Page 4 of The Vow

“Are you going to untie me?” Damon held his hands toward me, the smile on his lips like he knew the traitorous thoughts of my body.

The harsh lights of the garage made the glint in his eyes even more pronounced when I looked up.

“What part of quiet didn’t you understand?”

He cocked a smile. “The same part you didn’t understand every time my tongue found that little spot?—”

With a hiss, I moved in front of him and pinned my gun right under his chin, ripping his hat off his head. “This isn’t a game, Remington. Keep talking and you won’t have a tongue.”

“And you would come to greatly regret that,” he rasped, eyes glittering.

I cocked my weapon, the click echoing in the hollow of the garage as the only warning he’d get.

His voice lowered. “How else will I be able to tell you how to catch Belmont?”

Dammit.

Anger teemed inside me, hot and helpless. The most dangerous thing about Damon Remington was that once he knew exactly what you wanted, he’d find a way to give it to you. It was only later on…after you thought you were safe…that he came around to collect the cost.

“You need this tongue, Robber, whether you want it or not.” His husky voice oozed into the air, tormenting me with the truth.

For better or for worse—or in my case, always for worse—what I wanted was the man responsible for the deaths of my parents, and Damon Remington had offered him to me on a silver-tongued platter.

Bernard Belmont was the CEO of GrowTech, a biochemical company specializing in genetically modified pesticides. My parents had been scientists hired to work on one of Belmont’s revolutionary new products.

When they’d started to get sick, they’d approached the GrowTech doctor assigned to their research team, Dr. Ray Ivans. He’d told them it wasn’t the chemicals—he’d told them a lie.Belmont ordered him—and paid him—to bury any side effects so they could get the product to market because to not do so would cripple the company.

The doctor falsified the medical reports, and Belmont had my parents killed before the chemicals could kill them. A car accident. They veered off through a break in the guardrail and off the side of a cliff—a consequence of being run off the road by another car driven by Belmont’s hired thug.

In my mind, Bernard Belmont had murdered them twice.First, with his pesticides and then with the accident. After their deaths, he’d used his money and power and criminal connections to shelter himself all these years.

Slowly—painstakingly—my brothers and I had peeled through the layers of armor shielding Belmont from justice, but just because I’d gotten closer to taking him down didn’t mean I was close.

And then Damon showed up at the garage earlier with his sinful smile and an offer I couldn’t refuse.

For fifteen years, I hadn’t seen or heard from him. Fifteen years since I’d tied my life and my heart to him. Fifteen years since he’d betrayed me and his country. So, I did what any woman would do on seeing her traitorous, fugitive husband for the first time in over a decade—I’d called the FBI to come and arrest him. And that was when he smiled and pulled out his “get out of jail free” card: the ability to take down Belmont.

I loathed the idea that there was anything I could still want from my duplicitous husband, but of course, Damon knew that, too; and so, he reappeared after all this time—gave himself up in false surrender only when he had a greater prize to offer.

Except it wasn’t an offer. It wasn’t Belmont as an olive branch for penance or forgiveness. It was a deal. Damon would get me Belmont, and in exchange, I’d give him…me. My assistance. Those were his terms. He had the means to bring Belmont down, but he’d only help me do it. Not the police. Not the FBI. Not even my brothers.Only me.

So, I agreed. I made a deal with my very own devil.

My nostrils flared, drawing in a single slow breath before my arm lowered and pinned the barrel to his side. “Walk.”

We moved to the stairwell and climbed to the second floor, my apartment the first door after the stairs. I urged him several paces into the room before I went back to close and lock thedoor and then deactivated the silent alarm that would be triggered if I didn’t enter my code.

When I turned, Damon was perusing my apartment on his own. My shoulders relaxed. His examination of my space didn’t bother me. It was walls and furniture. A bed, a couch, and a table with two chairs. Functional and immaculate.And sparse,a quiet voice whispered inside me. I shoved it aside. I had the basics needed to survive. Nothing personal—something I’d learned was essential to survival, too.

“Interesting space you’ve got, Robber…”

I stiffened at the name again, wishing he’d stop using it, but to ask or demand so would only be interpreted as encouragement.

Striding over to the table, I dragged a chair out. “Sit.”

With a placating smile that I did my damnedest to ignore, Damon came over and obligingly took a seat.

I left him there for a moment to go into the second bedroom that I’d turned into my office. While the rest of the apartment was sparse, this room was filled to the brim with information.With my life.

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