Page 44 of Jealous Vows

“My stepmother poisoned me.She poisoned me in my own home for years, and my father never cared.”

The room falls silent aside from my gasping.My head throbs.

If only that were the worst of my secrets, but it isn’t, and I can’t handle the truth, so I ignore it and lie to myself a little longer.

This is all I can take right now.

Romeo becomes my savior one more time.He curses, scoops me into his arms, and stalks out of the room.I fall into numbness and just simply exist as he swaps my shoes, carries me to the car, and takes me back to the hotel room.I become a mindless little doll as he undresses me, tends to my wounds, and settles me under the blankets.

Nothing exists until he joins me an indeterminate amount of time later.

I cry in the arms of the man who swore to break, humiliate, and hurt me.I cry until my head feels stuffed with cotton and my chest hurts from sobbing.The bite marks on my shoulder ooze through the bandage from the jostling.

I made a complete fool of both of us tonight.I must have looked so pathetic and gross while I insulted Gran, disgusted Alan, and undermined Romeo.

Even though he has every right to push me away, Romeo holds me just as tightly as I hold him.

As my body slowly gives in to exhaustion, I scramble for ways to salvage this, but only one thought repeats in my head.

He’s mine.My tormentor, lover, savior, and future.

I need Romeo Yovanni.

Chapter 14

Romeo Yovanni

My mouth waters as the thick, smoky smell of bacon fills the kitchen.It’s nowhere near as pleasurable as waking with Sienna in my arms, but after how I’ve treated her the last few days, I can’t give in to temptation no matter how sweet she is.

So the answer is bacon.After yesterday’s fiasco—I was an idiot for thinking my Gran could magically cure her the same way she did Alan and me—I know even watching a dish being made isn’t enough to help Sienna feel safe enough to eat it.Fury over her admission yesterday bubbles in my blood.

The sizzling of bacon doesn’t carry nearly as far as I’d like, and I dare saymia bambolina’s stomach growled louder, but the sound of my knife hitting the chopping board reaches the bedroom without issue.

Sienna stumbles out with the top blanket wrapped around her.

“Your new clothes are hanging in the closet.Hurry before the bacon burns,” I instruct.

She blinks and nods, still half asleep, before shuffling into the bathroom.

When she emerges less than five minutes later in a flowy top and tight blue jeans, my cock hardens in my sweats.With no underwear to hide my reaction, I grit my teeth and focus on not slicing my finger off.

“What are you doing?”she asks.

“Cooking breakfast and you’re helping.Start with coffee,” I demand.

She quirks a brow.

“This isn’t a normal kidnapping activity,” she mumbles.

Realizing she decided to default back to as though yesterday didn’t happen at all, I drop my knife and pin her hips against the counter with mine.

“It is if I’m your kidnapper.Make the coffee.I like mine the same way you do,” I snarl into her ear.

Her pulse pounds along the slender column of her neck.The bruise spanning out from under the bandages worries me.

“I don’t believe you,” she says.

“You don’t believe what?”I ask.