Page 47 of Vows in Sin

“She looked like she was chasing destiny,” Fifi muses. “Maybe trying to fix a mistake or make a bigger one. Either way, it’s romantic. Tragic. Bold.”

I clench my jaw so hard my molars ache. “You’ve been more than helpful.”

I nod once to Fifi, my jaw so tight it aches. I storm back down the stairs, boots pounding like gunfire on each step. My hand skims the rail, grip white-knuckled, mind a thunderstorm of emotion.

She left me.

For what? For answers? For someone else?

Dame is the only answer that comes to mind.

I need to know she’s safe. Then, I’ll forget about her for good this time.

I swing onto my bike like a goddamn reaper, the engine snarling to life beneath me like it senses my fury. The wind hits my face, cutting sharp and cold—but it doesn’t dull the flames inside.

I head toward the Village. I need the head of security right now. He can track her down.

As I fly down the street, the questions keep coming.

Most of all—why’d she keep coming back to me if Dame was the one she wanted?

Someone familiar with the streets would understand the risks of returning to the scene of their crime.

Wait. Fuck.

It hits me like a brick in the face going fifty.

18

Reign

The Morettis. They may be young, but they’re not naive. Even as babies in their mother’s womb, innocence didn’t run through their tiny veins.

Unlike my sweet Seraphina, theywouldn’tgo back to the same place twice.

They’re new. Fast. Unpredictable.

A chill traces the base of my skull as the pieces click together.

What if there isn’t one place where the Morettis are operating from? What if they don’t need a lair—because they’ve already moved beyond that way of thinking?

The Bachman empire was built in a world where secrets traveled by foot, by whisper, by blood-soaked letters slipped under doors. We built our places brick by brick, the brownstones to hide us, gates to keep others out, and surveillance equipment to watch it all.

None of that matters. I think of the Village. Tucked behind that square of brownstone buildings. Hidden in plain sight.

In this day and age, everyone in the city knows we’re there.

We’ve done the most dangerous thing of all.

We’ve essentially put everyone in one place, Seven homes to a street. Seven streets.

All filled with people I love. All are vulnerable to attack.

One good blow and you wipe us all out at once.

My chest seizes. Acid claws up my throat. I move fast, adrenaline hitting like a switch flipped inside me. The engine growls under me, but the roar in my head is louder.

It’s just as Seraphina said that day we had coffee.