Page 106 of Deadly Vows

Luca

“I know she seems fine at the moment, but be prepared for her traumas to resurface. She hasn’t quite settled yet. She is still in a mild state of shock. Her cortisol, vasopressin, and norepinephrine levels are still elevated. And once those come down, I’m afraid she’ll begin to lose her grip on reality,” Dr. Patterson says.

I’ve been waiting in his office for the past hour while Elise goes through the rest of her tests, and he has finally returned with all of the results.

I want to argue with him. I want to tell him that he is wrong and Elise is strong. But I know Elise. I’ve seen her throw up at the mere sight of blood. For her to have done what she did to Alexander, she must have been in survival mode for quite some time to finally snap.

Getting Elise back was one of the biggest stressors of my life. I will remember it for years to come. But it will also remind me to never be so lax with her life again. This could have ended much worse than it did. Even her escape was pure luck. If not for the man she met in the snow, she would have died in that wrecked vehicle before I had the chance to rescue her.

And I doubt he was there by coincidence.

Coming so close to losing her has once again stirred emotions inside of me that I thought I had shut down. They’re much stronger this time around, and I don’t know that I can ignore them. Especially with the way she looked at me. The desperation on her face—the need in her eyes for someone to be her protector always. I stepped into that role the day we married. And I fell asleep at the wheel as the enemies associated with her came outof the woodwork. But I won’t do that again. She is a Pasquino. She is mine. ’Till death do we part.

“The good news is her tests came back clear. There are no signs of distress either,” he says, handing me the results of her more recent tests.

I read over them silently, my gaze lingering on the form of birth control she takes. Her time to re-up was last month. But seeing as Alexander held her captive, that didn’t happen. Luckily, he didn’t touch her.

And now, I am highly aware of all the strings pulled to put her in that position. Hiding my reactions from her took most of my willpower. Agent Jeffries is a pathetic man who has been trying to take my father out for years. I thought he had slinked away after his last failed attempt, but it looks like he got a promotion he is eager to dig his own grave with.

The only good to come out of this is that he probably thinks Elise is lost in a back channel somewhere, never to be found by me, meaning she will be off his radar until I can kill him—until I can kill them all. We’ve always had a mutual respect with the higher-ups. Our way of life fuels theirs, and sometimes, they ask for favors from us that help them take offices and win wars. But this time, someone has fucked up big time putting their trust in someone like Arianna. They have ruined the balance. And I will make them pay.

“Is Elise ready to go home?” I ask, placing the folder between us.

Dr. Patterson nods, watching me warily.

I don’t respond as I make my way out of his office. With this revelation comes a bigger problem than the Trovolis. Even in death, Eli taunts me. All of this is because of his greed. He put his family up against a behemoth, with no regard for the consequences. Arianna set an unprepared beast on my familyand me as her final act. But I will not go down without a fight. And I will take as many of them with me as I need to.

“Elise! Thank God you’re okay!” Enzo pulls Elise into a tight embrace, spinning her with tears in his eyes as he reunites with his sister.

I note that even Elise smiles with happiness to see her brother. It’s been a hellish few weeks as we searched endlessly for her, and Enzo witnessed the brunt of my anger, hiding his own turmoil since the last moment between him and Elise was an argument.

Elise brushes his hair out of his face, her eyes glassy as she speaks.

“You’ve gotten bigger,” she says.

Of course, he has. He’s been training like one of us since she’s been gone. But I don’t mention that or bother spoiling this moment between them. I shift my attention to my office door, where Romelo stands waiting for me.

“I’ll leave you two to catch up,” I say, leaving them.

Elise slept for most of the ride home. I’m sure she’s exhausted from everything she’s been through, but I also know that Enzo has been nothing short of worried about Elise, doing what he could to find her. He really sees her as his sister. Combine that with his realization that she is the only family he has left, and you have the perfect loyalist.

“Please tell me you have good news,” I grumble, moving past Romelo and into my office. I make sure to close the door behind us as I move behind my desk, plopping down. When I look up, Romelo’s expression tells me all I need to know.

He doesn’t have good news.

“I can’t catch a fucking break,” I growl as he sits across from me.

“The man who saved Elise works for the FBI. Or rather, he did until he was placed on leave. He got too close to some corruption happening that involved Sokolov and the auction houses,” he says.

I turn on my computer screen, waiting for the security system in the annex to boot up. Both screens light up to show the man who saved her in one room, and Alexander in a separate one.

“So he’s a Boy Scout,” I say, eyeing him.

Romelo nods. “He’s also very determined. He wasn’t at that particular cabin by accident. He was monitoring Alexander. Probably thought if he could get some proof, he’d get his job back. Fortunately for him, Alexander frequents the Sokolov’s auction houses, making him the perfect target,” he says.

“And Elise stumbling out was the icing on the cake for his case,” I say.

Romelo nods again, and I lean back in my seat, studying him. I knew the moment we set foot in that cabin, he wasn’t just some good Samaritan. And with his life basically destroyed, maybe I can use him. Maybe he’s the perfect trump card I need.

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