I trudged back up the stairs to ‘make myself presentable’. Still holding my cup of coffee, I stared into my closet. I smiled as I pulled out my favorite dress. It was a knee-length, pinup style dress in bright green with orange trim. It was colorful, bright, and exactly what Thomas would hate.
He liked me in boring, unimaginative clothes. Just like his boring, unimaginative personality.
Today, I didn’t want him to like me. A spark of excitement was born in my stomach, and I wanted him to see me for who I was—bright, colorful, and happy. I was a law student, of course, and I was going to be successful, but I wasn’t going to pretend to be someone I wasn’t.
Pairing the dress with orange heels and an orange clutch, I grinned. I was an explosion of color, and I loved it. When I opened my door, Dart was laying down in front of it, waiting for me. He jumped up and nuzzled between my legs, and I laughed.
“At least you like my dress, D’Artagnan.” His tail smacked the wall as it wagged and he looked up at me with those big, brown eyes of his. I sighed. “I’m going to be gone most of the day, so don’t miss me too much.”
When I went back downstairs, Thomas was already there. His eyebrows arched when he saw me, his eyes sweeping down from my head to my toes. It didn’t send a shiver of excitement through me the way it did when Zane looked at me.
Maybe it was the slight contempt in Thomas’s gaze. It only lasted an instant, but I saw it.
“My gorgeous fiancée.” His smile was plastic, and for the first time, unease settled in my stomach. I walked towards him and placed a peck on his cheek. I kept waiting for that flutter in my stomach, that excitement, that need.
There was nothing.
We exchanged polite pleasantries with my mother, and then I hooked my arm around Thomas’s as we walked out the door.
My eyebrows shot up when I saw the car parked outside. The bright red Ferrari was gleaming in the sunlight. I glanced at Thomas.
“New car?”
“Got this baby yesterday.” He ran his fingers along the hood, and he looked at the car with more affection than he looked at me.
I nodded. “It doesn’t match my outfit.”
“What?” He frowned, turning his head towards me.
I paused. “I’m kidding.”
God, messing with him was almost too easy. If he had a sense of humor, he hadn’t revealed it to me. He was animated when he was talking to my father or his colleagues, but with me, he had the personality of wet cardboard.
Why had I agreed to marry this man? It had seemed like a great idea a few months ago, but now it just seemed like a prison sentence.
I tried to smile at him.
He just nodded, still frowning.
“Oh.”
Alright, so maybe I wasn’t destined to be a stand-up comedian. Or, maybe I just needed to find my audience.
He opened the Ferrari door for me and I slid inside. I bit my lip to try to control my feelings. This was my fiancé. I was going to marry this man, and I couldn’t let one night out at a concert turn that all upside down.
Thomas was smart, successful, and well-connected. He had women hanging off him everywhere he went, from waitresses at restaurants to CEOs of companies. I was the one who’d nabbed him. Our wedding was a ‘good match’, as my mother liked to repeat to me. I should have been happy about it.
Why did it suddenly feel like I was trying to convince myself it was a good idea?
When Thomas got behind the steering wheel and smoothed back his perfectly gelled hair, all I could think about was Zane. The wildness in his eyes, and the power in his body. The way he walked, with his back ramrod straight and his eyes scanning the street made me feel safe and protected, and proud to be at his side.
Being beside Thomas made me feel like an ornament.
We drove down wide boulevards with tall, shady trees. I realized we were headed towards Georgetown University.
“Where are we going?”
“I thought it would be nice for you to show me around your college.” He glanced at me and reached over to squeeze my hand. “I brought a picnic.”
Glancing in the back seat, I saw a basket and blanket. My cheeks burned.
I was so ungrateful—such a brat! Here I was, thinking the worst of him, and he’d planned something cute and romantic. Maybe he wasn’t so bad, after all.
I needed to get a grip.
I was marrying this man. He was a good man, with a good heart. It was a good match.
