Page 83 of The Vow Thief
She barely looked up.
“Are you really going to make me go through with this?”
Her eyes found mine in the mirror’s reflection, sharp and weary all at once.
“How many times do we have to go over this, Lilyth?” I said, my voice low.“The only way out of this is to go back to jail.”
She turned away and snapped,“Any day now,” to the seamstress, who flinched at her harshness.
I shook my head and started for the door.“You really do look beautiful in that dress,” I said quietly.“It’s just a dress, but on you, it’s something to marvel at.”
“Whatever,” she muttered as I left.
I lingered in the quiet, letting the air settle. I hadn’t intended to become obsessed with Sarah. But she was different, steady where others performed, sincere without knowing how rare that was.
This wedding would fix everything. It would show her that Lily was contained, that Matt had moved on, that she was free to explore this attraction without guilt. Everyone would get what they wanted. Julianne truly liked Matt, and there was a genuine connection forming there. Sean wanted Lily, and despite everything, I believed he could keep her safe. Lily needed stability and this marriage in order to maintain her freedom.
I would finally get what I wanted too. Sarah. Finding her in this mess felt like serendipity disguised as strategy.
In my office, the air smelled like coffee. Sean was already sitting on the couch, legs stretched out, looking far too comfortable for a man about to inherit a problem.
“Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet,” I said, closing the door behind me.
He chuckled.“No, but I’ve got my work cut out for me. You want to hear what she pulled last weekend?”
I raised an eyebrow, pretending interest.“Go on.”
“After our date, we went to a bar for a few drinks. She wanted to stay out longer, and I didn’t mind. I thought things were going well. She had been engaged the entire night. She got up to go to the ladies' room. I thought it was normal until I found her at the bar flirting with some guy, had him convinced she’d leave with him. I had to threaten his life before he got the message.”
I chuckled lightly,“In a few days, she’ll be your wife. Think you can handle her?”
Sean poured himself another cup of coffee and leaned against my desk.“Saturday can’t get here fast enough.”
He had no idea how right he was.
For both of us.
With all obstacles removed, Sarah would be mine.
Saturday couldn’t get here fast enough either.
Lily’s POV
The dress sucked ass. It was big and gaudy and weighed as much as I did. I’d been standing in front of this mirror so long it felt like the seamstress could’ve spun the thread herself, one punishment loop at a time. The fabric clung where it shouldn’t, and the bodice pinched like it had something personal against me.
Poor Sean. He really thought this wedding was happening. He’d been counting down to Saturday like it was salvation. It wasn’t. I’d burn the church down before I said I do.
Lately, though, he’d made it harder to hate him. He’d stopped trying so hard to control me. Started watching instead, really watching. There was something in the way he stood close but not too close, or how his voice shifted when he spoke to me, lower, smoother, careful.
When he talked, I found myself staring at his mouth. The curve of it, the power of his words, the promise behind both. He didn’t even have to touch me for my pulse to remind me what I’d tried to forget.
He was winning me over, and I couldn’t decide if that made him dangerous or just smart.
It had been getting harder not to give in. Harder not to imagine what it would feel like to crawl into his arms and stay there, just for a moment, before the world came apart again. But Sean wasn’t safety. He was the reason I was standing in this dress, pretending to be something I wasn’t.
He was still the enemy.
And no matter how good he looked doing it, I couldn’t afford to forget that.
