Page 11 of Sinful Obsession (Broken Vows #3)

CHARLOTTE

The one-eyed man stood too close, his smirk dripping with malice.

“Where did you find her, Cassian?” He asked, his voice low, taunting.

“None of your business, Luca,” Cassian snapped, his tone a warning shot.

I froze. Still seated. Still processing.

Luca’s attention shifted to me. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

Before I could speak, another man emerged.

My blood turned to ice.

My father.

I hadn’t seen his face since—

No. I didn’t remember. But my body reacted before my brain could catch up. My stomach twisted with revulsion, with fury. I wanted to claw the smug grin off his face.

“Charlotte,” he said, faking surprise. “We all thought you were dead. How... how did you make it back?”

Confusion crashed over me, a tidal wave that drowned my thoughts.

Dead? My heart pounded, nausea surging as I gripped the chair for stability.

I stood slowly, my fists clenched at my sides

What did he mean?

“I advise both of you to walk away,” Cassian said darkly, standing taller beside me.

“Or what?” Luca barked a laugh. “You’ll stab me in the other eye, Cassian? Hm? You know what’s at stake now.”

“Mr. Luca.” A new voice broke in—low, cold.

I turned toward the sound. Artem Vasiliev.

“Mr. Grayson,” Artem added, now addressing my father. “That’s no way to welcome our princess.”

Artem walked forward with that same eerie grace, stopping just a few steps from Cassian and me. His presence demanded silence.

Cassian stepped in front of me, his body a protective shield.

“Cassian,” Artem continued, voice calm but carrying the weight of a blade. “It's good to see you again. But, as I advised young Vincent, wouldn’t it be wise to step aside from the leadership trials? Everyone knows I’m the strongest candidate. Neither you nor little Vincent stand a chance.”

His tone was polite. But the arrogance in it scraped down my spine.

Cassian’s grip tightened on my hand. “If you’ll excuse us, gentlemen.”

The three men—Father, Luca, and Artem—blocked our path, their presence a wall of menace. “Come on, Cassian,” Artem said, his tone almost playful, “you can’t just walk away.”

Cassian’s eyes narrowed.

“Cassian, your hands are tied. Grayson is her father. It’s only right you deliver her to him for a... reunion.” Luca’s single eye glinted.

They spoke of me as if I were an object, a pawn to be traded.

White-hot anger surged through me.

“Don’t start a war with me,” Cassian warned, his grip on my hand tightening.

“A war you can’t afford,” Artem replied, his gaze flicking briefly to me. “Not with her back.”

“Don’t underestimate me,” Cassian growled. “You all know what I’m capable of. Just because my hands are tied doesn’t mean I can’t fight.”

He pointed a shaking, furious finger at the three men. “She betrayed me. Not you. Not you. And definitely not you. She’s mine to deal with—mine to punish as I see fit. Touch even a strand of her hair, and you’ll be dead before the sun rises.”

Laughter echoed in response. Then my father’s voice cut through it.

“Even after catching her cheating—with another man—you still dare to shamelessly call her yours?”

My stomach dropped.

What?

“That’s right,” Artem added, voice laced with smug satisfaction. “She isn’t yours anymore. Look at her finger.”

Cassian turned to me. I tried to hide my hand too late.

“See that ring?” Artem sneered. “Her captor didn’t just cage her—he married her. Legally. Claimed her, right under your nose. While you were rotting in prison.”

Prison? What the fuck?

My chest heaved. It felt like the floor shifted beneath me.

Cassian had been in prison? When? Why? My mind reeled, the fog of those missing years thicker than ever.

“I don’t care who’s touched her,” Cassian said, voice low and sharp. “Or who thinks a piece of paper makes her theirs. Charlotte is mine. What she’s done, what they did to her—it changes nothing. She was mine then. She’s mine now.”

Luca stepped closer, his smirk widening. “You still don’t get it, Cassian? We have the divorce papers—yours and hers, signed three years ago. You have no claim to her now.”

Divorce?

I stumbled back, dizzy.

The ring on my finger wasn’t Cassian’s? Another man—a captor—had married me, forced me into a bond I couldn’t recall?

They thought I was dead? The revelations piled like stones, crushing me. I wanted to scream, to demand answers, but my voice was trapped, my body shaking with panic.

My past was a black hole, and these men kept shoveling in twisted truths.

My father smirked again. “You’ll hand her over, Cassian. She’s a Grayson. She belongs with us.”

“I’m not a fucking pawn,” I whispered.

None of them listened.

Cassian’s voice was lethal now. “Touch her—and I will start that war.”

