Promise Me Forever (Top Shelf Romance)

by Kate Stewart

  I was able to slip from the house and immediately shivered from the cool night air. Wrapping Caylen’s blankets tighter, I escaped into the night. I made sure to stay in the shadows as I made my way to the end of the driveway where Joey would be waiting for me on the other side of the gate. The path seemed to stretch forever, and every other step, I expected someone to jump out of the shadows to catch me. The gate finally came into view, and when I squinted, I could just make out the rusted metal of Joey’s car waiting along the edge. He wisely kept the engine and the headlights off, which meant Anna told him just enough to keep him smart.

  I quickened my step, eager for freedom, and after some fumbling, found the button to release the gate. The soft purr of the gate’s automatic locks made me cringe.

  I only had to walk through the gates to be free. Even if Z noticed now, it would already be too late.

  I waited only long enough for the gates to part enough for me to slip through, but as soon as I did, the hairs on my skin raised. I stood in place as I looked around. Nothing immediately seemed out of the ordinary, but I couldn’t ignore the warning trickling down my spine.

  The clouds chose this moment to part. The moonlight shined over Joey’s car, revealing an empty driver’s seat. Slowly, I took a step back. The gates were nearly shut, but the gap between them would be enough for me to turn back if I hurried.

  “Where are you going, princess?” Z stepped from the shadows just as I was ready to bolt. He didn’t appear angry or threatening, but his calm proved just as intimidating as I sunk further into fear.

  “I’m leaving.”

  “Why?” he asked as if I were visiting for summer vacation instead of being his brother’s captive. When I didn’t answer him, he turned his head back to the shadows. “Bring them out.”

  Shuffling that sounded suspiciously like to a struggle followed. The next moment, I heard a soft cry followed by a masculine grunt and then watched in horror as my friends were forced from the shadows. All I could do was face the danger I’d put them in. Anna stood in front of the two guards while Z pushed Joey to his knees and promptly placed a gun to his head.

  “Zachariah, don’t do this.”

  He ignored my plea and pressed the gun harder against Joey’s head. “What makes you think leaving will keep you safe? He’ll find you.”

  “Maybe he won’t, maybe he will, but I have to try. The only thing I know right now is that I’m a sitting duck. Angel can’t protect me.”

  Z shook his head. “I wasn’t talking about the senator, princess.”

  “Angel won’t come looking for me,” I said in denial. “He promised me I wasn’t a prisoner.”

  “But he never said you could leave, either.”

  The knowledge that I had been right about Angel made me sick to my stomach. I held tight to Caylen to keep him secure as I trembled. He remained fast asleep, blissfully unaware of the danger.

  “Don’t hurt them.”

  “I won’t hurt them, princess. Or you.” Shrugging, he lowered his gun by his thigh, but his finger never moved far from the trigger.

  “Then let us go.”

  I didn’t expect his features to soften. He looked more like the Z I knew and thought I could trust. “If I let you go and something happens to you, he’ll kill me.”

  I shook my head. “You’re his brother. That means something to him.”

  “But you mean more.”

  “What if you’re wrong?”

  We stared at each other for a moment that lasted too long before he finally spoke. I knew I’d won when his shoulders relaxed and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “Go.” I didn’t hesitate. I rushed to help my friends but stopped dead when Z’s gun was back at Joey’s skull. “But they stay.”

  “I won’t leave them.”

  “You’ll leave them because that is the deal, princess.”

  Silently, I pleaded for mercy, but when his gaze hardened, it was my turn to accept defeat. I could never run and leave my friends behind.

  “Princess…” I brushed away the soft caress of his voice and glared. “Angel won’t stop looking for you,” he continued unfazed. “He’ll come after them anyway, but if I offer him two bread crumbs, there will be less bloodshed.”

  That may be true, but he was asking me to offer up my friends like sheep for the wolves. Neither of us moved. Neither of us broke focus. He’d made his compromise. I just couldn’t make mine.

