Page 41 of Merciless Promise
Then you throw it all away by selling me off to an enemy.
And not only was Aram Grigoryan an enemy of our once organization, but he was unscrupulous, shameless, and abusive. I’d heard the stories of most of my father’s one time enemies, and I supposed they had been drilled into my head to make sure I never found myself in a situation like I was currently in.
How ironic! But is it really?
Kingston was a thousand times the man that Aram was. While they both wanted the same things from me, my current husband treated me somewhat like an equal. He at least didn’t keep me under lock and key, even if he had men around the clock watching me. With Aram out there ready to grab me at a moment’s notice, I did need protection, which was one of the main reasons I had ever agreed to this asinine proposal to begin with.
Having escaped from Russia and taken up escorting powerful men for money, I’d hoped that one day I would either save enough cash to make a fresh start somewhere else or find someone powerful to provide for my safety. Never did I imagine I would end up in an arranged marriage after all. And even more surprising, I never thought I would even like it a small percent.
“I’m losing my fucking mind,” I muttered to myself before picking up my cell phone.
Again, there were no returned calls or messages from Kingston. After he left, I’d swallowed my pride and sent him a series of messages, both via text messaging and voice mail. I’d apologized profusely, but he was unmoved. I had no idea what was going through his head now, and I knew his grandfather was with him in Boston.
“Maybe he’s convinced you to cut me loose,” I mused.
A month or two ago, I would’ve been ecstatic at the mere thought, but the truth was that I liked Kingston, and I felt as if he liked me, too. As memories of the night of Cillian’s party came rushing back, he had not only been jealous of every male I spoke to in there, but after I had been drugged, he’d still taken me out of there. Granted, he had tortured me afterward, but he wouldn’t have done either if he didn’t care.
I got up as the silence in this place was starting to get to me. I walked over to the window, and when I peered outside, I could see Nolan there in his SUV. There was no escape from this place. I supposed the good thing about that was that I didn’t want to leave right now. Maybe Kingston was right. I had been only half in on this.
Everything had been great until the doctor opened her big mouth. There was no way she could’ve known that I was even trying to get pregnant, or that my husband would be so upset over me actually having birth control. I couldn’t blame him, though. That was basically the equivalent of trying to start a car with a battery cable disconnected.
I’ll make this up to you!
And I knew how to prove to him that I was finally all in on this arrangement—this marriage. I moved away from the window and over to the fireplace. Multiple photographs sat atop the mantle, and as I picked up one of them, my pulse quickened.
Princeton Brannington.He’d been one of the most popular kids on campus. The Prince of Summit Crest Preparatory asothers used to proclaim. He attended there at the same time as me, and so did their cousin, Cillian. Kingston had graduated a few years before us, but the lore of all the Brannington men echoed up and down the hallways of the hallowed mountain school.
The girls who attended there all wanted to date Princeton. I’d never seen him without at least one hanging off of his arms, whether in the hallways before class, on the shores of the lake, or anywhere else on the grounds. I supposed the lore of being alone with him that night in the Hamptons had been what made me follow him upstairs.
Brannington men were notorious for getting what they wanted, when they wanted it. Kingston was living proof of that, and Princeton had been too until he jumped in front of me that fateful night.
Clutching the picture to my chest, I closed my eyes as the fear and panic sent me spiraling once more like it had then. All I could think about was getting away to a place where I could not only catch my breath, but to think clearly. A car I was unfamiliar with driving and a drink or two I never should’ve had contributed to the worst few minutes of my entire life.
After, I had to tell them why I was in such a hurry to get away from him. I knew the Branningtons, especially Ronan, hounded and harassed the local police daily, but it had been my father who saved the day. I’d truly thought I would end up in jail for most of my life, but I had been spared.
I opened my eyes and let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Only to end up with a Brannington, and in a different sort of prison.”
I exhaled sharply, then placed the photograph back on top of the mantle. I turned to the other man in the photo, and my heart did a small somersault. Kingston was so devastatingly handsome, and in a James Dean kind of way. Princeton was the preppy jock, while King had been the bad boy.
“And you still are,” I said, then froze at the sound of a male voice.
“Who is still what?”
“King,” I said a bit more cheerfully than I should have as I turned around. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“You looked like you were lost in your own world. I suppose reliving your first kill can bring back fond memories.”
“I wasn’t,” I quickly retorted.
“I still remember mine, and his ring is upstairs in my jewelry box as a reminder. Your kill of Princeton likely didn’t garner the same medals of achievement. I understand he was roadkill when they found him.”
“King—”
“Enough about my brother. What the fuck was so important that you’ve been blowing up my cell phone the entire time I’ve been gone? Were your toys not doing the job?”
I gasped. “You’re such an asshole. I have no idea what possessed me to even miss you a little when you were gone, but since this is the way things are going to be, I won’t make the effort next time.”
With that, I took the stairs nearly two at a time, then flopped down on the edge of our bed. I knew he could see me as I felt his gaze on me the entire time. Despite the fact that any warm, fuzzy feelings I’d just had for him had been doused with ice-cold water, my body still betrayed me by reacting swiftly to his intense gaze.
