I do take her home tonight we can rectify that in the morning.Perhaps.So manyifs.So many nights I could have spent otherwise.But if that isn’t my fate, if my life ends here tonight, then I’m glad to have taken a path that prevents more women like Willow and Thalia and Ivanoff’s niece from being taken and damaged and murdered.Used and hurt by the cruel asshole I face now.

“Singleton.Good to see you again,” I murmur as the door slides shut behind me.

The man I’ve tracked across three continents leans back in his seat, surrounded by a roomful of men bearing hardware across broad chests and over shoulders.

Tonight my time might have expired.I do regret not filling Willow with babies.Our babies.A part of us to live on.I regret not kissing her for longer, or telling her I love her more often.

What I have done will have to be enough.His smug face stares back at me as he motions his man forward.I let out a breath, relaxing my shoulders, and count the steps between his man and myself.

Four, five, six...

By the last step I know I can’t hold off any longer.I have to fire.In my head I say goodbye to Willow, sad I haven’t planned this moment better, but am glad to remove one more hideous, cruel predator from the world.

Singleton says nothing more, just waits.In his place I might have done the same.But I’m not the asshole on the other side of the desk about to have his brains splattered across the carpet.The second I start to shift, before I raise my hand to expose the pistol hidden within my palm before his man reaches me, a shrill sound rips through the room, loud enough to bring every man in it cringing away like he’s been physically slapped.

“The hell,” I mutter.“That’s a shit alarm, Singleton.”

Even the asshole henchmen around us wince.

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