  “Go.” Anna’s whisper faded into the dark, but I heard it as if she had screamed the command. I was taken aback by the fearless gleam in her bright, round eyes as she said, “We’ll be okay, but you won’t. Go.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not leaving you. It’s not worth it.”

  “That’s for us to decide,” Joey argued through gritted teeth. “Just go.”

  I shook my head again and backed away until the iron gate forced my feet to stop. No matter how much fear pleaded with me to run, loyalty wouldn’t allow me to leave them.

  “This is your last chance, princess.”

  I didn’t recognize my voice in the cry I released when he pressed the muzzle of his gun harder against Joey’s head.

  “Run…or he dies.”

  Chapter 6

  ANGEL

  Three Years Ago

  I DIDN’T WANT to say I had butterflies, but that’s what the light feeling in my stomach felt like—a million butterflies.

  Little Mian Ross gave me fucking butterflies.

  Smiling around the blunt I had lit as I stepped outside, I dropped down on the stoop of the brownstone I now lived in alone.

  Tonight wouldn’t be special because it was my birthday or because I was finally taking my place as the Knight. No, tonight would be special because I would finally have the only two things I ever wanted: power and Mian.

  This morning, my father and godfather sat me down and told me that I would not only protect the family but the girl who consumed my every waking thought. I will give her my name and my life if need be. He went as far as to threaten my crown, but I knew it was to keep Theo in the dark about my feelings for his teenage daughter. I was taking her with or without her father’s permission. My father had known all along and had found a way to give me what I wanted without bloodshed. Theo accepted everything my father offered him with the promise that I wait until she turned eighteen before I actually touched her.

  I may not have been able to keep from feeling for his kid, but I was still very much aware of my physical boundaries. Theo told me he would be bringing her to the party tonight. Of course, I hadn’t bothered to let him know I already invited her. I was too close to making her mine to screw it up now.

  The party would be starting in a few hours so I made a few calls. It wasn’t just my birthday party or transfer of power. It was also an engagement party, and my kid fiancée would need a dress. I smiled again as I took a drag from my blunt.

  “What the fuck are you smiling about?” Lucas spat with a grin. I was so caught up in my head that I hadn’t noticed my two best friends approaching. They hadn’t been allowed at the brownstone when Mian lived here, and now that she was gone, they almost never leave.

  “I’m engaged.” They both laughed it off without even considering that I might be serious. “I’m not joking.” I enjoyed watching the grins on their faces slowly fall and smiled harder at their matching expressions of horror.

  “Dude… why?” Z questioned. It wasn’t often Z didn’t have a smile on his face. This was one of those rare moments.

  “She’s a birthday gift from pops.”

  “So, basically, he’s making you marry some girl?” Lucas was the shrewdest of our group, and while most cowered under his interrogation, I met his gaze.

  “Sort of. He’s protecting his interests.”

  “Why aren’t you upset? Is she hot?” Z’s grin was back full force.

  “Wait…” Lucas’ eyes narrowed. “Is this fiancée the mystery girl you won’t tell us anything about?” I passed him the cannabi
s-filled cigar since he looked like he needed it more than I did.

  “Holy shit,” Z exclaimed. “It’s her, isn’t it?” His bright green eyes shone even brighter with mischief. “You got her knocked up, didn’t you? All that in-house pussy you’ve been secretly getting finally caught up to you.”

  If he weren’t my best friend, I would have decked him. He threw up his hands and backed off at my look. “She’s not pregnant,” I answered eventually. “I never touched her.” But my dick sure wishes I had.

  “What’s her name?” I shook my head at Lucas’s question. “We still can’t even know her name?” Mian has been my secret for six years, and I selfishly wanted to keep her that way for a little bit longer.

  “She’ll be at the party tonight. You’ll meet her then.” To save myself from more questions, I made excuses about shit to do and left my friends on the stoop smoking the last of my stash.

