Page 14 of Ruined Vows
So I returned to my family but still haven’t figured out what to do with myself.
Currently, I’m learning about New York. Life has its challenges. I suppose what doesn’t break us makes us stronger. I hate it when my elders say that, but perhaps it’s true.
We might have had a dysfunctional family, but somehow, it brought us closer. Over the years, we continued to choose each other and formed a tight-knit family. We prioritized each other above everything else.
I’m a perfectionist, and I always strive to accomplish the next goal on my bucket list. I’m a decisive person in nature. I always knew what I wanted in the past, but I’m unsure now.
I’m starting over in a new city, and the showdown with our enemies didn’t help, but personally? In a day-to-day situation? I’ve been fucked up since I had a first hand view of the violence our world brings.
I wish I knew what I wanted to do with my life. But I’m floundering, unsure of what I have to offer the world.
Joanne, my bestie, has found her calling in life. I’m envious of that. She has found what she loves to do, and she helps others in the process. Me? I’m just lost.
I might not know much, but I want a life with purpose—a life that impacts the world.
I don’t want to live off my family’s money that I didn’t earn. And I don’t want to live off a husband’s money, either. I mean, who knows whom I’ll marry?
Law school is the logical step, but I’m restless and undecided.
Now I’ve been informed that I’m supposed to marry the leader of the Serbian criminal organization, my life is up in the air again.
I seriously doubt Vukan would allow his wife to work.
Why am I even considering him in my future?
I’m going to squash this engagement in record time.
I’m Bianca Borrelli, and I don’t lose.
4
VUKAN
I DON’T CHASE. I CLAIM.
Bianca Borrelli.
She thinks this is a game.
She’s clever—offering me ten dates like it’s her choice.
I don’t play.
I take.
And I claim.
Still, I accept her challenge. Because the moment she set terms, she lost. The moment she stood in that cat-like outfit, bent on revenge— fire in her eyes and death in her smile—I knew she’d be mine.
She’s a Goddess, filled with warmth. She’s the light in my darkness.
She doesn’t know the rules of war. She’s never known a real war.
She’s not mine. Not yet. But she’ll surrender to me. Ten dates she wants, and ten dates she’ll get. She doesn’t know that I’ll turn those hours into a lifetime. She thinks this is a game.
She doesn’t know I’ve already won.
But I’ll play her game.
