Page 80 of Vow

Andino was acutely aware of the way his uncle had reverted into something akin to a statue. Lucian was blank all over—no expression, and nothing to give away. He most certainly knew who Haven was, and what her showing up there meant. And yet, his uncle stayed unreadable as to let Andino handle the situation however he wanted to.

He was grateful.

One less issue for now, anyway. No doubt, he was going to have to deal with his own family for this at a later date. That was always going to happen—it would have been unavoidable in the end. Andino simply didn’t know if he was ready for it now.

Too late to be considering that, he supposed.

“The problem—” Kev cut off with a disgusted noise. He pointed at the doorway yet again. “Who was that woman?”

This was what Andino had wanted to avoid the very most. He didn’t want Haven on the Calabrese radar for any fucking reason. They were snakes—they couldn’t be trusted with a single inch. If they thought they could use her to get to Andino, or the rest of the Marcellos, there was no doubt in his mind that they wouldn’t even think twice about doing exactly that.

These fuckers were predictable.

He’d worked so hard to keep Haven away from these people. Sure, in a way, it ended up keeping her away from his people, too. It probably made her think she was his secret—how many goddamn times had she said that exact thing to him?

She didn’t know, though.

He couldn’t explain.

This was why he needed her to stay away. This was why he kept her separate, and made sure that no one ever touched her simply because she was attached to him and his name.

Not until he could protect her.

Fuck.

“Who is she?” Kev asked again. “Because I am going to assume—and probably rightfully so—that she is someone you’re involved with considering the things she said. Tell me I’m wrong, Andino. I dare you.”

“Oh, her?” Andino shrugged. “She’s no one.”

All lies.

Lies, lies, and more lies.

A sneer worked its way over Kev’s mouth. “No one. Really?”

“That’s what I said.”

And that was all he was going to fucking offer, too. Wasn’t it bad enough that Andino had said Haven’s name out loud, and all Kev would need to do was a little bit of fucking digging to find out exactly who she was?

Because he thought it was.

Andino glanced at Ginevra who was quiet, and had turned her gaze down on her hands. She’d been uncomfortable for the majority of the dinner. He assumed something happened before she and her brother showed up because she came in looking like a damn ghost, and as silent as one, too.

He’d been trying to make her feel a bit better just before Haven walked in—he still needed this woman to at least trust him so that when the right time came, he could use her to help himself, and her, too.

Fuck my whole life.

“Andino,” Lucian said quietly, “are you sure you don’t need a minute?”

He heard his uncle’s unspoken question.

Do you want to end this?

“I’m good,” Andino lied. “We were getting dessert, weren’t we?”

He sat back down at the table beside Ginevra. Kev, on the other hand, looked ready to blow his fucking top. Well, that seemed like a Kev problem and not an Andino problem at the moment.

He had other things to deal with.