Page 3 of His Violent Vow

“Just like that? You’re pretty arrogant,” she pointed out.

“Many have called me that,” Cole said.

“And let me guess, you’ve never corrected them?” she asked.

“What do you say, let’s get out of here?” Cole asked. She didn’t answer right away.“If you’re uncomfortable—”

“No,” Kat interrupted.“I want this. Want you.”

Wow. Kat was thankful for that one beer for giving her the courage to blurt out those embarrassing words. If Kat was sober, she would have died of embarrassment. Heck, Kat might have headed for the nearest exits and never looked back.

“Perfect, because I feel the same way.”

Cole stood up and paid for their drinks. Kat noticed he left a generous tip and silently approved. In her limited dating experience, cheapskates tended to be jerks.

Cole led her out of the club. He placed a hand on the square of her back, and Kat found she didn’t mind his touch at all.

She didn’t see her friends at their table and assumed they would enjoy the rest of the evening without her. Kat certainly intended to take their advice to heart tonight. She was going to waste away the night with Cole and momentarily forget she would be wed to a heartless killer the following evening.

Chapter Two

He couldn’t believe his luck. When he’d gotten word that his quarry would make an appearance with her friends in his new club, he decided he wanted to take a good look at her.

After all, he would be spending the rest of his life with Katherine “Kat” Marino until death do them part. As he guided her out of the club with his hand firmly on her slender back, he decided that her nickname Kat suited her more than Katherine.

When he first caught a glimpse of her, she didn’t leave him with the best impression. She looked like a fish out of water. A shy and fragile thing he could easily crush. Women like her wouldn’t survive long in his world. At least that’s what he initially thought.

When she flirted back with him, he unearthed a hidden side to her he had never expected. Underneath that innocent mask lurked a wild animal waiting to be unleashed. The thought of luring that part of her to the surface excited him.

Kat provided him with a certain challenge and he could certainly use one. All he ever did was work and clean up messes. He could use a break and Kat was distraction of the best kind.

“Finally, some fresh air,” Kat declared.

He stopped touching her and took two steps to fully appreciate her beauty. He had been with numerous and nameless women. None mesmerized him as much as Kat did. Another man would consider her pretty but not beautiful.

Unthinking, he reached out and tugged at the black band holding her thick brown curls in place. Kat opened her mouth, but no words came out as her dark chestnut-colored hair cascaded down her back. Loose, they fell to her waist. She widened her pretty brown eyes. Under the dirty streetlamp, they almost looked golden. Kat momentarily looked inhuman, a figment of his imagination. Would touching her and kissing her make her more real?

Where did these strange thoughts come from? He was usually a realist. Logic and ruthlessness dictated his actions. That was the only way he got ahead in this miserable world.

“Your hair looks better like this, loose and free,” he murmured. He considered his actions so far, then asked,“Am I scaring you?”

Kat scoffed.“It would take more to scare me off, Cole.”

For a moment, the name she used confused him. Then Angelo Vitale remembered that was the alias he’d given her. She decided to use a fake name as well, so he went along with her game. Come tomorrow, the truth would come out.

“Good. I knew there was steel in your spine.”

“Where’s your car?” Kat asked.

“This way. I parked it over on the next street,” Angelo answered.

“Wise move. My friend and I had a hard time finding parking earlier,” she said.

Where another woman might have bolted, Kat remained firmly by his side. Her boldness fascinated him. The women he’d been with in the past never stuck around too long. His mother once said that Angelo was born with an unnatural darkness in him, one that seemed to repel and frighten most people. So Kat either possessed little common sense or she didn’t care who she went home with tonight.

Of course, he had to remedy that reckless attitude sooner or later. He couldn’t have a wife who was eager to gamble with her safety and her life. What if another man approached her tonight? Would Kat have allowed him to take advantage of her? Angelo shook his head. He stopped in front of his vintage black Ferrari.

“I don’t know cars that well, but wow. That’s your ride?” Kat asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

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