Page 31 of Vow of Hate

His eyes widen. “Really?”

“Really. Just get me the money and then we can all move on from our lives. You can leave your vacation behind here and return to your normal life. What do you say?”

“Thank you. Thank you.” He grabs my hands and kisses them. I rip them away.

“Don’t mistake my generosity for kindness. I just have bigger fish to deal with right now. So go.”

Joe stumbles out of the booth and runs out of the restaurant right as Gabriel enters.

He’s with four guards himself.

“You better not think about firing those guns,” I comment.

Without a word, Gabriel sits down across from me. “You want to make a deal? Make a deal with me that suits you better. Just let Sienna go.”

“What deal would suit me better?”

“You don’t have to marry her. Just let her go. I didn’t realize that trying to make a marriage deal would insult you so much. I thought you would take it as an honor. Because that’s what I intended. But if you don’t want to marry Sienna, then we can come with a different deal. One where you don’t feel like I’m controlling you. Just let Sienna go first.”

I stare at Gabriel for a long moment before I laugh. “You think I’m just going to agree to that? I’m having too much fun with Sienna to just let her go.”

“I will kill you, Dante. I will have to if you don’t let her go or marry her. Make a deal with me. We can have peace. We can be equals. I will not control you. That is my promise but you have to work with me on this.”

“See, the thing is… I don’t want to work with you on this, Gabriel. I don’t want to work with you at all and I’m insulted you would think otherwise. No deal.”

“My men could kill you right now.”

“And so could my men,” I retort. “And we both know it.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrow. My eyes flick to his guards behind him. All of their guns are visible in their belts. I’m sure Gabriel can see the same thing with my guards behind me. “Let her go, Dante. Or this will end badly for you.”

“I’ll let her go when I’m dead. That is if you find her first.”

“It won’t be hard to find out where you live.”

I lean over the table until my face is close to his. “So why haven’t you done it yet?”

He sneers and gets up and walks out without another word. I guess he said everything he needed to say.

For the rest of the day, I can’t get what Gabriel said out of my head. Not even when I’m having fun mentally torturing the people who come to see me. The people like Joe who owe me money.

I return home, whistling to myself as I walk through the doorway… only to find Sienna in the foyer, on the floor, covered in blood.

Sienna

When my bedroom door unlocks, I’m expecting it to be Dante on the other side. Who else would it be?

But it’s not Dante. It’s Edward, the man from the party last night. The man Dante insulted. The one with the bad mood and large stomach.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, clutching the blanket to my chest. I should have kept my dress on but it was more comfortable to sleep naked. Now, I’m regretting that. “Where is Dante?”

“Dante isn’t here right now.”

“So how did you get in?”

“I know the way through Dante’s maze. He doesn’t know that. It was easy to get inside. Arrogant bastard. He mocked me. You mocked me. Why did you make that face when I suggested touching you?”

“What face?” I whisper.