Page 22 of Hateful Vows

I tip my head in greetings to Andrea Capaldi and his wife Giulia.

She wrinkles her nose at me and I have to work really hard not to roll my eyes at that.

Way back when I wanted to get back at my brother for sleeping around, I went after men he’d have really despised me getting involved with.

How was I to know Andrea Capaldi married in secret when I approached him?

His wife will never let me live it down.

Not that I care. I don’t need friends. It’s more people that can get taken from me.

A real estate tycoon from Manchester approaches Dante.

“Mr Ventura. I couldn’t believe it when I read you were marrying into the Dobrev’s family,” he says good-naturedly and I recognise him as one of our best clients.

“I was thinking about the five-year project you enquired about last time we spoke. You know how it is, I must have lost the file, but I think now is the perfect time to collaborate. Mr Dobrev, such a pleasure to see you again.”

He shakes Aleksei’s hand like he hopes being a client of ours will grant him favours with Dante. I hope my husband sucks him dry, but it’s hard to deny the business benefits of our marriage when they’re so obvious.

They fall into boring conversations about skyscrapers and call for bids from architects.

“I need a drink,” I mutter and make my way to the bar. “Martini, neat.”

I take a sip and luxuriate in the burn down my throat. A silhouette advances toward me, in my periphery.

“Irina Dobreva,” the man greets me, bowing his head with respect.

Towering over me in a white suit that fits the decor of the gala perfectly is an attractive young man with tanned skin and dark brown eyes who looks familiar. Yet, I can’t place his name.

“Toma Kova?. My brother is the head of the Croatian Bratva,” he supplies in Russian, and my hackles rise. His brother is a butcher, rumored to be half mad, and violent for pleasure.

“You’re a long way from home, Toma Kova?. And it’s Irina Ventura.”

I position my body so my thigh peeks through the slit of my dress, the metal of the dagger strapped there glinting in the setting sun.

Weapons are technically forbidden but no one here heeded that part of the dress code.

The threat in my posture is clear, Toma’s eyes dropping just a second before they’re back on my face.

“Of course,” he dips his head. “As it happens, I’ve recently relocated. My brother and I don’t really see eye to eye.” I fill in the blanks left unsaid. Misha’s taking his business to Croatia, then. “His new partner still has his eyes on good old Albion.”

“So you thought of claiming it for yourself?”

He raises his hands in surrender, a good-natured half smile on his squared jaw, giving him a boyish look and betraying his youth. “Maybe I’m just here to find myself a new family.”

“The Dobrev aren’t known for their familial relationships,” I say just as Aleksei’s dangerous tone cuts through the air. “Step away from her.”

Toma hums and bows to both of us. “I’m a skilled tracker, if you ever need one.” He hands me his card before disappearing in the crowd.

I raise a brow to my brother, rude as always.

“I don’t want your husband to commit murder in the middle of a charity gala,” Aleksei says dryly as he comes to stand next to me.

His sharp eyes assess the crowd of murderers, socialites and entrepreneurs around us.

Then, they cut to the other side of the street.

We’re on the highest point for half a mile so unless they have a very precise sniper on their team, Dante’s enemies won’t hurt him here.

I realise this is the first time we stand side by side at an event, without the threat of his father hurting one of us, or both.

I let myself indulge in the moment. It can never be more than a second of almost sharing body heat.

In another life, we might have been friends.

I wish we’d be lovers but dreams are for silly little sheltered girls.

“What did Kova? want?”

“You know him?”

“I know of his brother. And it’s nothing good.”

“He came to warn us that Misha’s not ready to let go of our territory,” I answer but anger brews inside me again at the ease with which I told him the truth.

Not fighting with Aleksei throws me off centre and I desperately cling to any shred of familiarity.

“You can leave now, Lyosha . Dante’s safe here and I’m sure there’s a blonde air-head for you somewhere. ”

He gives me his full attention, and I suffocate from the force of it. “If Dante dies, you lose the protection I worked so hard to get you. I’m staying. Besides, I’d rather Perceval piss on your husband’s shoes than in my apartment.”

I pinch my lips to avoid the smile that wants to take over my face. Aleksei doesn’t make jokes, yet this is almost one for him. And it makes me giddy. I hate it.

A whisp of dark hair in a high ponytail catches my attention. The lithe woman in a gorgeous ruffling red dress approaches Dante and the surrounding men. But I know the gait of a hunter. After all, I used to be one.

I swallow my drink and it tastes like ash on my tongue. Blood sings in my veins. I wait patiently for her to make her move. Like the viper Dante calls me, I coil, ready to strike.

Her hand lands on his arm. And grips .

Dante’s eyes dip to where she touches him.

“Irina,” Aleksei warns, but I don’t hear him.

My martini glass clatters to the floor. I march to the woman. The knife at my thigh burns my flesh with the need to use it. I take hold of the handle through the slit in my dress.

In a few steps, I’m at her back. I clutch her hair in a fist, pulling her head back, and slash.

