Page 129 of Crushed Vow

Cassian stepped forward, voice cutting through the stillness. “Brooks.”

In one swift move, Brooks unsheathed his dagger and pressed it to Manuel’s throat, holding him perfectly still.

Cassian’s voice was ice. “Tell her what you planned before I make you bleed to death—slowly.”

Manuel’s voice trembled. “I—I planned to deliver you to Luca. He offered me money. And access to... to you before he took you.”

My stomach twisted violently. “Access?”

“Rape,” Cassian snapped. “He was going to rape you. With Luca’s blessing. That’s the deal. That’s what happens when you go out alone, Charlotte.”

I froze.

That sick feeling that haunted my gut ever since I stepped into Manuel’s car—it had been right.

Cassian turned to him again, deadly calm. “And now you want mercy?”

“I can be useful!” Manuel cried. “I can help bring down Luca—I swear, just give me a chance! Please, my daughter needs me. Her mom’s gone, if you kill me, she ends up in foster care. Please...”

Cassian stared at him for a long moment.

“Okay,” he said finally, his voice deceptively calm. “You’ll live.”

Hope flickered in Manuel’s face.

Cassian walked up to him slowly—too slowly.

Then he whispered, “But you’ll never touch another woman again.”

He gave a subtle gesture.

Brooks grabbed Manuel’s face, forcing his mouth open, his tongue lolling out.

Before I could process what was happening, Cassian took the dagger from Brooks and drove it into Manuel’s tongue with a sickening crunch.

Blood sprayed, a crimson arc splattering across the floor as Manuel’s scream tore through the room, raw and animalistic.

He thrashed like a wounded beast, his body convulsing, his eyes wide with agony as the blade sliced through flesh and bone, severing half his tongue.

The other half of the dagger plunged into his jaw, pinning it in place as blood poured, pooling beneath him.

The sound of his muffled screams, the wet gurgle of his pain, was a nightmare I couldn’t unhear.

I covered my eyes, my stomach churning, bile rising in my throat. The horror unfolded behind my hands, vivid and inescapable.

When I finally lowered them, Manuel was gone, dragged away by Brooks, but the blood remained

The scene replayed in my mind, relentless: the dagger, the blood, the scream. And Luca’s eye, another memory Cassian had seared into me, the way he’d gouged it out without hesitation.

“I don’t want this life,” I sobbed, collapsing onto the floor, the urn still clutched to my chest. “It’s too much, Cassian. You hurt people, you kill them, you’re a murderer, a psychopath. I want to be as far from you as possible.” My voice broke, my words a desperate prayer to a god who wasn’t listening.

Cassian knelt before me, his dagger sheathed, his hands resting on his knees. “If you want to stop putting people’s lives at risk... then stop linking up with them. I hate it. Hate seeing you with another man. Hate thinking about it. And I will never stop.”

I looked up, fury igniting behind my tears. “So I can’t have friends? I’m just... what? Trapped with you forever?”

“Yes,” he said quietly. “You are. And I’m sorry I can’t help how I feel about you.”

“You’ll never have my forgiveness,” I said, my voice steady despite the tears streaming down my face. “Never.”