Page 66 of Ruined Vows
I press my mouth to her temple again. “I’m not just here for the power plays and dresses, Bianca.”
I keep my arms around her, and I feel her shift as she relaxes against me.
“You think being beautiful is your only weapon,” I say quietly. “But it’s this. Right here. You’re letting someone see the cracks and not flinching for the first time. And, baby, I’m in. I want all of you. The good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s real.”
She doesn’t respond with words, but her fingers curl into the front of my shirt, and she leans back into my chest and lets me hold her for real.
She’s softening toward me. She’s beginning to trust me, and it makes me feel like the luckiest man in the world.
17
BIANCA
TINY HANDS, HEAVY HEARTS
I’m still swaying even after I’m back on dry land. And not just from the boat. It’shim.
Vukan was supposed to be this untouchable force — all sharp edges and cold fury—off-putting, distant, and reserved.
But what I got was someone entirely different.
The way we were out there on the water, and the waves turned, sloshing against the boat, threw me. But not as much as seeing the softer side of Vukan—he wasn’t ruthless.
He wasn’t cold. He was steady, and he held my hair back without a word. He even rubbed comforting circles into my back with his rough hands.
He made ridiculous jokes in Serbian, which I didn’t understand, but they still managed to make me laugh. I’m sure he did it to distract me from the nausea.
He carried me off that deck like I was something precious. Like I was something breakable. And mostly, he gave me the feeling that he’d fight the whole damn ocean if it meant getting me back to shore safely.
And somewhere between the horizon and his heartbeat, I realized I’m not just falling.
I’m already partly gone.
Later,when I walk into Joanne’s office, she doesn’t even look up from her laptop when I breeze in.
“You survived,” she says, deadpan.
“Barely,” I mutter, flopping onto her worn-out couch. “Your boy forgot to mention the whole ‘rough seas in the ocean’ in ‘fishing trip.’”
Joanne snorts. “I figured you’d either come back with a fish or a fiancé.”
“Funny,” I grumble, kicking off my shoes. “All I caught was seasickness, a bruised ego, and embarrassment. It wasn’t a pretty sight, tossing my cookie in front of the most eligible bachelor who always looks perfect.” But that’s not the whole truth.
She finally glances at me and raises her eyebrows.
“You let him take care of you?”
I freeze for a second. Fuck, I did. No one takes care of me. I take care of myself—always.
Then I shrug. “He didn’t exactly give me a choice.”
She flashes me a smile like a Cheshire Cat.
“Good.” There’s a beat of silence before she adds, “Are you still going through with the next date?”
I smirk. “Oh yeah. Children and second chances? That’s my battlefield.”
Joanne grins widely. “That one might break him.”
