Page 21 of Forgotten Vows

"No!" The word comes out as a scream, raw and desperate. "No, please, don't take him, please?—"

But Matteo is already being carried toward the back of the plane. I can hear him calling for me, his voice high and frightened, and I try to go after him, but Lachlan's hands are on my shoulders, holding me back.

"Let me go!" I claw at his arms, trying to break free. "Let me go, I need to—I need to get to him?—"

"He's safe." Lachlan's voice is calm and steady, even as I'm falling apart in his arms. "He's safe, Adriana. I promise."

"You can't promise that!" I'm sobbing now, tears streaming down my face in hot tracks. "You can't promise anything! Gio is going to find us, he's going to kill us, he's going to take Matteo and turn him into—into?—"

My legs give out.

I don't feel myself falling—I don't pinpoint the exact moment my body decides it's had enough, but suddenly I'm on the floor and Lachlan is kneeling beside me. His arms are around me, and I'm shaking so hard I think I might break apart.

"I can't—" The words come out fractured. "I can't do this. I can't?—"

"Shh." His hand is in my hair, stroking gently, and his voice is soft in my ear. "It's okay. You're okay."

But I'm not okay. I'm so far from okay I can't even see it from here.

"Rian." Lachlan's voice is quiet, directed at someone I can't see. "I need you to get the medical kit?—"

"No." I try to pull away, but I don't have the strength. "No, don't?—"

"It's just something to help you calm down." Lachlan's arms tighten around me, holding me steady. "Just for a little while. Just until?—"

"I don't want—" But I can't finish the sentence. There's a sharp pinch in my arm, a brief sting, and then warmth spreads through my veins, heavy and thick and pulling me down.

"No," I whisper, but the word comes out slurred. "Please, I need to—Matteo?—"

"He's safe." Lachlan's voice is fading, growing softer, and I can feel his arms around me as he picks me up. "I've got you. I've got both of you."

The last thing I see before the darkness takes me is his face, with those blue eyes looking down at me. I want to tell him that I'm sorry, that I'm scared, that I don't know how to do this, how to trust him, how to believe that anything good can come from this.

But the words won't come. And then there's nothing but darkness, pulling me down into sleep.

6

LACHLAN

Ilower Adriana onto one of the leather seats in the back of the cabin, arranging her carefully so her head is supported. She's unconscious, her face slack and peaceful in a way it hasn't been since I found her in that house.

I should feel relief. She's safe, she's here, she's mine again. But instead there's just this hollow confusion sitting in my chest like a stone. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

I slump into the seat across from her, exhaustion hitting me all at once now that the adrenaline is fading. There's nothing left to do except sit here and wait for the plane to carry us back to Chicago.

I thought she'd be grateful. I thought she'd see me standing in her doorway and feel the same overwhelming relief I felt. I thought she'd throw herself into my arms and cry and tell me she'd been waiting for me, that she knew I'd come back for her eventually, that she'd never stopped believing in us.

Instead, she looked at me like I was a stranger. Worse than a stranger—like I was something to be feared.

I run my hands through my hair, tugging hard. My thoughts are spiraling, and I can't seem to get them under control. Across from meAdriana's chest rises and falls, and I watch her, noticing the changes ten years have wrought on the girl I loved.

She's thinner than she should be. I could feel her ribs when I held her, the sharp jut of her hip bones through her jeans. It makes rage flare hot in my chest all over again, because Gio did this to her. Gio kept her prisoner and starved her and forced her to pose for those fucking photos?—

I have to stop that line of thinking before it consumes me completely.Mine,something primal in me snarls.She's mine, and he hurt her, and I killed him for it, and it still isn't enough.

Cormac moves quietly through the cabin, checking on Matteo in the back room. When he returns, he gives me a slight nod that tells me everything is under control.

Except nothing has gone the way I planned. I thought I knew exactly how this would play out. I'd infiltrate the estate, extract Adriana and our son, bring them back to Chicago, and she'd be so relieved to be free that she'd forgive me for taking ten years to come back for her. We'd start building the life we were supposed to have, the life her father stole from us that night in the garden, as soon as we touched down in my city.