Page 111 of Shattered Vows

I stared at my hand holding the newspaper and the ring now on it. She’d listened to the story of my parents and hadn’t shrunk back in disgust when I told her I’d ordered my father to be killed. She’d accepted a part of me that sometimes even I couldn’t accept.

For that alone, I’d protect her even if she didn’t want it. “Yes, Morina. Don’t argue with me for no good reason, please. What does it hurt you to have a person with you?”

“Well, for one, it’s small quarters in the food truck and, also, is he going to help me make shakes?”

“If you want him to, I’m sure he will.”

She threw up her hands, then went and placed them on the salt lamp. She closed her eyes and stood there for a few seconds before opening them and staring at me. Those midnight blues were soft and appeasing. “Only because I’ve started to like you will I agree to this.”

I smiled, but she only rolled her eyes and skipped down the hall.

I watched her ass the whole way in hopes that t-shirt would ride up a little further. “Wear shorts to work, Morina.” It was for my own sanity but found another reason quickly. “There will probably be paparazzi.”

When I looked up to see her flying out the door in a black bikini and board shorts a few minutes later, I was proud I didn’t scream at her to go change.

I sat there a whole hour without calling her, and I even made myself coffee before I went and got my board shorts on.

The woman should have worn a shirt. She meant to drive me insane by not, I don’t care what anyone else said.

I took the Rolls Royce there faster than I should have and when I walked up to the food truck, I had to actually wait in a damn line because her just being there with the sign down caused a stir.

Some of them were paps. They had cameras around their necks, but a lot of them were locals telling Morina they’d missed her.

She was a mercurial loner by nature. I didn’t think I’d ever heard her on the phone with Linny, but they all seemed to accept that about her.

I let the crowd die down before I came up to the window. The smell that hit my nostrils was rich and aromatic. “Are you selling coffee today?”

“Yes.” She narrowed her eyes at me like I shouldn’t argue. Normally I wouldn’t have. I was in the area to make alliances. It worked best. I’d done better than my father in that arena time and time again.

“What happened to the shakes?”

“Technically, it’s winter, so this is a good idea, but that’s really not the point. The point is I’m making coffee because…” She spun around and waved her arm behind her. “I have a whole coffee appliance area, Bastian!”

The smile across her face was as brilliant as the sun on the water, bright, bold, and blinding. I didn’t see the roadblocks ahead of us or the obstacles when she looked at me like that. I only saw Morina Bailey, free and beautiful and full of life.

She leaned out the window and grabbed my shirt and pulled me close. “You did this and so I’m doing this now.” She covered my lips with hers and kissed me without reservation. Nothing held her back as the salty breeze blew over us. She made out with me over a food truck window, and then she shoved me back and squealed.

“I’m fucking in love with it all, Bastian. There’s a blender too! State of the art. And someone stocked essential oils up here with a freaking shelf. Did you tell them to do that?”

“I told them to make it functional,bellissima.” I wasn’t admitting to it. I watched as she showed me every single new thing she was excited about.

She shook her head like none of it mattered and her wavy locks flew back and forth. “It’s more than functional. It’s perfect! And now, I get to make you coffee. What would you like?”

I groaned, knowing I was never going to get a good cold smoothie now. “Can you just make me a shake today?” Hopefully that would cool the fire starting inside me.

She sighed and combed her fingernails through her dark hair. “No. That’s not what’s for sale today. Check the board.” She pointed with her brows lifted as if to say isn’t it so new and shiny? It was. They’d installed a larger chalkboard for her to write menu items on. “We can brew coffee, tea, even make a mocha.”

“We live in a warm climate,ragazza,” I said softly, trying to break the news to her, but enjoying the fire growing in her eyes.

“Yeah, and you’re on a beach with a girl who will only make you coffee.” She crossed her arms. The black bikini she wore dipped low, showing off her generous cleavage. “You want it iced? I can do that.”

“This isn’t the way to run a business.”

Someone came up behind me and peered around me, whooping when he saw Morina. “You’re back, baby!”

“Marco! I am! Get up here.”

The man didn’t even glance my way. He just skipped me and pulled Morina in for a hug through the window. Jesus, she was selling something here and it wasn’t just her fucking shakes. The men loved her and it pissed me the hell off.

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