Page 39 of Sacred Vow

I sighed in resignation. It would be so nice to trust one of my best friends. I’d known Gia almost my entire life, but we didn’t become friends until we were teenagers. At a family function, in which her entire family was in attendance, I became super bored and snuck away, losing my detail and in search of something more relevant to my sixteen-year-old self.

I found Gia hiding in the cloak room, looking at hot guys on a dating app. I dropped down beside her and we became fast friends. Out of my besties, she was the brattiest, and the least likely to conform to the traditions of our world.

I felt sorry for whoever she’d end up with one day. But, unlike myself, Gia would probably end up choosing her husband. There were five sisters and two brothers before her, and she’d been left alone for the most part. Many times, I’d been envious of her position in the family. Why couldn’t my mother have given birth to enough babies to make me expendable? Then I wouldn’t have had to marry Romeo in the first place.

And I wouldn’t be contemplating leaving him. The pang in my stomach made me stop walking. If I did this, there was no going back, he’d never forgive me. But I wasn’t given a choice and that was all I could see. My free will was taken from me, and I wouldn’t ever stand for that.

Would I have chosen Romeo if I’d truly been given a choice?

The day of my wedding, I would have said absolutely not. But after all the intimate things we’d shared and how he made my body sing? I’d be a liar if I didn’t hesitate to respond… perhaps?

“You, Elena, Neomi and Arianna will be the first ones they question,” I told Gia. “And you know Massimo. He won’t relent until he gets the answers he wants.”

Gia had the decency to shudder when I mentioned my brother-in-law. Romeo insisted he had a softer side, but Massimo had to be one of the most terrifying people to have to face. He was proportionately huge, and his eyes didn’t go just dark like Romeo’s when he was angry. No, they became menacing, and he almost always looked that way when he looked at me. The first time I’d seen it, I’d almost peed in fear. When I’d told Romeo later, he laughed and said that was his job.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Here comes the hard part. “I won’t see you all for a while. Be patient and know that I am okay and will contact you when I can. Play stupid, Gia. You know nothing. Understand?”

She nodded. “Deal. But when you finally contact us, I’m first. After all, I’ve known you the longest.”

“Deal,” I said, glad to have dodged the bullet. “Are you sure no one else saw Carlo?”

She looked back at our friends, now teasing my guards as they waited for us to return. “Are you kidding? Those two are practicing their seduction skills. And the men are trying not to notice. Kind of funny, don’t you think?”

“Well, if you’re asking, I think watching Neomi try to get Leo to notice her is hilarious. Speaking of Leo, I saw you with him when we left the store. What was that about?”

Gia winked. “I have myself a date with the big lug. There is something dark and sinister about him, and oh, so sexy!”

Leo was wearing dark sunglasses so I couldn’t see his eyes, but I could feel him from here and Gia was right, he emanated a dangerous vibe that was hard to ignore. Even with the glasses on, I knew he was looking right at us and suddenly I felt a chill.

“He’s definitely intense,” I said with a shudder. “Come on, let’s join the others. I have to leave soon and I want to spend a bit more time with you all, before… you know.”

Gia laughed. “I don’t, actually, but yeah, let’s join them. Neomi is standing way too close to Leo.”

An hour later, we packed up and left the beach. I said goodbye to my friends and got in the car and as soon as I did, my phone lit up with a message from my husband.

“I see my marks have faded, wife. It’s time for a reminder of who you belong to.”

A shiver moved through me and not entirely of fear. Why did I love hearing those words so much?

Leo was on one side of me and Julius on the other. In the front was another guard and the driver. Four huge men and I was sandwiched between them. Thank goodness they were loyal to my husband, because in any other situation, this would be scary.

Donatello, the driver, cracked the window and as the warm air circulated around the car, I caught a quick whiff of that familiar scent, the one that I couldn’t quite place. Studying each of the men, nothing came to me. I filed the scent away as familiar but unresolved and justifying that it was probably a popular aftershave that someone I’d known wore.

When the car pulled into the driveway, I could see the lights on in our suite. He was home and waiting for me. I walked as slowly as I dared, knowing it was time to pay the piper, except I didn’t want to pay. Or did I?

Chapter Thirteen

Romeo

We were on my private jet, flying to Italy for the annual meeting, but my thoughts weren’t on the danger waiting for me there or the security measures keeping me alive. Instead, my time with Vittoria last night consumed my thoughts.

It was one thing to see the images on my phone of her in the skimpy bikini. But seeing her strut into our room like a bronzed goddess had my cock standing at attention.

Massimo had chosen well when he’d picked Leo. Unlike Carlo, he kept me informed of where my wife was at all times and what she was wearing. The fact a dozen of my men witnessed her wearing almost nothing angered me, and that any number of total strangers had the viewing enjoyment of what was mine, enraged me.

White-hot anger consumed me when I received the photo. When he told me that my wife’s personal maid had sent it, I felt slightly more forgiving toward Vittoria. She’d only worn the swimsuit she’d been given, but why did she have it in the first place, and knowing I would be disappointed, not wrap a towel around herself? Questions I’d be sure to ask when we were alone, but for the maid who picked that suit out of the many in her closet? I fired her on the spot.