  I was five minutes from Crecia when my phone rang. There was a sinking feeling in my gut when I read the name on the caller id.

  “Hey.” I figured now would be the time Theo would threaten me regarding the well-being of his daughter… off the record. It was cool. I had a few things to say too… off the record.

  “Son.” I sat up straighter at the unfamiliar grimness in Theo’s voice.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I wanted you to hear this from me before…” His voice trailed off, and all I could do was listen to the broken cries of a man I considered indestructible. It was the moment I knew whatever had broken him would do the same to me. I was already doing the impossible and trying to take back words I hadn’t even heard yet. “Your father is dead, Angeles.” There was a brief pause as my mind replayed these four words. “I’m sorry.”

  And just like that, the line died.

  Soon after, my phone was ringing again. This time, I answered without checking because I already knew who it would be.

  “Oh, God. Angel,” my mother wailed. “Arturo is dead!” Before I could speak, she cried words I never expected to hear. “I killed him. I killed him! God, please help me.”

  The line didn’t die this time, and my mother’s screams continued. The emotions you’re expected to feel when someone you love is killed—sorrow, anger, vengeance—eluded me. I was numb. I don’t remember hanging up on my hysterical mother. I don’t remember the next five minutes. I don’t even remember walking up the stairs and finding my father lying in a pool of his own blood.

  Years ago, my father insisted my mother learn to shoot if an enemy were ever bold enough to knock down his front door. To my father’s pleasure, my mother had been a natural shot. I’m sure it made his many days away free of guilt. He’d gotten her a revolver since they were easiest to operate, and made sure she stayed in practice. It was because of his insistence that my mother’s aim for his heart was true, and laying a couple of feet from the door was my mother’s revolver.

  My next move should be to avenge my father’s death, but killing my mother would never be an option. I could only protect her from what happens next. My father’s death wouldn’t be an insignificant event overlooked by the police.

  There were too many of them in his pocket.

  “Sir, I’ve called the cops,” an unfamiliar voice called. I turned and found a short African American woman in a white dress shirt and black tie. She looked scared as her eyes nervously shifted from me to the corpse behind me. “They’re on their way.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m Tanya. I’m filling in for Milly while she’s on vacation.” I shut my eyes tight to hide the internal war inside my head. If she was just a temp, then my father likely hadn’t bothered to pay her off, which made her a witness. “I saw a man leave—”

  She stopped speaking with a squeak when my eyes opened. “What man?”

  “I’m sorry. I—I don’t know.” Her voice carried a desperate note now. “He was tall, light brown hair, green eyes…” Her frown deepened as she described Theo. “He was the one who shot Mr. Knight. He left in such a hurry after I heard the gunshot. Your poor mother was so hysterical. She must have witnessed the entire thing.”

  I wasn’t sure if it was shock or betrayal responsible for the pain assaulting every cell in my body, but I recognized rage. Theo had run off rather than stand by my father’s side, and I planned to find out why. “Thank you, Tanya.” Her eyes had glistened with sympathy before she hurried back downstairs.

  I was remodeling the pieces of the puzzle as I calmly raided my father’s stash of sedatives he used when he needed a job done quietly and headed back downstairs. My mother was still on the couch crying quietly. Tanya was kneeling as she rubbed my mother’s back consolingly. As politely and unassuming as I could muster, I asked her to return to her duties until the police arrived. Once she was gone, I took the unknown woman’s place, but I didn’t offer my mother comfort. I lifted her head and gently stuck the needle in her neck. As I injected my mother with the sedative, I whispered three words in her ear.

  Theo killed him.

  Three months later, we sent an innocent man to jail.

  I didn’t feel the pain of my father’s death until Theo was safe behind bars, and I was forced to accept that I wouldn’t be able to avenge my father for a long time. I didn’t feel guilt for what I’d done until three years later when I looked into the broken eyes of little Mian Ross.

