Page 50 of Crushed Vow
My father raised him. Of course he turned out like this.
And Cassian... he saved Vincent. Protected him. More than once.
And now Vincent and Luca had Ethan locked in a trunk. Bleeding. Maybe dying.
For what?
Gold. Power. A vault.
My heart shattered into something irreparable.
I leaned my head back against the cold leather seat and let the tears fall.
I had no idea if I’d ever see Ethan alive again.
But what I knew, without doubt—
Vincent was gone. And so was the last shred of safety I thought I had left in this world.
A few minutes of suffocating silence passed.
Then Luca’s voice sliced through the stillness. “You’re quiet,” he mused, not even looking at me. “Don’t tell me you’re sulking.”
I didn’t answer. Every inhale felt like glass, every exhale like screaming.
“Charlotte, don’t be dramatic,” he chuckled. “You always act like you’re a victim.”
My eyes burned. I turned to Vincent. “Tell him to shut up.”
He didn’t.
He just dragged on his cigarette and rolled down the window a crack. The cherry-red ember glowed like the shame I wanted to burn into his skin.
“You know,” Luca went on casually, “when I marry you—because I will, you’ll finally understand what it means to be tamed.”
I flinched. “I’d rather die.”
“That can be arranged,” he said lightly. “But you’re far too valuable for that. Once your divorce goes through—oh, wait. Cassian hasn’t signed it, has he?” He laughed cruelly. “That man may be groveling like a whipped dog, but he’s not stupid. He knows what your blood means.”
I closed my eyes, hands trembling in my lap.
They were going to use me.
Trade me. Breed me into a key.
“And Ethan?” I rasped. “What are you going to do to him?”
Luca’s voice dropped. “Haven’t decided. Maybe shoot him again. Maybe send him home in pieces. Depends on your behavior.”
“You touch him,” I said, voice thin and shaking, “and I swear—”
“You’ll what? Cry?” Luca looked at me in the rearview mirror. “Spare me. You think your love means anything in a war like this?”
The air inside the car thickened. My breathing became erratic.
Because I could smell the blood.
Even through the vents. I could smell it.
