Page 77 of Sacred Vow
Once he has her under control, I step away, not wanting this to turn into something it doesn’t need to be. After all, it’s not the first time someone has tried to sue me for ridiculous reasons as an attempt to get their grubby hands on my money. They’ve never been successful, and I’m not about to let that change.
It takes both officers to drag her out of my home, and I make a mental note to mention this to Izaac. Tilly and I follow them to the door, watching as they lead the woman to their patrol car.
She fights them every step of the way, and seeing us watching from the door, she loses all sense of control. “Watch your back, Natalie Bardot,” she screams as Tilly stiffens beside me. “I know everything about you. There’s no escaping me now, bitch. I’ll end you for taking him away from me. You hear me? I’ll fucking end you.”
The officers tackle her into their car, slamming the door right in her face as Tilly stands motionless beside me. “How does she know my full name? Nobody knows my full name.”
I shake my head. That’s a good fucking question. Don’t get me wrong, I know exactly how I ended up learning her full name. But this woman shouldn’t have had access to it, and it leaves me scratching my head.
Once she’s locked in the back of their car, the officers return, quickly taking a statement from each of us, and twenty minutes later, we’re watching the officers get back into their car and drive away.
“It’s Annie,” Tilly says a moment later.
“Huh?”
“Her name. It’s Annie.”
“Shit,” I laugh. “You knew the whole time? You could have clued me in. Would have made me look like less of a dick.”
Tilly glances up at me, her brow arched. “I come here to find another woman, lying half-naked in red lingerie on your couch, waiting to surprise you with what I can only assume is a crazy sex-fest, and you thought I’d help make the situation easier for you? Hell no. I was enjoying watching you squirm. Usually it’s the other way around. It was a nice change of pace.”
“Jesus Christ.”
I pull my front door closed and place my hand on the small of Tilly’s back before leading her back into my home, heading for the stairs. Then just as I reach the bottom step and go to make my way up them, Tilly captures my hand in hers, pulling me to a stop.
I look back at her, finding her brows pinched as those big green eyes stare up at me in confusion. “You know my name,” she says, almost sounding unsure, and I realize she’s not just making a basic statement, she’s realizing that she’s not like the other women I’ve entertained at Vixen. She’s more than that.
I step right into her, my hand snaking up around the back of her neck, my thumb stretching across her jaw. “I know your name because you’re somebody worth knowing.”
Her hand lifts, gently taking hold of my belt buckle and pulling me even closer. “You said you brought me here because the idea of not having me in your bed kills you.”
I nod, not prepared to explain that. Instead, I smile. “Come on, hellcat. It’s late. Let’s go to bed.” And with that, I scoop my arm beneath her legs, carry her up to my bed, and spend the rest of my night deep inside her.
21
TILLY
The late morning sun streams through the window, and I peel my eyes open to find my body cocooned around Caesar’s. He has one arm locked around my waist, holding my body to his, and his other arm rests beneath my neck.
His face is nuzzled into my hair, and as I listen to the soft sounds of his gentle breaths, I realize that I’ve never been more content than I am in this very moment.
I snuggle into him, and when his arms tighten around me, a dorky smile pulls at the corners of my lips. I’m officially one of those girls who goes stupid, crazy when she’s fallen head over heels in love with a man. I’ve got to admit, I never saw it coming.
When I first met Caesar, I thought it would be nothing more than an infatuation, that a quick tussle between the sheets would get him out of my system, and now, I realize how naive I was. Caesar Di Rozé isn’t the type of man you can simply work out of your system. He’s the man who brings you to your knees. He’s the man who destroys you. He’s the man who changes the whole damn game.
I haven’t just broken some ridiculous little vow, a throwaway promise made in the middle of the night, something I wouldn’t have even thought twice about at the time. I laughed in that damn vow’s face because right here, wrapped in the safety of his strong arms, it’s more than clear that I have fallen so deeply in love with this man that there’s no going back for me. There’s no pretending anymore, no hiding the truth.
He needs to know what he’s done to me, even if it means losing it all. And after last night, I’m well aware that he isn’t ready. Kissing me in the club and then taking me to dinner was one thing, but last night with Annie was another. That’s when I saw it. He’s crossed that same line. The only difference is, he doesn’t realize it yet, and he’s too damn stubborn to admit it even if he had.
There’s one thing I know for sure, though: he’s wrong.
He keeps trying to push this narrative that he’s a terrible man, that there’s a lot I don’t know about him, but how could a man who takes me to dinner at two in the morning just to care for me be a bad man? I won’t believe it. I can’t.
I might not know the things he’s done in his lifetime, but I can sense what’s on the inside, and he’s not the person he’s so adamant that he is.
Both Izaac and Zephyr have made comments about it. Izaac told me to be careful with him, that he has demons, while Zeph said the same thing. Only he said he thought that maybe someone like me might be good for his father to help him see through that darkness. But what darkness is he referring to?
Letting out a breath, I reach across the bed and feel for my phone before scooping it up and checking my notifications. I mindlessly scroll through social media as Caesar sleeps behind me, and while I’d love to wake him and spend what’s left of my morning riding him, he needs his sleep. It wasn’t just a huge night for me, it was for him too.
