Page 36 of Lethal Vows

She nods.

“Nope. No interest. This is my home now.”

Angel seems a little sad at these words, but she nods as she takes a small bite of her dinner.

“Your name has been circulating a lot back home, you know.”

“Because of this marriage shit?”

She nods.

“Has nothing to do with me. I never agreed to it.”

Her gaze lands on my neck, and I feel a slight flush of heat across my cheek. A woman has needs. The problem is, I can’t entirely deny I wouldn’t do it again. There is no way a woman has that much self-control. The man knows how to fuck, and that fact calls to me.

“I have to go back soon, and Dominic is coming with me,” she says, reaching for her glass of water. Following her cue, I take a sip of my red wine.

“For the baby?” I ask, gesturing to her belly. She looks down and rubs it, a soft smile on her face. It still seems strange to me when I see her like that. To think that we were teenagers sneaking our parents’ liquor and going on an escapade whenever we were given the chance, and now… well, things havechanged.

“Yep. We don’t want the baby born here. And even if Crue plans to stay here long term, it’s not somewhere I want to live.”

“Why?” I ask.

“It’s too dangerous,” she whispers.

“I think anywhere can be dangerous.”

She shakes her head and says, “Back home, they know Crue is in charge, but he has to reinstate the name and boundaries here. A lot of the families here have become power-hungry, and Crue’s been shedding blood for sport. All to make sure the Monti name is respected and feared.”

It goes without saying that movement like that takes a while. A lot longer than being here for only a few weeks.

“How long has he been here?” I ask, placing my glass down.

“Years,” she admits.

I don’t know why that comes as a shock to me, but it does. Why now, of all times, does he reintroduce himself? Because he has less than a year to fulfill his marriage contract? So why not act on it sooner? Why wait to visit me on my thirtieth birthday and ruin my entire celebration? It was the ultimate dick move.

“He killed my boss,” I remind her.

“Yes, I overheard that convo as well.” She picks at her chocolate cake with her fork, then pops a bite into her mouth, a bliss-filled smile spreading across her face. Angel always had a sickening appreciation for sweet treats. She points her chocolate-smeared fork at me. “Your boss was dirty, though. And not just that. He also had stuff on you.”

“Me?” I ask, surprised. I’d worked with Brian for years. He was ruthless, maybe. But dirty? I doubt that.

“He put cameras in the women’s bathroom and kept all the files he had on you.Just you. He was nothing but a dirty perv.”

I slump back in my seat. “No, he wouldn’t have done that,” I say, shaking my head. “We would have known.”

“Crue is many things, but he’s not a liar. And he always has a reason when he kills someone.”

“Crue is the type of person to kill someone for looking at him the wrong way.”

She shrugs and takes another mouthful of the rich chocolate cake.

“He killed Andrew,” I add. “No reason there.”

“Yeah, I overheard that one too.” She bites her bottom lip. “Didn’t he warn you not to go on a date with him?”

“Yes, but he isn’t the boss of me,” I say, getting defensive.

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