One encounter with Zane Wolfe shouldn’t ruin that. It couldn’t! This was my life and my future. I wasn’t a twelve-year-old girl anymore.
We parked near the Georgetown Law Center and walked towards the lush green lawn in front of the main building. Thomas carried the basket and blanket in one arm and held my hand with the other. His palm was sweaty and uncomfortable. I wanted to pull my hand away.
I took a deep breath. A sweaty palm wasn’t a reason to not want to marry the man. It was August, and it was humid, hot, and muggy in DC. That was all. It wasn’t Thomas’s fault.
My mind kept going back and forth—finding faults with him and then explaining them away. By the time we made it to the Law Center, my head was spinning.
I helped him lay out the blanket on the grass and kicked off my shoes. I sat on my heels and helped him unpack the picnic.
“All my favorites!” I exclaimed, pulling out croissants, cheeses, prosciutto. I smiled at him, shaking my head. “How did you know?”
“Your mom helped a bit,” he snorted. My heart sank.
Of course.
I shouldn’t have been disappointed, but I was. My mother probably planned this whole thing. She probably packed the basket herself. Thomas wasn’t cute and romantic at all, he was just doing what was expected of him.
My chest suddenly felt hollow and my movements became mechanical. Thomas was looking at his phone, and I used the time to blink back tears. I cleared my throat and painted a smile on my face.
“So… how’s work?”
“It’s good.” He didn’t look up. He didn’t look at the food, or at me, or anything except his phone. It was probably some important email, based on the way his brows were drawn together.
It was important. His job was important. I knew this. I should get used to it, but still.
This was the first time he was seeing me, his fiancée, in weeks! Surely he should be paying attention to me? He’d been away on business all this time. Was it that hard to put the phone aside and actually look at me? Was my dress that offensive to him?
Tears smarted in my eyes again, and I glanced away from him to try to compose myself. The Law Center was quiet, with only a handful of people walking around the green. Starting tomorrow, though, this place would be bustling with students, professors, and staff. I watched one woman carrying a stack of files towards the front door. She struggled with the door, shuffling her files from one arm to the other.
With her free hand, she reached for the door just as a shadow appeared on the other side of it. Before she could open it, her files tumbled out of her hand onto the pathway. I watched her, imagining the exclamation that I couldn’t hear from this distance. The door opened and a huge body filled the frame.
My heart skipped a beat.
It wasn’t…
No.
It couldn’t be.
That wasn’t Zane.
Why would he be here? I was clearly seeing things.
Or was I?
My heart thumped as I watched the man lean over and help the woman with her papers. I watched as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. They both stood up, and she reached over to stroke his bulging bicep.
Anger flared in my chest. Red hot jealousy burned my heart and my cheeks flushed.
Who was this bitch?
“Sadie?”
I turned to see Thomas staring at me. His phone was by his side and he was frowning, tilting his head to the side as he studied me.
“You okay?”
I swallowed
and nodded. “I’m fine. This looks delicious.”
Reaching for a croissant, I stole one more glance towards the man and woman. The woman was standing with one hip cocked, laughing at something he said. I couldn’t read his body language. His back was straight, and his arms were hanging loosely by his sides. He didn’t react when she touched him again.
Thomas was in the middle of saying something about his work, and I did my best to tear my eyes away from the distant couple and listen to what he was saying.
I smiled, blinked my eyes, and tried to focus on the man I was going to marry.
5
Zane
It took forever for the woman to finally go inside the building. If it wasn’t for Berkeley showing up at my house yesterday and telling me how important it was to network in this job, I would have brushed her off as soon as her papers were in her hand.
Instead, I had to stand there pretending to enjoy it while she batted her eyelashes at me.
Maybe I would have enjoyed it before. Fuck, who am I kidding? I probably would have taken her back to my office and fucked her right there.
But now…
Sadie had gotten under my skin.
