Page 150 of Ruined Vows
He strokes my cheek. “We’re in this,” he says. “You and me. No backing out.”
I nod. He knows I’m his.
He smiles—real, raw as he pulls me into his arms. And for the first time, I’m not running from anything. I’m running toward something.
Something terrifying. Something beautiful. Something real.
Us.
44
VUKAN
ROOFTOP RECKONING
She’s beautiful, and today, she’s carefree. The only other time she’s been like this was when she held the toddler at the center and snuggled Meatball at their reunion.
It seems we’re both broken and gravitate toward those who know our pain.
And I hate that we’re having a romantic rooftop dinner because it’s risky. I hate every second she’s out in the open—she’s a walking billboard that says, “Hit me.”
She’s a goddamn moving target. Dragan comes up beside me, and Luka is a step behind him. They are dressed casually, but I can sense the tension emanating from them in waves.
“She looks happy,” he says, careful, like he’s testing the air between us.
I grunt. “She’s happy because she thinks it’s safe.”
“It’s as safe as it can be,” Luka says. “We swept the area. Nothing shady yet.”
“Yet,” I snap. My hands clench at my sides, the urge to storm across the street and drag her back into the car almost overwhelming. But I can’t.
I promised her a life. I promised her freedom and loyalty, not another cage. Even if every instinct tells me this is wrong, I take a breath, trying to shove the panic into my chest.
“I don’t want to deny her this,” I say, voice low, almost to myself. “She deserves a fucking eveningwithout walls closing in on her.”
Dragan nods, patient. He gets it. He’s seen what Bianca survived to get here.
“But Radovan’s out there,” I continue, scanning the rooftops, the street corners, every goddamn face that lingers too long. “And he’s looking for an opening he can exploit.”
“We have eyes everywhere,” Luka says, tapping his earpiece. “Two spotters on the roof, two more watching the street. No blind spots.”
“It only takes one second,” I growl. “One second for everything to go to hell.”
Dragan steps closer, lowering his voice. “You want to pull her now?”
I shake my head, jaw tight. “No. Not unless we have to.”
I glance back at her. She lifts her wine, smiling at the waitress. Laughing. She belongs in a place like this. God, I want her to have this moment. I need her to have it because the world has spent years trying to break her. But I’m not fucking stupid, I know danger lurks around every corner.
“If anything goes wrong,” I say, voice like stone, “we go hard and fast. Luka, you and the rest of the men, cover the street. Dragan, you and I grab her and get the hell out. No hesitation. Don’t second-guess the situation. We pull her and run.”
Dragan nods once. “Got it.”
“What’s the exit plan?” I ask.
“The Hummer is running and waiting,” Luka says.
They both nod, professional, with a deadly calm in their eyes. But I feel it in my bones. It’s the crackle in the air, like asummer storm brewing. It’s the faint breeze before the heavy wind.