  Chapter 7

  ANGEL

  Present

  “WHERE IS SHE?” I watched my brothers, men with the heart of a lion, fidget under my interrogation. I’d woken up to an empty hospital room and no memory of how I made it here alive. Lucas and Z had been MIA, but I’d learned half my men were on guard and now I knew why.

  “We don’t know,” Z mumbled.

  “She fucking ran,” Lucas snarled. The phantom fist around my heart loosened. She wasn’t dead.

  “Why?” Because she tried to kill you. I waited for one of them to answer, but neither of them spoke a word. Z looked uncertain, and Lucas looked ready to explode, which meant they both knew something, but they were holding back.

  “What do you know?” My attention focused on Lucas, targeting him first. “What are you hiding from me?”

  “I could ask you the same,” he shot back as he crossed his arms.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Who stabbed you, Angel?”

  “Eliana.” The lie quickly fell from my lips, but it was obvious they didn’t believe me when Z’s gaze narrowed, and Lucas scoffed.

  “Why are you lying?” Lucas accused.

  “Who are you to tell me I’m lying?”

  “Your brother!” he roared. “She tried to kill you, and you’re still protecting her.”

  “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

  “Angel,” Z called with less hostility. “We found Eliana dead ten feet from where you were with a perfect shot to the head.”

  “And it was your knife that had been used on you. It’s also funny that the tape had been sliced clean through. Only a knife could have done that.”

  They watched me, waiting for me to trust them with the truth that would condemn her. I couldn’t do it. They were my brothers, but Mian was… complicated.

  Someday, we would finally destroy each other.

  “Tell the attending he has ten minutes to have my discharge papers ready, or I’m leaving without them.”

  “You lost too much blood, and you’ll tear your stitches.”

  “Am I a pussy? Have I ever been a pussy?” Neither one of them offered an answer, but one wasn’t needed. “Brothers…” I stood carefully from the hospital bed. There was a burning pain in my gut that I ignored as I rocked to steady myself on my feet. “We have a runaway to find.”

  “We can’t.”

  With barely suppressed rage I said, “Why the fuck not?”

  “Because an hour ago your family showed up demanding answers.”

  TWO DAYS LATER, I sat at the head of the table in the estate’s library. Luc
as and Z stood as silent forces behind me while each presumptive heir surrounded the table. This was the last place I wanted to be with Mian on the run and me still in pain, but this meeting could not be avoided.

  I was on trial.

  “I assume Victor and Eliana are dead.” Alistair was the first to speak after I gave a quick recount of what had happened four days ago. He was a direct descendant of Alexander, which made him as much an enemy as an ally. His entire line resented mine ever since my great-grandfather, Adan, took Archibald’s life and inherited Alexander’s legacy.

  I met his assessing gaze. “You assume correct, cousin.”

  “We were sorry to hear about your mother,” stated Aldric, a descendant of Meredith. I nodded, believing his sincerity.

  “Thank you.”

  Reginald, a descendant of Alexander and first in line to succeed me, leaned forward, and I knew whatever he had to say would tempt me to kill him. “Why do you think Victor would betray your father after all these years? First, there was Theo,” he continued before I could speak, “and now Victor. I’m not sure the family shouldn’t be concerned about the betrayal your father’s rule has bred.”

  “Well, my father doesn’t rule anymore. I do.”

  “Yes, but I’m not sure how far you’ve actually fallen, Angeles.”

  More than a dozen gazes settled on me, waiting. “If your next stipend isn’t to your satisfaction, we can revisit this conversation.”

  “The money is good. I cannot deny you that accomplishment, but it’s not enough. We need protection and to believe you won’t be the end of Alexander’s legacy.”

  “Has anyone broken down your door and harmed you?”

  “Fortunately, that has not occurred…yet.”

  “Well, then you shouldn’t incite fate. Victor kidnapped my mother so he could get me alone and kill me.” It was at least part truth. “He’s been taken care of without any harm to the family.”