I couldn’t get her out of my head. I dreamt of her last night, and woke up with my cock so hard it almost hurt to jerk off. I closed my eyes and imagined that skimpy black bikini, and in three pumps I had sweet release.
I regretted it instantly, but I hadn’t had much choice. If I hadn’t jerked off, I think the friction of pants against my hard cock would have done it for me.
Then as I was standing there, in front of the Law Center, with this woman pushing her tits out towards me, I wondered if I’d even be able to fuck her. There wasn’t even a hint of arousal in my pants. I let her slip her phone number into my breast pocket and walked away.
Sliding my sunglasses onto my face, I made my way towards the street. I should have felt good—the sun was shining, people were laughing. There was even a couple having a picnic on the grass.
It was a picture-perfect day.
All that happiness just reminded me of how miserable I was. My hatred for Nathan Blanchet, my uncontrollable desires for Sadie, my lie to Berkeley and the fucking CIA about my past connection with the Senator—my life and career were hanging on by a thread.
Every step that brought me closer to the couple on the grass made me think of how crushingly alone I felt. It was a new feeling for me. I’d always been a loner. Even in the Marine Corps, I didn’t mix much with the other men and women, but it hadn’t bothered me. I liked being alone. I was there to accomplish my goals: finish law school, get out of the military, and ruin Nathan Blanchet’s life by any means necessary.
Now, being alone didn’t seem like an advantage at all.
The woman on the grass had long, red hair. Her skin was milky white, and she wore a bright green dress. The way she was sitting made her look very prim and proper. The man was staring at his phone, and she stole a glance towards me.
My heart stopped.
Fuck.
What was she doing here? She straightened her back, looking directly at me.
Sadie had recognized me, I was sure of it. She leaned towards me, and all I could think about was this morning, and how hard I’d come to the thought of her sucking my cock.
I swiveled on my heels and changed directions, walking the other way.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Walking as quickly as I could, I turned the corner and disappeared into a building. I made my way up the elevator and down a long hallway, back towards my new office—well, Dennis Norton’s new office. It wasn’t until I was safely inside the door with the lock turned that I let myself breathe.
With the semester starting tomorrow, I was more or less prepared for the first day of class. I slumped into my chair, pulling out my phone and finding Sadie’s social media profile.
Law Student - Georgetown Law Center.
My heart thudded. How the fuck was I going to explain this one? My only hope was that Sadie wouldn’t be one of my students. If she was, she’d know that I wasn’t Dennis Norton at all—I was Zane Wolfe.
This was bad. It wasn’t just the fact that my cock couldn’t control itself when I thought of her, or was close to her, or heard her or smelled her. This was beyond just personal attractions getting in the way of my vendetta.
This could destroy years of work. This could expose me, blow my cover, and ruin the entire operation.
This could ruin our case against Senator Blanchet. He’d slip through our fingers, we wouldn’t find out who his weapons manufacturer was, and the Russians would be buying American weaponry by the boatload.
No, this wasn’t about me anymore. This was bigger than me.
And Sadie could ruin everything.
I fired up my new faculty laptop and found the class lists. I was teaching two classes—import-export law to second- and fourth-year law students. My eyes scanned the list of second-years, and I breathed a sigh of relief. No Sadie Blanchet.
But then, right there near the top of the fourth-year list was her name.
I stared at the screen as my heart thumped. How did I miss this? How the fuck did I miss this?
My hands trembled as I mashed the screen on my phone. Berkeley answered on the first ring.
“Wolfe. Everything alright?”
“Berk, we have a problem. Sadi—the Blanchet girl, the Senator’s daughter—she’s in one of my classes.”
Berkeley was silent for a beat.
“Zane, that’s the point.” He sighed, and I imagined him massaging his temples. “We arranged it. If you have access to her, it gives you a chance to have access to her father. All these networking events and fundraisers you’ll be at, she’ll be at them too. It gives you an in.”
