Page 87 of Vow to Claim You

“That changes nothing.”

That’s a lie.

But it’s the only way I know how to keep myself guarded from the heartbreak that’s sure to follow once the illusion breaks. Because if I let myself believe him now, I’ll have nothing left when reality catches up.

“No?” Aric challenges.

I shake my head. “Whatever this marriage is… it’s just an arrangement.”

I echo his words from the altar, from the very first—and only—time his lips touched mine.

He grows impossibly still. But not the practiced stillness he slips into without thinking, but something more raw. Like he doesn’t have control over it. His weight settles. His jaw locks hard enough that I watch him swallow the first thing that wants to come out.

“Is that what you believe?” His voice is deep and low, and he keeps looking at me with those penetrating, pale eyes in a way that makes my heart race behind my ribs, the way it makes it harder to breathe.

And I do not want to feel this way. I cannot allow myself to.

Because this is the same man who made it abundantly clear exactly where I rank on his list of priorities the day he decided to send my engagement ring through a lawyer, clipped to a contract he couldn’t be bothered to read. The day he couldn’t spare an afternoon to meet me before the wedding. At the altar, when he whispered it’s just an arrangement against my mouth—twice. I let myself forget all of it somewhere between the bullet he took for me and the contract he burned. But we’re standing at his ex’s wedding, the one he arranged to keep her alive, and that speaks for itself. Aric didn’t do those things for me. He did them because this is simply who he is. Which is the part that hurts, because I think I’d like him to have done them for me. But being born a princess never once meant I’d get the fairy tale.

“That’s what it is,” I say. “You made sure I know that.”

“That’s what it was.” He’s close now, close enough that I have to tip my head to hold his gaze, close enough that the air thins between us. “You were wrong about one thing yesterday morning.”

My breath stalls. “Wrong about what?”

“Yesterday.” His voice drops. “It wasn’t Chiara who made me lose control.”

The floor seems to shift under me. Because if it wasn’t her, if it wasn’t the wedding⁠—

“Aric.” A knock, a voice through the door, accented and low. “Nikos is asking for you. They’re starting.”

The moment snaps like a thread pulled too tight, and I almost feel the ache in my chest at the irony of it.

Aric’s eyes flick between mine one second longer, then the wall slides back into place.

“We should go,” he mutters. “We’ll finish this later.”

Right. Later.

I press a hand flat to my sternum, where something has come loose and won’t settle, and I follow my husband down into a wedding that has just become the least important thing happening in this villa.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Ayanna

The ceremony is held in the garden, on a long green slope where the land falls away toward the sea. Rows of white chairs stand beneath the palms, framed by pale stone arches wrapped in ivory roses and climbing jasmine. Beyond them, the Mediterranean stretches to the horizon, the afternoon sun scattered across it like molten gold. It is, objectively, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.

It’s also full of people who could have you killed before the cake is cut, and the loveliness sits over it like a white tablecloth hiding a stain.

Aric and I take our seats near the front. Not the first row, but close enough that the whole thing feels uncomfortably near.

The music shifts, the guests rise, and the doors at the far end of the garden open.

Chiara appears. Nikos walks at her side, her hand tucked into the crook of his arm, all that scarred bulk turned almost careful as he shortens his stride to match hers.

For a moment the whole garden seems to draw one breath and hold it. Her dress is ivory silk, moving around her like water; a lace veil trails from golden hair threaded with orange blossom. She is, undeniably, stunning.

Her amber eyes lift and sweep the crowd. Searching. Until they find Aric.