Page 29 of Savage Promises

I should have corrected Shane about Rafael fucking me. He seemed to get off on the idea that another man would be inside me, but I’d be thinking of him. I didn’t need a two-hundred-thousand-dollar ankle bracelet to make that happen.

Right now, I push all that aside as the smell of sweat and varnish attacks my senses. The sound of a leather ball being paddled about and the grunts of young girls pull my focus to the court. I try to make all of Neve’s volleyball matches. As her skills sharpen, her playtime has doubled and tripled. I wonder when she has time to get her schoolwork done.

“Miss Donnelly?” a male voice comes from my left side.

“Coach Edelson,” I address the forty-something, somewhat handsome man.

“Neve’s been doing great. All those extra clinics you enrolled her in have made a difference. She can move to a traveling league with me next year.”

“She’s going to college,” I say, even though that might be out the window since she has to marry Shane.

“These leagues pay very well. Some girls play for a few years to finance college.”

“We can afford to send her to college,” I say to set the record straight.

“I’ve been tutoring her as well. Her grades aren’t...”

A whistle blows, ending warmups. The coach excuses himself to jog back in line with the girls. Neve comes off the court and sits on a bench on the opposite side of the gymnasium.

Tutoring? Who’s paying for that?

Shaking my head, I take a seat on the bleachers and wait for Neve to see me. She doesn’t, but I catch the coach’s hand on her knee and her smiling up at him.

Oh no...

Game One kicks off and I stay focused on the scoreboard instead of the pit in my stomach. Sneakers squeak against the polished wooden floor, and the constant thwack of the volleyball against skin rings like a well-rehearsed chorus. Neve sprints across the court, all fire and determination. She dives for saves and spikes that damn ball with precision. Her dedication to this sport shines through but having witnessed her and her coach, now I’m worried even more.

She’s a star, but she’s young and impulsive. She will blow up this marriage deal. I know it.

The crowd erupts when she scores the winning point in the fourth game set. Parents and other students alike cheer and whistle at a deafening level. The towering height of the gymnasium does nothing to absorb the clatter.

I cheer along, but my throat goes tight when once again, I see that all-too-friendly hand on Neve’s knee.

Her team wins the next game and my giddy, sweaty sister finally stops chatting with her teammates long enough to acknowledge my presence.

“Essie’s dad can drive me home,” she says without a hello or thanking me for coming.

“I took a few hours off from my club to be here. I’ll drive you home.”

“We’re going out. To celebrate.” She swings her blonde ponytail off her shoulder. “Can’t you see how much better I’m getting?”

“Oh, I see that.” I grip her arm softly. “Neve, you need to spend time with Shane. I’ve already helped him pick out your rings last week. You need to stop ignoring his calls. Dad and Griffin Quinlan want a public courtship.”

“I don’t have time for that,” she dismisses me.

“You need to make time,” I respond and try to fix her hair. She looks wild and untamed. Not a mafia bride. “No moreclinicswith your coach.”

“He’s helping me!” Neve snaps my hand away, her bitter view of this arranged marriage showing through more and more. “I’m not perfect like you.”

“Yes, you are. Dad secured your future with the Quinlans because you’re a...” I stop. “You’re still a virgin, right?”

“Uh-huh,” she says, not meeting my eyes.

I glance at the coach who’s watching us. WatchingNeve.

Holy shit.

This might be a problem I’ll have to deal with. “You’re scheduled to have dinner with Shane and his mother at Quinlan Manor tomorrow night. To discuss the wedding reception, seating, the music.”

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