My heart was still racing. I’d managed to hide my connection to Blanchet this long. If I opened up about it now, my career was over. I pinched my mouth closed and cleared my throat.
“Is that wise?”
“Why the fuck wouldn’t it be?”
“Involving the daughter in this kind of operation is a big fucking risk, Berk. What if she ends up as collateral?”
“She’s a fucking corrupt Senator’s daughter, Zane. She knows exactly what’s going on.”
No, she doesn’t. She’s innocent. She’s too innocent.
“Zane?”
“Sir?”
“Do you understand what the fuck is expected of you?”
“Yes. Of course I do. Yes, absolutely.” Stop talking. I took a breath.
“Good.”
Click.
I leaned back in my chair and groaned. I thought I’d be able to do this. I thought I’d be able to get close to Senator Blanchet and send him to prison if I couldn’t send him six feet under. I thought it would be clean, above-board, mostly legal.
I’d ruin his life and avenge my parents. He would get what he deserved.
But with Sadie involved…
My phone buzzed. I picked it up, only to see a blank screen. Shit. Other phone. I pulled Dennis Norton’s phone out of my pocket and saw Mikhail Ivanov’s name on the screen. I took a second to steady my heartbeat and make sure my voice was calm.
“Mr. Ivanov.”
“Deniska,” he said, using the term of endearment I’d earned after two years as his lawyer. “I need you to come to my office.”
“Today?”
“Now.”
“On my way.”
Click.
I stared at the phone and sighed. That was the second time in about thirty seconds I’d been hung up on. No one was wasting time on pleasantries today, not even a simple ‘see you later’.
Throwing my personal phone in a drawer, I grabbed my Dennis’ phone and slipped it in my pocket. All my IDs, my credit cards—everything was in Dennis’s name. The name on the office door was Prof. Dennis Norton.
My cover story was solid, and I had the Russians’ trust.
But today, I felt off-balance. I didn’t feel like Dennis Nor
ton, I felt like Zane. The calm, placid exterior that I’d honed in my years as a Marine was starting to fray at the edges. I opened a drawer and reached in the back to where I’d installed a false panel. I pulled out my Glock 22 and checked the magazine. Sliding it into place, I paused.
What was I going to do, go to Ivanov’s place with a fucking gun? Why would I do that? Just because Sadie knew who I was, didn’t mean anything had changed.
The operation was on track. We were closing in on Blanchet. Soon, we’d have him, his weapons manufacturer, and the Russians in custody. If everything went to plan, Blanchet would end up with a bullet in his brain.
Things were on target.
I unloaded the gun and slid it back into the false compartment. I rubbed my hands on my face and took a deep breath.
My heartbeat was erratic and my thoughts were jumbled. I needed to get myself together, or I would wind up dead. I’d seen Ivanov kill before, and I knew that I was never completely safe around him. Walking in with a gun strapped to my side wasn’t going to help my cause.
Shaking my head, I stood up and smoothed my shirt. All I had to do was walk to my car, go to Ivanov’s place, and see what he wanted to talk about. It was probably one of his men getting arrested for fighting in a bar, or something. I’d have to get his muscle out of prison, and that would be the end of it.
I needed to calm the fuck down.
I took the long way around, avoiding the lawn in front of the building. When I got in my car, I took a deep breath and made my way to the Ivanov mansion.
I didn’t even have to knock before Grigory opened the door. He didn’t say a word, just nodded towards the office. I dipped my chin down at him and walked past.
The hallway seemed to stretch on forever. My shiny black shoes padded on the plush Persian rug, and stately paintings of old Russian men and women stared at me as I walked past. It felt like I was going to my execution.
When I knocked on the door, Ivanov beckoned me inside.
He stood up when I entered, spreading his arms wide.
“Deniska, come, sit.” He gestured to the chair. “Thank you for coming. Congratulations again on your position at the University.”
His Vow: The Protector Series: Book 1 Page 4