Page 16 of Savage Promises
I close my eyes and mutter, “A virgin.” Likethat’swhat I want in my bed.
Iwantto throw up.
“It is the way of this life we chose, Shane.” Griffin leans forward. “I saw how you used to look at Lennox growing up. I was right there, brother. Are you okay thatshe’ll be your sister-in-law?”
“I already should be handed a fucking Academy Award after I was told to stay away from her. Have I not acted like I don’t care about her? What’s another fifty years of misery?” I walked away from Lennox and shut down my heart.
But this, this is a fresh cut on an old wound.
Griffin’s face falls. “Lennox left for school and you never mentioned her.”
“Da made it pretty clear, we weren’t to marry anyone named Donnelly.” I pace the room, feeling rage ready to overtake me.
“That was then. This is now.” Griffin waves the envelope. “Look, I know this sits wrong with you because of your unresolved feelings for Lennox.”
I meet his gaze with a sharp steely one of my own. “Enough with Lennox.” Why talk about the woman I can’t fucking have? I don’t want to see her, smell her, taste her, or remember that she exists. “You think tying myself to the Donnellys fixes everything? Like that doesn’t make us vulnerable to more of Richard’s manipulation?”
“No.” Griffin doesn’t flinch. “Not when his daughter has our name. And is at our mercy.”
“I’d never hurt a woman. Especially Neve. She’s young and innocent.” My stomach knots tighter, however, at the idea of marrying an eighteen-year-old.
Silence stretches out, and only the sound of rain fills my ears.
“No big wedding. No fucking show,” I whisper.
“All we care about is thatRichardwitnesses us take his princess. That’s the part of the knife we twist.” Griffin runs a hand through his shaggy hair. “And the word will spread to those who dare to think they can cross us.”
“I’m not sleeping with Lennox’s sister.” The thought alone sickens me. “I can’t.”
Griffin leans back on the sofa and laughs. “Don’t you recall I said the same thing about Ava? Now I have two sons sleeping peacefully upstairs, and I’ve never been happier.”
“It’s not the same. Ava wasyourpast.Yougot a do-over.” I kick an ottoman over.
Griffin’s voice drops lower, more dangerous. “This is a game of survival now, Shane. Heck, by you marrying Neve, you’ll bear the first pure-blood children of the empire. You could makemekneel toyou.”
“That’s not going to happen, Griff. We’re one. We’ve always been one,” I say our family motto, my pulse a steady drum against my jugular.
Griffin smiles, rubbing his knuckles. “The more this sinks in, the more it feels right. Marrying Neve isn’t just a union, it’s Donnelly’s ultimate surrender. To us. A symbol that they will never rise above us.”
Griffin stands up and wraps his arms around me in a bear hug.
“Jesus, Griff,” I say, standing stiff in his embrace.
“I love you, and I trust you. You’ll make this work.” He steps back, giving me space, but his final words linger like smoke. “This isn’t just a move, Shane. It’s checkmate. The only question is, are you willing to play?”
TEN MINUTES LATER,we drive to Astoria. And I mean all of us. Griffin, his two guards, Connor, Trace, Rhys, Blade, Jett, and a caravan of eight empire guards like it’s a fucking presidential motorcade.
Show of force, indeed.
Richard Donnelly’s crappy little house, a few doors down from my childhood home, hasn’t changed. Rhysdrags Garrett up the front steps. He’s barely conscious, blood staining his collar, but he’s alive.
The door opens before we can knock. Richard stands there, his face a mask of barely controlled rage. “Give me my son!”
Connor shoves Garrett forward. “Just know, we can come back for him any time.”
Richard’s eyes narrow, but he steps aside to let us in. It’s the house that time forgot. Not a damn thing has changed. The stone fireplace looks unused, but the mantle holds family photos. Richard and Kay’s wedding photo and then a few of a younger Garrett, but many of Neve in some athletic setting. Golden award statues and blue ribbons lie strewn around, too, like it’s a fucking shrine. To Neve. With one sole picture of Lennox: her high school graduation photo.
My chest tightens.
