Page 93 of Venomous Vows

“And what about you?” His expression seeks nothing but the truth and I’ll never deny him it again, so this doesn’t happen again.

“Of course I have. What kind of question is that?”

“One of uncertainty.” He licks at his bottom lip and I follow the motion. “You would’ve gotten out of all this, you know?”

“And just when I started getting used to it. Ididput on a wedding dress, after all.”

Adrian’s hands that are on my ass knead the flesh once as if appreciating that thought. “And I would’ve given anything to see you in it,piccola diavola.I’m sorry that I wasn’t there.” I open my mouth to ask for answers, but he begins to carry me toward the house and says, “Let’s get inside. It’s getting cold. Then I’ll tell you and Zane everything that transpired.”

When we get up to the house, Zane and Adrian bro-hug it out. They mutter a few words together and amble inside with Adrian’s fingers laced through mine.

At the dining table, Adrian pulls me into his lap and wraps an arm around my stomach, while Zane crosses his arms in front of us, anxious to hear everything that’s happened.

“How many men do we need?”

My brows clash at Zane because what has already passed between them that I missed? “What do you mean?”

Zane doesn’t answer, which leaves Adrian to do the rest for me.

“He means the men who tried to kill me.” I can only hold Zane’s stare because this is insane. Do they both really deal with this sort of thing all the time? Neither of them looks a bit disturbed about it while a wave of goose bumps just lined my skin.

“I suspected something was wrong with the plane before we boarded,” Adrian continues in that deep octave that sends the hairs on my arms to rise. “The workers looked too suspicious and kept us in their peripheral at all times. My men and I still boarded the plane since I had some place to be?—”

I whip around in his lap. “Are youinsane? You board a dangerous plane just to make sure you were here for our wedding?”

“I’d say that sounds romantic,” Zane rebuffs flatly.

“I’d say so, too,” Adrian tacks on. “I’ve only been waiting, how long, for you to be my wife, Elena?”

“It was an unnecessary risk.”

“It was one I was confident in taking. Even if we were getting set up, my men are trained in everything. They know how to dive, fly, swim, drive, bomb?—”

“Adrian—”

“And save me,” he concludes. “I wasn’t going to make you a widow before you married me. Thank God because you would’ve had to marry my brother.”

My eyes bulge. “What?”

Zane and Adrian laugh, and I strive to regain my normal breathing pattern.

“Be careful what you wish for,piccola diavola.You almost got it.”

“How did you get out of it? Who was setting you up?” I ask. “Do you have more enemies in New York?”

“Not particularly. When we overtook the plane?—”

“Wait…” I raise my index finger. “Back up. What are you saying? Who did this?”

“Spencer Halley, the leader of The Disciples, tried to kill me,piccola diavola. Get the plane at a high altitude, then eject out.” I frown, looking for a joke, but Adrian is completely serious. “I’m here, Elena?—”

“This is going too far. All over money?”

“Money is a powerful tool?—”

“All because of my father,” I snap, rising from his lap, but Adrian just pulls me right back down.

“Calm down. It’s going to take more than a half-ass plane crash and suspicious players to kill me.”

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