Page 25 of Unwritten Vows

Derrick

Liza and I fall asleep in our own sticky mess, exhausted from the sex, but also from the admissions we’ve made to each other. We make love again in the morning, and it’s just a different kind of perfect. Too perfect. This all feels far too good to be true.

I sit in my car after I’ve dropped Liza off at her morning class. She has half of the security team I’ve brought with me here following her today, along with all of her own, but still I want to stay here and make sure she’s okay for the entire three hours she’s in class.

I know what I have to do while I wait. I’ve put my father’s call off long enough. I’ve been sending texts all night telling him I can’t talk, but now I know I have to call him back.

As soon as I give him the rundown on the night before, he sounds his approval. “Wonderful. Always good to have extra insurance.”

“I’m not sure if I’d use the term “wonderful.” They were shooting at both of us and anytime there are bullets, it means someone could get hit and, you know, die.”

He doesn’t seem to appreciate my sarcasm. “Well, no one died. No one even got hit. And now you can be linked with her and her father will ply you with everything you’ve ever wanted from him.”

My dad may be an asshole when I question him, but I have a very low threshold for bullshit, and I’m sensing some coming on. “Do you know anything about this?”

He snaps back too quickly. “What? No, of course not.” I’m not sure how, but I just know he’s lying to me.

That makes no sense. Why would he want you both in danger?

Why would he want to jeopardize the relationship before it even starts?

I talk sense into myself, but I still can’t shake the feeling that he’s part of this somehow.

This is the first time in a long time that I wish I was with him instead of on the phone. He has very few tells, but every once in a while I can spot the twitch of his fingers or the blink of his eye.

He knows I’m waiting for a hint, so he speaks instead. “Derrick, be reasonable. You didn’t even tell me where you were going last night.”

That’s true, and there are blocks on mine and Liza’s phones, just like there are on the phone of every billionaire’s son or daughter. Still, there’s something in my father’s tone that feels off. Everything he says feels like a half truth or a lie by omission, but I can’t figure out why.

“It sounds like you’re happy about this, father. She’s just an innocent 20-year-old girl and she knows nothing about this life.”

There’s a hesitation on my father’s end of the line before he speaks again.

“We are all guilty, Derrick. She’s in this life—even if she’s not directly responsible, her father is.

She reaps what he sows, just as you do with me, and vice versa.

You know all of this—no one is allowed innocence in this life, unless you want to end up dead.

” He hesitates again, and I don’t know what to say, so I wait it out until he finishes his thought.

“You know, I don’t remember you ever speaking about one of your conquests like this before, as if we can change the rules just for them. ”

“She’s not a conquest!” I finally lose my temper, which has been building for the entirety of this conversation. “She’s not a conquest if she’s about to be my wife!”

“We are all conquests!” my father shoots back. “You are hers, or her father’s, at the very least. And so am I. We are all using each other for the other’s power, boy. Don’t be as naive as you believe her to be. You don’t have the luxury of going soft.”

I try to speak calmer the next time I make a point, but I’m getting angrier as the seconds tick by.

“I just don’t think it’s a good strategy to view the woman I’m going to be spending the rest of my life with as a conquest. And I don’t think we should be happy about it when someone tries to sneak into my elevator for her, and then the next night when Edoardo’s men take fucking shots at her! ”

“We don’t know for absolute certain it was him, Derrick. And clearly they were just trying to scare you. They wouldn’t have missed if they were trying to hit her, trust me.”

I seethe, but have little to say. He’s right that I would normally be nonchalant about this because I’m nonchalant about everything. But when he talks about Liza this way, I feel so angry that I want to crush his fucking skull in my hands.

“Derrick, my boy,” he says, his tone strangely soft, as if he knows my thoughts and is trying to assuage me.

“Consider what you’re saying. She’s just a woman, one of so many.

Do you think she would have your back if her father disagreed with you one day?

Do you think she’d stop him from turning on you?

Be reasonable. She is just a pawn. His pawn, our pawn—doesn’t matter.

Is there another way for her to help us?

No. So, we use her the only way that is appropriate.

We’ve spoken about all of this. Have you forgotten so soon? You’re a part of the plan too.”

I have to agree, and I know that. There’s no other option. But I tell myself that this time it’s different. This time, the agreement will be empty.

So I give a short breath of words, with no conviction at all.

“No, I haven’t forgotten. I’m a part of this plan.”

*****

I sit and wait for Liza with a growing feeling of unease in my stomach.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re still here,” comes Liza’s sweet voice from the open window. She’s trying to sound surprised and exasperated, but I can tell she’s eating this up and it’s adorable that she can’t hold back her excitement to see me. I wish I didn’t have to leave her.

“I am. If you’re not safe, I’m going to make sure you are.”

She blushes as I step out of the car and walk her away from our security. I give her a kiss just to feel her sweet lips on mine, but then it’s time for me to break the news. “I have to figure out what the hell is going on. I have to go to Rhode Island for a couple of days.”

I have to remind myself that she’s going to be in danger if it’s just the two of us, out and about.

I don’t even trust bringing her to my hotel.

I can tell she wants to be with me, even though she says nothing.

It just makes the thought of staying away from her, even just for a few days, feel worse.

“Are you about to get cold feet and consider your options? Maybe we’ll see each other once a month during the engagement and even less when we’re married?”

She’s trying so hard to act skeptical. Trying so hard to make it clear she’s not going to stand for it if I’m pulling any bullshit.

I don’t want to fucking lie to her, and I really don’t feel like I am.

As soon as I figure out exactly what’s going on and how to handle it, I want this woman to be in my bed every fucking night.

I know she values the truth from me and can tell from her eyes that even through the hardened look of skepticism on her face, she wants that too.

So I lay it all on the line, as honest as I can possibly be.

“I’ll do anything to protect you, Liza. And once I’ve figured out what to do about this situation, once we’re officially out there to the whole world and everyone knows you’re mine, I’ll make sure they also know that if they touch you, they’ll fucking die.

I will kill them with my bare hands, I swear. ”

Liza’s face softens. She likes it—I can tell how much she likes it when I talk to her like this, and how much she wishes she didn’t. But right now, she barely holds back, biting her lip to keep from smiling too hard, but letting it come nonetheless.

“Well… I guess I’ll have to say thank you when that time comes.”

I nod down at her and then kiss her again, leading her to the car. “Let’s make sure we get one more quick session in before we get you home.”