Page 42 of Savage Vows

Her eyes widen. “She was supposed to get married to him? Of course, that makes sense. I heard Dante Volkov was taking a wife, but I just figured those were rumors. Nobody in their rightmind would want to get married to him.” She takes a look at my face. “I mean, no offense.”

“None taken,” I say. “Like I said. They trapped me. Said I had to take her place.”

Bella blinks. “Take her place?”

“At the wedding,” I whisper. “And now I’m his wife.”

Bella stares at me, her mouth falling open, but she doesn’t laugh this time. She just shakes her head slowly, like she’s trying to fit the pieces together.

“Jesus,” she says finally, her voice low. “This is worse than anything I thought.”

I nod. “Tell me about it.”

We walk a little further down the gravel path, the house fading behind us. My pulse is still racing, but Bella’s grip steadies me.

“I need to find Julianne before my father does,” I whisper, my throat tight. “If he gets to her first…he’ll kill her.”

Bella stops, turning to face me fully. Her eyes are wide, her expression deadly serious. “What’s your plan, then?”

I let out a sharp breath, shaking my head. “Right now? I don’t know. But I have to gain Dante’s trust. If he doesn’t let me out of here, I’ll never be able to look for her. And if I can’t look…” I swallow, hard. “She’s already gone.”

Bella presses her lips together, thinking. Then her eyes narrow. “Does he have any idea what you did before you came back?”

The question makes me pause. My heartbeat stutters. “No,” I say, shaking my head. “He doesn’t know. And he can’t.”

Bella studies me, searching my face for cracks. I can tell she wants to ask more, but she doesn’t—not yet. Instead, she squeezes my arm again, softer this time. “Then you need to be careful. He’s not the kind of man you fool easily.”

“I came here for Julianne. I had no idea about the wedding, any of it. I swear.”

Bella presses her lips together. I can see the fear in her eyes now. Not for me—she’s always been reckless in that way—but for Julianne. For what it means if I’m right.

“And now,” she says slowly, “you’re trapped here. With him.”

I look back toward the house again. Its windows gleam like blank eyes. “Yeah,” I whisper. “With him.”

Bella takes a breath, squeezes my hand this time instead of my arm. “Then you’re right. You need him to trust you. If he thinks you’re just”—she waves vaguely, her mouth twisting—“the replacement bride, he won’t suspect what you’re really doing.”

Her words sting, because they’re true. To him, Iamjust a replacement. A stand-in.

But maybe I can use that.

I look back at her, forcing myself to sound steadier than I feel. “I need time. I need him to let his guard down, just enough for me to move. That’s the only way I’ll find her before my father does.”

Bella studies me for a long moment, then finally nods.

We sit on the stone bench until the quiet feels steady.

“You know, I was thinking about the missing girls,” Bella says.

“You were?” I won’t lie, the thought had completely fled my mind with everything that happened. But just because my sister isn’t missing doesn’t mean I have to be selfish.

“So I did a little digging,” she continues sheepishly.

I raise a brow. “You did?”

She shrugs. “What can I say? You’re rubbing off on me.”

Bella unlocks her phone and opens Instagram. “I only have one thing,” she says. “But it keeps bothering me.”