Wips of hair end up in my clenched hand. Free from my hold, she turns to me, wide eyed and ready to scream.

“Next time you touch my husband, you’ll lose more than your hair,” I seethe to the crying woman.

The men who were talking to Dante scamper away. And my husband grins down at me like I just gave him the most precious gift. “So vicious, sposa mia .”

“Let another woman touch you again and see how much more vicious I could be.”

“Is that a threat?”

He takes a step forward and snakes his arm around my waist, pulling me into him until there’s no mistaking what my violence does to him. I point my blade to his chin. “It’s a vow.”

His lips crash on mine with the force of a hurricane. I’m a puppet in his arms. I let go of the silky hair. Dante gets the knife out of my hand and back into its holster without removing his lips from mine. He devours me completely and I let him.

I part my lips for him, tangling my tongue with his, tasting the peated whiskey he just had and getting drunk on the feeling of him.

I’ve only ever been jealous of women who touched my step-brother. But seeing another approach my husband, the man who should be devoted to me, sends a boiling rage through my system. He’s mine . If not by heart, then by law and by honour.

I make him pay for the offence. I grasp the roots of his hair and pull, making him grunt. I swallow the sound greedily.

“If I had known you were the jealous kind, I would have let other women touch me weeks ago, vipera ,” he chuckles and the sound grates on my nerves. It also makes me fucking wet, damn him.

“You two are making a scene,” a voice dark as sin mutters behind us.

When I open my eyes, Aleksei is so close I can see the tick of muscles in his jaw and the unmistakable lust swirling in his eyes. Alcohol must make me dream things because it’s impossible. Unless he’s attracted to Dante, because me? It could never be me.

Something hot simmers low in my belly at the thought.

It doesn’t bother me at all to think about my husband with Aleksei.

On the contrary. They fit. Both dedicated to their empire, unshakable in the face of challenges and loyal to a fault.

I would have laughed a few months ago but now?

They have so much in common. Two sides of the same coin.

One looking at life too seriously, where everything is a threat, the other laughing at it like nothing matters.

I take a step back from my husband but he keeps his hand on my waist, possessive and heavy.

Now that our heated kiss has passed, party-goers have lost interest and no one pays us any mind. If anyone looks our way, they might think we’re deep in conversation. The words exchanged are far from innocent.

“Is your pussy dripping for me, vipera ?” Dante murmurs in my ears, loud enough for Aleksei to hear and tense.

I nod and he notches his chin to a corner of the rooftop.

We move until we’re hidden from the crowd.

Aleksei ends up positioning his body in front of both of us, as if sheltering us from view.

My back hits a wall. Then, my husband is on me once more, ravenous in his kiss.

He doesn’t waste time with pleasantries, his hand going under the fabric of my dress and gliding against my lace underwear. He chuckles low and rough.

“Such a good little slut for your husband, cuore mio ,” he croones and I moan.

My gaze darts to Aleksei who frowns before his eyes widen comically at the sound I make.

Dante notices his confusion and doubles down on proving to my protective step-brother how much I like it when he degrades me.

It should be humiliating, but my pussy clenches around nothing, and fire ignites inside me.

“You’re gonna be a good whore and come on my hand, aren’t you, vipera ? Make a good show for your darling brother?”

“Yes.” I swallow hard against my parched throat, and lick my lips.

He doesn’t make me wait, sliding the fabric to the side and thrusting into me with two fingers while pinching one of my nipples through my dress. My head falls back against the walls, the keening sound escaping me loud in the dark night air.

A hand clasps against my mouth and I snap my head back.

My eyes collide with Aleksei’s. The color on both irises is gone, replaced with dangerous lust. Other than that, he’s as cold and controlled as ever and that makes me wetter.

I buck my hips against Dante’s hand and he groans against the soft skin of my neck before biting down.

“Such a pretty whore, taking my fingers like she’s desperate for it.”

Dante adds another finger while grinding the palm of his hand on my clit, and my eyes roll back. Aleksei’s scent mixes with my husband’s into a heady cocktail, sending me careening into pleasure at the highest speed.

“Fuck, that’s it. Come for me. Come for us.”

I let go and fall, pleasure overtaking my body and sending me into another dimension where the world around us disappears and only Dante and Aleksei remain. My eyes lock on his when I come, letting go of fear, years of hatred and disdain for one stolen moment.

His hand lifts. I pant and wince slightly when Dante removes his fingers from inside me.

With a wicked smile, my husband offers his glistening fingers to Aleksei’s mouth. I watch in awe as the man I always failed to consider my brother but couldn’t dream of calling my lover part his lips and lick my essence from our enemy’s fingers.

A soft groan escapes his chest. A sound I would gladly listen to for the rest of my life. Dante withdraws his fingers and licks them clean once more.

My breath hitches and my stomach flutters with anticipation.

But the moment has passed and Aleksei straightens, then turns and disappears down the hotel corridors.