Page 88 of Savage Vows
He gives me a quick nod, protective, not unfriendly. I nod back, trying to keep my surprise from showing.
I turn to my sister. “I am sorry I didn’t meet you sooner. Dante and his family have people looking for you. Dad does too. I didn’t want to drag you into their mess.”
She squeezes my hand. “I know. I almost came to the estate, but Luka convinced me it was safer to wait. We’ve been moving around, trying to stay off their radar.”
She lowers her gaze, guilt flashing across her face. “I couldn’t do it, Adi. I knew what that marriage meant. Luka helped me leave before it was too late.”
I take a steady breath. “They’re furious because your disappearance embarrassed them. They want you back only to prove they still control everything.”
Her voice cracks. “I was afraid you would hate me for leaving you behind.”
“Never,” I say. “I only cared about your safety.”
Her fingers tremble against her mug. “What is it like,” she asks, voice barely above a whisper, “living with that monster?” She shudders, as if the word itself chills her. “I can’t even imagine. The rumors I’ve heard about him?—”
“He’s absolutely brutal,” Luka cuts in. “People are afraid to say his name in the wrong place.”
Their words land like stones. In my mind, I see the moment in the garden. The bright afternoon sun, Dante raising the pistol, the single shot that sent a man crumpling into the grass. There was no hesitation in him, no shock afterward.
Then I see Dante pressing me against the shower wall, lips on my throat, body hot and insistent. The contrast makes my stomach twist.
I flinch, and Julianne notices. Her eyes soften with sympathy. “Adi,” she whispers, reaching for my hand, “you don’t have to pretend. If he hurts you?—”
“He hasn’t,” I say, maybe too quickly. The memory of the dead man returns. Maksim said he had betrayed Dante, but that doesn’t excuse his actions.
He killed a man that day and barely blinked. And yet when he touches me, my body answers before my mind can catch up. Heat coils low in my belly at the memory and I hate myself for it. A flush crawls up my neck.
What is wrong with me? Why do I want a man who can snap a neck without blinking? Why does my pulse race when he walks into a room, even after he’s told me he will never love me? I cling to the edge of the table, trying to steady my breath.
Julianne watches me, worry etched on her face. “You don’t have to keep defending him,” she says softly.
I shake my head, tears burning behind my eyes. “I’m not defending him. I just…I can’t explain it.” I feel the weight of Dante’s gaze even when he isn’t here, the heat of his hands, the chill of his distance. He can be ice and fire in the same breath, and I’m caught somewhere in between, wanting and hating that I want.
Luka’s expression turns wary. “If you need to get out, we can help.”
Get out. The words reverberate. I picture the apartment, the gulf in the bed, the files Dante keeps locked away. I picture his laugh when I rile him, the softness in his eyes that appears for a heartbeat before he shutters it away. The monster and the man, tangled so tightly I can’t see the seams.
I nod, though the promise scares me as much as it comforts. I realize my heart beats harder at the thought of leaving him than at staying. That truth shames me, but it’s the truth all the same.
Julianne’s fingers lace through mine as we sit in the quiet booth, the café lights throwing soft reflections across the table. I take a steady breath, trying to ease her into the truth.
“Jules,” I start, voice barely above a whisper, “there’s something you need to know about Anya.”
Her eyes search mine, worry rising. “You found something?”
I nod. “A friend on the inside gave me a call. They recovered a body near the docks. The detectives confirmed it was Anya.”
At first the words don’t seem to register. She blinks, then covers her mouth, tears filling her eyes. “No. Adi, say you’re wrong. She was just missing.”
I hold her tighter. “I wish I were wrong. The police are certain. They think her disappearance is connected to Portello, the last place she was seen.”
Julianne breaks. She sobs into her hands, shaking her head over and over. “She never belonged in those places. She went that night only because I dragged her. Maksim had VIP passes. Shekept saying she felt out of place.” Her voice cracks. “She was a church girl. I should have listened.”
Luka slides closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “You did not make this happen,” he says firmly. “The man or men who hurt her carry that blame.”
Julianne buries her face in his chest. “I took her there, Luka. I thought it would be fun.”
I stroke her back, heart aching. “It’s not your fault. The person who took her made that choice, not you.”
