Page 11 of Vows of Silence

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” my mother said. “I hope it’s nothing too serious?”

“A small fire,” he replied tightly, though he did bestow upon her a glorious smile that had her face flushing.

I guarantee that’s the only thing she remembers about tonight.

“A fire?” my dad repeated.

“And a meeting with Silas. It appears something has pissed him off. You best come with me, Vittorio. Wednesday was mentioned.”

“But… but we sorted the issue at the docks and—”

“Now, Vittorio!” Adrien barked, raising his voice for the first time. I almost jumped out of my skin. But the flash of anger was gone in the next second, and Adrien was pushing his chair backwards, buttoning up his jacket as he stood.

“I’ll wait for you in the car. Marco, Mrs Carbone… Isabelle.” He inclined his head at everyone else, but his gaze lingered on mine, locking eyes with my own, holding me hostage under his piercing grey stare.

And then he turned, and the breath whooshed from my lungs.

My father got to his feet, placing a kiss first on my cheek and my mother’s, and then rushed from the room, leaving us all utterly perplexed as to what the fuck had just happened.

Chapter 4

The Mask

I watched from behind my mask as the men hurried out of the house, heading to a meeting that wouldn’t be taking place.

I waited, silently watching as they filed into their cars, barking words at one another, and then took off one by one, before turning my attention back to the window.

And there she was. My little bird, nervously fleeing from one end of her cage to the other.

I took note of her clenched hands, the small frown between her eyes, and the way her entire body stiffened at the slightest noise.

She was on edge. Frightened. Nervous.

And goddamn if that didn’t send a jolt of arousal straight to my dick.

Fear looked far too fucking good on her.

But my hands remained at my side, still as a statue, continuing to watch her—just as I always did.

I wouldn’t lower her—or what we had—to nothing more than a quick relief outside her window. I had been patient this long, I could wait a little longer.

Adrien had been an unexpected interruption tonight. I’d need to replay the footage to see what I had missed and how he had slipped past. I wasn’t angry with myself. These things happened, and I’d got on top of it. Rewatching tonight, I’d learn from my mistakes.

Besides, rewatching my little bird wasn’t exactly a hardship. I enjoyed seeing her with her family tonight. I even liked the relationship she had with her brother. I would let her keep that.

Frank was beginning to become a hindrance, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Unlike Adrien, he wasn’t evading my cameras.

The thought of Adrien had my fists clenching. He never should have been able to get this close to her. I had prevented it for so long, it was fucking frustrating that he’d got the better of me tonight. I’d had to order my own goddamn casino burnt, sabotaging his hotel, just to get him away from her. To get her out from under his gaze. But it had been worth it.

With every passing day, I was more and more set on my resolve that she would not be continuing her relationship with her parents. Not once she became mine. They were throwing her into the lion’s den, without the slightest comprehension of what they were really doing.

Vittorio Carbone had grown greedy. His wife’s spending was out of control. They thought they could partner with The Vescari Empire and not get burnt in the process? They were fucking idiots.

But what had been monumentally stupid was to offer their daughter as leverage. In order to gain access to the drug shipments and earn Adrien’s trust, they had offered their daughter’s hand in marriage and, in turn, sealed their own fates.

Movement from the window had me focusing once more, seeing my little bird angrily tapping away at her phone.

I chuckled beneath my mask.