Page 74 of Bound in Promise

For her.

I’ll deal with myself later.

Victoria’s nostrils flare before she spins on her heels, strides toward the bathroom, and slams the door with finality.

She’s done having this conversation with me right now.

I can’t say I blame her.

24

VICTORIA

Sunday, October 4, 9:40 PM

Fuck him.

If Dante doesn’t care how he’s making me feel or that he just ripped my heart out of my chest, I don’t need him.

He’ll make sure all his bases are covered, right?

I don’t need to worry about anything or be bothered about leaving everything I know behind. After all, my husband only wants to know that I’ll be well out of harm’s way.

I think not.

In fact, I’m not leaving. I’m going to find a way to pay my tuition and finish school here. Ellie and I will figure out the rest after graduation. I don’t need Dante’s help or a ticket for a trans-Atlantic flight. Not when he’s spoiled what I wanted out of life in Europe.

He won’t be there.

The man wants to leave me alone in a new country, a stranger in a strange land, just so he can sleep at night.

He can go fuck himself.

I’m done playing by his rules. I swipe my thumb over the phone Dante so graciously gave me at the hotel and send a text to the one person on Earth I need most.

I should be home in an hour.

ELLIE: How bad is it?

Bad. He’s wants to ditch me in Paris. Alone. No him, no you.

ELLIE: Then you need to lay low for a bit. I’d say you could stay with me, but my apartment is the first place he’ll look for you.

Finally got some money from my trust. I can get a hotel. Somewhere with a spa so I can detox from the chaos.

ELLIE: Sounds like a plan!

A new notification interrupts my text conversation with Ellie and I feel goosebumps on the back of my neck.

DANTE: I know you left, princess.

DANTE: You’re going to pay for making me run you down.

I shiver, and I don’t want to think too much whether the chill is one of fear or anticipation.

I knew I’d hear from him eventually. He kept lightly knocking on the bathroom door, asking if I was okay, while pretended I was busy scrubbing all the mob shit from my skin. Really, I was buying time waiting for my Uber to arrive.

Thankfully, we were on the first floor of the hotel, so for once I didn’t have to risk breaking my neck climbing down anything.