Page 60 of Vow to Claim You

Vidar’s sacred breakfast hour approaches, and despite everything, giving him another reason to interfere sounds more exhausting than just getting up.

So I get up and head to the bathroom. Hot water hits my skin as I shower, and I stand under it longer than I need to, hoping—stupidly—that it might rinse the heaviness out of my chest. It doesn’t. I step out, wrap a white towel tight around myself, and squeeze the water from my hair, already picking out something to wear in my head. I push the bathroom door open and stop.

Aric is there, standing by the window. My heart stutters, and annoyingly so.

“You can’t just appear like that.” I instinctively tighten the towel around myself. “Some warning would be appreciated.”

One brow lifts. “It’s our bedroom. And I’m your husband.” His eyes move between mine. “Hardly trespassing.”

I press my lips together. Inhale slowly. “I’ll be down for breakfast on time.”

“That’s not why I came,” he states without hesitation. “You don’t have to perform for my father. Grieve however you need. No one expects you to pretend.”

That… surprises me, especially after last night. After the things I said. Especially after what he did to Luca.

Aric Vold is a riddle I keep failing to solve. The deadliest man I’ve ever stood beside, and the only one who’s ever covered me in the dark and slipped away before I could thank him. Cruelty and care, sharing the same body—and I can never tell which one I’m about to meet.

“Do you need anything?” he asks.

I hesitate, fingers twisting into the towel. “Yes.”

He inclines his head slightly, waiting.

“I want to attend Luca’s funeral.”

His jaw tightens, and something dark slides behind his eyes. I see it the moment the words leave my mouth. It’s subtle and brief, but I’ve learned to read Aric Vold in the spaces between what he shows and what he buries.

“I’ll arrange it,” he says with his controlled, level voice, and my brow twitches.

He agreed? Just like that? No argument. No conditions. No interrogation about why I need closure, or whether watching Luca lowered into the ground will help anything at all.

For a moment, I don’t know what to say.

Because this man—the one everyone fears, the one my world painted as a ruthless criminal, the one I accused last night of destroying Luca—is calmly arranging my attendance at my first love’s funeral. Not just allowing it. Helping.

“You’ll go with Tassilo,” he adds. “And Maylin.”

That was expected. Tassilo is Aric’s shadow, his most trusted hand, intimidating enough to make most people rethink breathing too loudly. Maylin is Tassilo’s twin sister. That’s all I know about her.

I nod slowly. “I didn’t think you’d agree.”

“Despite what you think…” He pauses for a fraction as though considering whether he wants to say his words aloud. “I’m not a monster.”

Of everything he’s said today, that’s what gets to me.

Because I know that. I’ve known it longer than I’ve been willing to admit. Monsters don’t take bullets meant for you. Monsters don’t respect boundaries they never asked for. Monsters don’t quietly rearrange their world so yours doesn’t implode.

He could’ve used Luca as leverage. Could’ve forbidden the funeral. Could’ve reminded me, cruelly and correctly, that I’m his wife now, that my past shouldn’t matter, that I already had my goodbye.

Instead, he bends. For me. Again. Even though he doesn’t have to.

Aric turns toward the door, already slipping back into whatever world he runs when he isn’t here, navigating mine.

“Thank you,” I whisper, not sure if he’ll catch it.

He stops. Doesn’t turn around and doesn’t answer. But the line of his shoulders loosens a breath before he disappears down the hall.

I dress in a black suit, tie my hair into a low bun, and apply the minimal makeup required, feeling nothing and everything at once. Today I bury Luca. Today I go home to Monsera for the first time since they signed me away—and it’s to lower the man who loved me into ground he never should’ve ended up in. Some homecoming.