Page 54 of Brutal Vows

“Honestly, a little of whatever I thought would help me stay alive,” I say with a shrug.

“Obviously it worked, if you’re here after a run in withthat guy,” Natalie says with a jerk of her thumb over her shoulder at Ermanno.

He and Nico stand far enough away from the group to be out of earshot, and by the clear tension in both of their shoulders, they’re discussing matters they don’t want us to hear.

“Mio papà e mio fratelloinsisted I take some self-defense classes, but they were all mind-numbingly basic since everyone is too hesitant to let me do anything with my prosthetic. Will you teach me some moves?” Natalie asks.

I shake my head.

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say.

“Because I only have one foot?” she sounds disappointed.

“That’s not it at all. I just don’t want to overstep or get you in trouble,” I answer.

“I don’t think youcanoverstep, Loretta,” Kara says.

I stiffen and meet her eyes, confused by both her words and her tone.

This is literally the first time I’m meeting her, and she’s treating me as though I’m one of her daughters.

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but the little gestures—smiling at me instead of sizing me up, pouring me a glass of water, and including me in the conversation as though I belong—is not at all what I expected from Dante Russo’s second wife.

My stepmother never treated me kindly. Julieta always came first, then my brother, and sometimes she included Livia, but never me. I was the family curse.

Kara looks at me with a mixture of respect, sympathy, and understanding.

“What do you mean?” I ask, needing clarification.

“If Ermanno brought you here, it means he trusts you. He wants you to be part of the family. You can’t overstep,” Kara says.

I blink at her like a dummy and wonder what parallel universe I fell into.

Natalie laughs and sticks out her pinkie.

“I promise I’ll only use what you teach me to get out of danger. Like, real danger. I don’t want fancy footwork or ‘pull out the pepper spray and run’ shit. I want stuff that actually works,” she insists.

After a moment of staring at Natalie’s pinky, I check with Kara again. She nods. I wrap my pinkie around Natalie’s.

“Deal. You use what I teach you sparingly, and I’ll only teach you stuff you can use,” I say.

Natalie beams at me before leaning back and yelling across the roof.

“Yo, Bella! I found us a better self-defense coach!”

“Wait, I didn’t agree—”

“Just go with the flow, Loretta,” Serenity chuckles. “You can’t stop the train that is Natalie.”

Kara pats the back of my hand.

“It’s true. Please include Bella in your lessons.”

Her trust shakes me to my core. I swallow as tears clog my throat.

“Will either of you join?”

Serenity shakes her head.

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