Page 34 of Crushed Vow

The scent hit me first. Expensive cologne masking something rotten underneath. My stomach turned.

Then the face.

Luca.

A smirk curled on his lips, the kind that made your skin want to peel itself off.

“Charlotte,” he drawled, mock-affectionate. “We finally meet again.”

I froze, instinct screaming. “Don’t act like you don’t know where I’ve been. Locked up. Drugged. Forgotten.”

His chuckle was slow and calculated. “Of course I knew. Tragic situation. My hands were tied.”

“Bullshit,” I snapped, voice low and shaking with hate. “You planned it with my father. You stood by while I was dragged away. You refused to tell Cassian. You let me rot.”

He didn’t deny it.

The way his eyes gleamed said everything. “You’re still alive, aren’t you?”

I turned to walk away, bile rising in my throat. I couldn’t stomach another second near him.

But then he said it.

“Vincent.”

The name landed like a brick in my spine. I stopped cold. My fingers curled into fists.

I turned slowly. “What about him?”

Luca’s expression shifted—still smiling, but colder now. “He’s with the Volkov Bratva. Taken as collateral for a debt your beloved father couldn’t pay.”

“I already know that,” I said, forcing calm. But my voice wavered.

He took a step closer, like he could smell the fear on me. “Then you must also know Cassian can’t help you. The Moretti family signed a neutrality pact with the Volkov Bratva ten years ago. If he interferes, it’s war.”

I didn’t move. The music thumped somewhere far behind us, blurred beneath the sound of my pulse pounding in my ears.

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “You’re not doing this out of kindness.”

“No,” he said plainly. “But I do know the Volkov Bratva's boss personally. And for the right... incentive, I could arrange something. Get Vincent out safely.”

A chill crawled up my spine. “What kind of incentive?”

Luca smiled wider, the kind of smile that made your skin want to crawl off your bones.

“Oh, come on, Charlotte. You’re clever. You already know the answer.”

I folded my arms, swallowing the bile in my throat. “You want me to marry you.”

He didn’t flinch.

Luca’s eyes gleamed. “Marry me, Charlotte. It’s simple. I talk to them, you get your brother back. Everyone wins.”

I stared at him. This man. This monster who once beat me, locked me up, and helped my father destroy me.

Luca stared at me, as if waiting for something—acknowledgment, interest, weakness.

I met his gaze coldly. “Look around, Luca. There are hundreds of women here tonight. Pick one. Leave someone else’s wife alone for once.”