Page 4 of Cruelest Vow

When I didn’t respond, Franco pulled a second photograph from the pocket of his jacket, one taken at least fifteen years before. I bristled, rage from forced recognition tumbling into my system. My mind quickly drifted into the darkness that had kept me alive. I reached out, longing to destroy her beauty in the only way I could but he shook his head, pulling his hand away. The fine line between love and rage had controlled my nightmares for years.

“I understand your feelings, D’Artagnan, and you will have your chance to eliminate her. You deserve to have your revenge. Now is the right time.”

I gritted my teeth, my jaw clenching. This wasn’t possible. “What did she do?”

“It would seem the lovely Lucia Lazarro is to be married to the son of one of our enemies, Antonio Romano. That would make for a powerful connection that could destroy us. She also keeps files from her father’s regime that will aid in destroying his syndicate completely. Extract it from her in whatever method you see fit. In doing so, you can stop a war before it begins. Hunt her down, take the data, and kill her before blood is spilled in the streets of our beloved homeland.” He lifted his gaze, his smirk turning into a smile. “I’ve prepared you for this very day. As my gift for your obedient service, I will allow you to enjoy the prize before you end her life. Once you’ve returned, you will take the throne, my son.” He patted my shoulder, a rare sign of affection.

“That’s fucking bullshit!” Mattia exploded. “Let me marry the bitch. I’d make certain she obeys my every command. Then we can rule as we were meant to do.”

Bristling, I almost crossed the room, beating the shit out of him. I was sick of his bullshit, his determination to burn down the world to get what he wanted. The fucker would never touch Lucia. No one would. She was mine to… punish.

“No!” Franco snapped. “Her blood will never taint ours.”

I thought about his request, shoving the earliest memories aside, the ones when Lucia and I had been friends. Then I’d learned she was as sick and twisted as her brother, her traitorous actions destroying my life. Images flashed in front of my eyes. Her face. Her smile. Sounds. Her laughter. All fake. Nothing real.

As Franco handed me another photograph, vile, ugly memories rushed to the surface, ones I’d done everything to forget. She was responsible for the pain, the torture, and the loss of everything I’d held dear. She’d been my everything. Then she’d betrayed me.

“Kill her,” he said, walking around me again. “Say it for me, animal.”

“Kill her.”

“Again.”

“Kill her!”

“I couldn’t care less what you do to her initially. Fuck her. Use her. Beat her. But in the end, make certain you watch the bitch take her last breath.”

I fisted my hand, my chest heaving as spots of blood formed in my eyes. Then I lifted my head toward the ceiling and roared.

It was her time to pay.

It was her time to face my wrath.

And I would enjoy every moment of breaking her into little pieces.

CHAPTER2

New York City

D’Artagnan

In the hours of darkness, monsters lurked in the shadows, eager to claim their prey, famished to the point that a mere taste meant nothing.

I was a predator.

She was the prey.

And my hunger knew no bounds.

I’d been in New York for several days, tracking Lucia easily. She was a powerhouse in the city, taking a legitimate and extremely lucrative part of her family’s business to an impressive level. She was also a cautious woman yet hadn’t suspected she’d been followed, her private life becoming an open book to a monster.

There’d been ample opportunity to derail her life, enacting on my initial plan of vengeance, but the moment I’d laid eyes on her, my hunger had exploded. In my mind, she already belonged to me, a beautiful temptation that I would take my time unraveling.

Only on this night, the woman I’d been sent to kill was being hunted by someone else, the man believing himself to be invisible given the late hour and few people awake to witness his planned depravity. I’d watched him for long enough to know he wasn’t a petty thief or rapist. The man was well trained and organized.

Lucia had come onto the radar of another powerful organization, hiring an assassin to snuff out her life. The list of candidates within New York alone was far too long to weed through adequately. There was also the possibility that one of the otherFamigliaswanted her taken out, worried she’d been betrothed to one of the Russian pigs. At this point, it didn’t matter. The bastard couldn’t take the fun away from me. She was my pretty little toy to tease, taste, fuck, and destroy. I refused to allow the fucker to interfere.

I’d watched the hired gun as he’d trailed behind Lucia while she walked home, remaining far enough away the beautiful woman was none the wiser. She’d been too busy laughing from jokes made by a friend to realize her life was in danger.

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