Page 105 of Lethal Vows

“You are theonlyone I think of. In those little red pieces. The way your pulse feels beneath my hand as I strangle your delicate neck.”

“Stop that,” Rya hisses as she finally looks over her shoulder. She walks over to the wooden desk at the end of the long room, her nails click and drag as they always do when she’s thinking.

“What! Being honest? At least one of us is, princess.”

She chuckles. “It must be the end of the world if Crue Monti is an example of honesty.”

“When have I ever lied to you?”

“Twisting and not fully disclosing the truth isnotbeing honest. That shit you pulled in New York made me do some serious questioning, especially with that fat payout I received from the Torrisi family right before their sudden demise. Care to explain that?”

I lean against the door, hitching a leg up with a smile. “Is there much to explain, princess? I saw an opportunity and took it.”

“You used me,” she seethes.

“I made you rich.”

“I never cared about the money,” she admits quietly as she absently rifles through things on the desk. The room is dark, but there’s enough light beaming in from beneath the door that I can make out her silhouette.

“Is there anything you care about?”

The question lingers in the air. Fuck going around in these circles. I stride toward her, erasing the distance between us. She’s stiff at my movement as I round the desk, like she might bolt at the first chance. But I’m used to that now and have grown incredibly tired of all this bullshit. “At least one of us is willing to meet this head-on. I never considered you a coward,” I say.

I reach for her face, but she slaps my hand away. I expect to see rage burning from her usually calculating gaze, but instead, I find uncontrolled tears streaming from her eyes. I freeze. Furious, unrelenting emotions boil to the surface, and I’m too stunned to know how to deal with her. Hell, she doesn’t even know what to do with them.

“Stop fucking with me, Crue. You are nothing but an asshole,” she says angrily as she shoves me with her finger. “You have only ever cared about yourself, so don’t you dare tell me I am the coward.”

I catch her finger and pull her to me, making sure my other hand rests over my gun. I won’t fall for that a second time. She looks up at me with wet lashes. The smell of her perfume and her body's comfort against mine consume me.

She feels right.

She ismine.

A tap on the door sounds before Mr. Ricci enters.

Rya steps away from me, rubbing at her eyes. Her father looks between us before he calls out to Rya, who obediently follows. I want to grab her, pull her back to me but something stops me. And it might be the glare Mr. Ricci throws me or the weight of how fucked-up this all is.

It was meant to be simple.

Get married.

Sign the contract.

And it would all be mine.

Yet, since returning from New York, the edge of my hunger has wavered. And I know exactly why. It’s all tied to this little vixen who shuts the door behind her.

And once again she is running from me.

CHAPTER67

Rya

Istare out over the lake.

I’d taken Papa’s most prized Ferrari to my favorite of our many family homes. It’s a nice change of scenery, driving the car through the rolling hills and ending up here. I rest the glass of wine casually on my knee.

When I think back on it, I always liked this house more because it was smaller than the others. We occasionally entertained a few guests here, but this place was meant for the family.

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