Artem tilted his head. “Then I suggest you start preparing for it. Because the moment she walked back into this world... everything changed.”

The air crackled with tension, the three men staring Cassian down..

My mind was a battlefield.

Who was this captor?

Why had I been thought dead?

Why was Cassian so determined to claim me, despite a divorce, despite a betrayal he believed I’d committed?

I almost wanted to rip my hair out—just to see if pain could jolt my memories back. If tearing at my scalp might shake something loose. A name. A date.

But all I had was the pounding in my skull and the four men circling me like wolves.

“Charlotte,” my father said gently, stepping forward with a face I didn’t recognize but a voice I couldn’t forget. “I know you’re traumatized. I know you’re scared. But please... come home. Cassian will destroy you.”

“You’re right,” I said quietly, staring at them all one by one. “Cassian will destroy me. But I’d still rather be with him than stay with any of you.”

The words settled like broken glass in the silence, cutting through the pretense of family

The three men exchanged a look—one of calculation, not concern. Artem took a step forward as if to touch me, but Cassian was faster. He placed a firm, possessive hand on my lower back and shifted slightly, blocking his path.

Artem didn’t flinch.

“I’m Artem Vasiliev,” he said, lifting his chin like a king presenting terms. “Heir to the Russian Bratva in New York. Your father is one of the most powerful mafia bosses in the East. And Luca here—” he gestured toward the one-eyed devil standing like a statue “—he will inherit the entire Moretti empire as soon as we remove Cassian from power.”

He paused. “Which we will. Before December, Cassian will be nothing. You are better off on our side.”

“No, thank you,” I said flatly, refusing to be bartered between men like a trinket.

Cassian’s jaw twitched. I saw his hands curl into fists, then slowly relax. Over and over. Like he was holding back the urge to maim all three of them right there. And I could tell—it took everything in him not to act. Something was at stake, something bigger than bloodlust.

What the hell was it?

Artem leaned toward Luca and whispered something. Luca took a beat, thinking, before turning to whisper into my father’s ear. Whatever they said made the older man smile.

Then my father spoke—his voice was more venomous than warmth. “Even if you walk out of here with her now, Cassian... it won’t last. We will take her back from you. Sooner than you think.

My father took a step forward. “And when we do, we’ll do things to her that even your twisted imagination couldn’t conjure.”

A cold dread slid down my spine. I wanted to move closer to Cassian, but my feet wouldn’t budge.

“You have two choices: Let her come with her real family, so we can help her recover. Heal from the mess you dragged her into. Or hold on to her—the same woman who betrayed you. The same woman who got your sister killed. The one who left you to rot in prison.”

Elodie was Cassian’s sister? The accusation hit like a bullet, shattering my composure.

Luca’s voice sliced in. “We’ll rip her from your arms eventually, you know this, Cassian. If not us... then the man who kidnapped and married her while you were rotting in a cell will.”

My heart stopped.

Cassian didn’t flinch.

Luca’s words dripped like acid. “Why, Cassian? Why the fuck are you still holding on to her?”

He threw a hand toward me like I was filth. “After everything she’s done to you?

I didn’t even know who I was anymore. But the tension in Cassian’s body made me nervous.

Cassian slowly looked down at his watch, then back at them. His voice was calm, but steel-cut.

“This,” he said softly, “is exactly how much of your nonsense I can entertain. Unless you want this place to become a bloodbath, step back—all of you.”

The three men exchanged knowing glances, their smirks fading, and stepped back, yielding to his threat.

Cassian’s hand closed around mine, his grip bruising but protective as he pulled me into him—guiding me through the crowd like I belonged to no one else..

Their eyes followed, sharp and hungry, as we moved toward the exit, the penthouse’s opulence closing in like a gilded cage.

“I don’t remember any of it,” I blurted, struggling to breathe as we exited the building.

“That much is obvious,” he muttered, unlocking the bike parked outside.

When we both straddled the seat, I clutched his jacket and whispered, “Can you take me to a doctor? Please... I need to know what’s wrong with me.”

He didn’t answer, straddling the bike and starting the engine with a roar.

I climbed on, my arms wrapping around his waist instinctively—the heat of his body igniting that familiar, conflicting pull.

He didn’t speak, just drove, eventually steering us into the underground garage of a private hospital.

We entered through a side entrance, and soon we were in a white, sterile office. The doctor, a tall man in his forties with sharp eyes and expensive taste, stood up the moment we entered.

“Mr. Moretti,” he nodded. “And Miss...”

“Moretti,” Cassian cut in coldly, his hand tightening around my waist as we sat. He said it like it was law—like our divorce never happened. Like I still belonged to him.