Page 5 of His Violent Vow

Finally, she stood before him in her underwear. She smiled at him, then undid her bra clasp. Kat allowed that to fall to the ground. Her panties came next.

Angelo started on the buttons of his dress shirt, impatient to get the night moving.

“Bed,” he managed to grit out. Kat climbed on the bed and he couldn’t take his eyes from the generous swell of her breasts, hell, to every sweet curve of her perfect body. A goddess lay on his bed and he intended to do what he willed with her.

Kat whistled when his shirt came off. He laughed. That was certainly unexpected. Once he dispensed with his trousers and boxers, he joined Kat in bed. Angelo rolled on top of her, pinning her arms above her head. She didn’t tell him to stop. Kat simply looked up at him with those big and luminous brown eyes.

“My heart’s beating really fast right now,” she whispered.

“You’re adorable,” Angelo said, kissing her again. He spoiled her with more kisses until she grew soft and pliant, unable to resist. By the end of the evening, Kat Marino fell completely under his spell.

****

The morning sun on her face woke Kat. She opened her eyes, unsure of her surroundings at first. This was certainly not her bedroom in the Marino Mansion. Then she saw Cole lying next to her. Under the morning light, he looked different. Not different bad, but her perception of him the night before seemed warped. Romanticized.

She remembered skimming her fingers over the black ink gracing his chest and arms the night before, but the tattoos looked more vivid now. She reached out, about to touch an elaborate cross tattoo right over his heart, but she hesitated. Last night, Kat had been a different woman. A desperate one who wanted to forget all her problems. This morning, she was back to being Kat Marino, the only daughter of Don Aldo Marino. Today, she was going to marry her family’s hated enemy—a complete monster who reputedly had no morals, and Kat was running late to her own wedding. A quick look at the wall clock told her it was almost 11:00 AM. Her wedding was at 3:00 in the afternoon and she would need time to prepare.

She carefully slipped out of Cole’s sheets, worried he’d wake but he remained where he was, lying on his side, his face and the rest of his impressive body exposed to her gaze. Kat didn’t leave right away. Instead, she remained rooted to the spot, staring at him.

Kat felt a little sore from last night’s activities but, boy, did Cole wield his tongue like a wicked weapon. He also seemed to know what to do with his talented hands and his dick. God. Kat had never expected sex that intense, that satisfying before.

“I had a wonderful time last night, but I’ve got to go,” she whispered.

Kat didn’t know why she uttered those words. Cole was fast asleep anyway. Kat remembered what she had to do. She picked up her clothes, scurried out of his room, and quickly got dressed.

She could still hear her dress zipper as Cole slowly dragged it down to expose her back the night before. A shiver crept down her spine. Cole had been impossibly gentle with her during some moments and rough the next. The deft way he played with her made her weak in the knees, even now.

“No use thinking about him,” Kat whispered to herself.

She left his apartment in a hurry. Where was her phone? Kat panicked, worried she’d left her purse in Cole’s place, then relaxed when she saw it was slung over her shoulder. Kat needed to calm down, get her bearings. She fished her phone out, dismayed to see multiple missed calls and messages from both her friends and more importantly, her father.

With a grimace, she called Eve back first. Her friend answered right away.“Kat, where are you? I’m here at your house, along with the makeup artist and hairstylist. Your father looks ready to murder someone,” Eve said in a panicked voice.

“I’m on my way home,” Kat snapped, surprised by her tone. Eve was only trying to help.“Sorry, Eve. I lost track of time, but I’ll be there soon.”

Chapter Three

Kat quickly flagged a cab but the first taxi sped past her. It took her fifteen minutes to find a driver willing to take her back home. Half an hour later, she stood in front of the massive iron gates to her father’s house.

Even though she lived here her entire life, the place never felt like home to her. Kat associated the massive Gothic-style mansion to a fortress, a prison. Oh, she tried running away a couple of times during her childhood. In the end, her father’s men always found her and brought her back. As Kat got older, she realized there was no escaping her family name or her duties.

Kat had some savings in her bank account. She could buy a plane ticket and be on a plane this afternoon. Avoid her impending marriage to Angelo Vitale entirely.

She always wondered why her father would allow her to work at a small bank after college. Women in her position were groomed since they were young to become bargaining chips. She suspected her father only allowed her that small amount of freedom because he knew he was going to lose Kat eventually to an ally or a hated enemy. Kat took a deep breath. If she bolted right now, she would only make things worse. It wouldn’t be just her father’s men on her heels. Her fiancé would probably join in the search effort.

Kat entered the house. Soon, she was swept up in the preparations. Eve found her and ushered her to the bedroom, where the stylist was waiting for her. Someone had hung her voluminous wedding dress on her closet door.

Dread filled her belly as she allowed the stylist to doll her up. The longer she looked at the dress, the more she hated it. She remembered Eve accompanying her to her first fitting. Kat mostly tuned out all the wedding preparations. Zoning out was a coping mechanism for her.

Half of her expected her father to barge in any moment to lecture her about being late for her own wedding. He never did. Kat suspected he probably had to take care of matters he considered more important. That was the story of her life, Kat thought bitterly.

“Kat, you look so beautiful,” Eve exclaimed. Eve gave her shoulders a squeeze. Kat elected to look at the full-length mirror in front of her and cringed at the made-up stranger staring back at her. That woman wasn’t her. Not one bit.

“Let’s put your dress on. We don’t have much time,” the stylist said, checking her watch.

“Fine,” Kat whispered. She glanced at the watch. In less than an hour, she would be forced to wed her family’s most hated enemy. She promised herself she wouldn’t cry today. That would ruin her makeup. Kat wasn’t a coward but hopelessness settled over her like a heavy cloud.

“Julie, thanks for your help but I’d like a few minutes with Kat,” Eve said. The stylist complained she had last-minute tasks but Eve ushered her out of Kat’s room.

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