Page 67 of Tarnished Vow

“Marcel set up a weekly delivery of flowers, but I told him after the funeral you won’t want flowers. Let alone weekly deliveries. And um, I bailed up Vincent, he wouldn’t tell me anything about you.” She rocked back and forth on her feet, crossing her arms. “I swear Marcel and I will earn your forgiveness. We can’t have family hating us.”

The situation was messy. They lost their baby. The hardest thing in our world is accepting the grief and blood that seemed to connect us all together.

“I’m sure in time we will figure it out.” I paused, “and I am sorry for your loss.”

She smiled, taking a step towards me. “Can I hug you? I won’t just force myself on you. I’m sure Vee has.”

I stared at her open arms for a moment. I really struggled with being touched. After months and months of flinching every time, someone moved their hands. But I didn’t want to offend her. So I nodded.

Though I was grateful, it was quick.

“I haven’t missed the story about Vincent and you, have I?”

“No story. We were just friends.” I could hear how empty my voice had gotten over the months. But I just didn’t have the energy to put on a show. And now being at the Crow's estate on their island was making it all suddenly real.

Tomorrow I’d be marrying Vince. Hell. Tomorrow night, these women would be watching him fuck me. Everything about their family was so fucking twisted.

For the first time, I regretted meeting him. I should have just left my car in that car park. If I had married Noah, none of it would have happened. Dad would still be here. Or at least if he was to die, it wouldn’t have been my fault.

“Emmie!” Vivienne opened her arms for her. I watched as the three women took over the couch. They were clearly very close. “We were just telling Maddy how we met the boys. So, we can be very nosy and ask about her and our Vincent.”

All three of them looked at me. “Nothing to know. We were friends.” I had lost track of how many times I had said that.

“Harris and I have a theory.” Evelyn sat up on her knees. “You two have been secretly dating for years.”

I shook my head, “We haven’t. Just friends.”

“So you two haven’t had sex?” Vivienne tilted her head, very closely watching my reaction. I had a feeling this woman was a human lie detector.

“No.”

The three of them shared a look.

“Probably a good thing, considering.” Evelyn added.

“Considering what?” I sat back down across from them.

“Crows can’t date.”

“They do. Vince’s brothers all date” I had seen his brothers with multiple women. Roman was engaged to Ava before she died. And I swore Bastion and Luca had a new woman every month. Sometimes the same woman. Though, I wasn’t sure if their dates were always aware of that.

“No, Roman, Bastion and Luca date. They answer to Vincent and Nikolai. All the other crows follow the full oath.”

“The full oath?” I asked.

“They can date, but their woman is considered prey. So they have to be prepared to share, if the handler calls for it. Which is Damius, so.” She shrugged. “No way in hell that sick bastard wouldn’t lay you out for all of them.”

“But if the Crow is married, they can choose not to participate.” Vivienne added, seeming slightly uneasy. “I have a very set rule with Jamjam about it.”

“Our family works by all of as having as many children as possible. It stops any Crow from settling outside of the oath. Nothing like we might all rip your girlfriend apart to keep them focused on business and only settling with their pet.” Evelyn added, “and no one can touch you once you are considered a pet.”

This twisted, fucked up family. I stared at them as they used words in contexts that should be concerning, not endearing. But the way the three of them lit up at the word pet.

“So why are Vince’s brothers different?” If anything, that just made less sense. All of his cousins answered to their grandfather after their parents died.

Damius wasn’t capable of any emotion, let alone deserved anyone to care about him. But if what happened to him, happened to anyone else. I would feel sorry for him. Losing his six sons, their wives, his five brothers and their wives. Basically, two generations wiped out at once. Vince’s father might have won that war, but he still died, even if it was at his own hand.

“They did some type of deal and got the younger kids. It isn’t spoken about. The father is always the handler, and well, after their dad’s suicide. They should have all answered to Damius.” Vivienne handed me the bottle again.

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