Vow to Protect (Vow To Protect 1)

We don’t need to discuss it. I can see that he was there the night Adrian saved my life.

He taps the doorframe and gives me a nod. “I suppose you’re right. I just want you to be prepared for the inevitable. Soon, his control will fracture. It might not be you, or me, or anyone here, but when it goes, he’ll be elemental in his rage. I hope you have the good sense to get out of the way when it happens.”

When he leaves, I stare at the door for a few more moments. It’s not as if I’d been living under a delusion that Adrian is some hero—none of us are—but he makes me feel safe, and I can’t imagine a situation in which he wouldn’t. Even pushing at my limits, he refuses to hurt me.

I go back to my shelf until my phone chimes from the table I’d set it on. Again, my heart leaps into my throat, and my chest feels tight. Hell, even my fingers tingle as I open the text messages to see a new one. It’s from a number that isn’t saved in my phone, but he might have borrowed one of his guys’ to send me a message.

I wait for the image to load, and then I click on it. But it’s not from him. It’s of him. And he’s not alone in the image. I squint down at the screen and then flip it to make it larger. He’s at a dinner table, food and plates litter the table, and he’s leaning in to talk to a woman.

One I remember very well from a certain hotel bathroom. I slowly lower myself down onto the crate holding books and stare at the screen. Then I click away and find more images, these ones zoomed in. Adrian is leaning in to seemingly whisper in her ear or kiss her neck. She’s smiling, and that smile cuts through me.

My hands shake, and tears blur the screen. I don’t know if I’d be less angry if it had been someone besides her.

Another part of my brain says I don’t have any claim on him. He’s claimed me, sure, but only to keep his end of the bargain and make sure I’m safe. But I can’t exactly demand he be mine, and only mine, not after everything he’s given me.

All of the logic doesn’t matter because all I want to do is wring her pretty long neck and drag her away from him by the hair. The visual is violent, and I’m a little shocked at myself. But not shocked enough to feel guilty about it. Not when he’s touched every inch of my body with his lips. Not when I’ve done the same to him. Not when he’s the only person alive I feel safe around. I can’t lose that, even if it means dealing with him sleeping with his ex.

A wave of nausea hits me, and I double over, covering my mouth. Nope, can’t puke on the books. I rush out of the room and make it to the bathroom in time to throw up my ramen dinner.

After I lever myself off the cold tile floor, I brush my teeth and wash my face with a cool washcloth.

I dumped my phone on the bed, and I rush back to it to check the images again. Maybe they are old, maybe from when they were together? I grasp onto this excuse and climb into bed. My stomach is roiling, and tears cloud my vision.

If putting up with him sleeping with someone else means I stay safe, then it’s just what I have to do. It doesn’t mean it won’t tear my heart to pieces in the process.

31

Adrian

When the meeting ends, all I want to do is grab my Angel and crawl into bed with her. Usually, when it comes to business, I don’t feel anything, really. But tonight, my meeting with Nic Diavolo turned into a reunion. His contact for the information insisted on being present, and she and I have a history. I also owe her for whatever part she played in Sal’s attack on Valentina. I don’t think for one second she didn’t assist or clear the way for Sal to get into that restroom.

At first, I had to play nice with her. It wouldn’t have helped my alliance with Nic if I’d shot her in the head at the dinner table. Despite its arrangement by my cook, that might be too far for even him. But it didn’t keep me from feeling for the gun in the holster at my side every so often. A promise to myself that I would seek justice soon enough.

Once she revealed Sal’s location, I shook hands with Diavolo and left before I did something that would jeopardize my alliance with him. At least until I found out the purchase price for the loss of his contact. Then I’d set one of my five on her, and she’d never be found again.