Broken Vow (Brutal Birthright, #5)

by Sophie Lark

it all drifted away in those moments when I lay dying on the carpet. In those last few seconds before I drifted away, I didn’t feel anger or resentment. I thought to myself, “I’ve been loved.” My only regret was that I hadn’t shown that same love strongly enough in return.

He looks like the only man in the world who could deserve such a beauty.

“I’ve loved you from the moment I saw your face. I know that will sound shallow since I’m talking to the most gorgeous woman in the world. But I promise you, in your face I saw your bravery, your intelligence, and your kindness. As soon as you spoke to me, it was like a door opened into your mind. I saw this whole other universe of creativity and cleverness. A way of looking at things that I’d never imagined. And I wanted to walk through that door. I wanted to live in your world. You made such an impact on me that I never forgot you. Through all the time we were apart, I thought of you constantly. I dreamed of you. I longed for you. To have you back in my arms brings me a joy that I can’t express. The reality of you is a hundred times better than my imagining.”

“I will love you every moment of my life,” Dante says. “I will cherish and protect you. Anything you want, I’ll get it for you. I’ll be your best friend and your ally. I’ll make your life better, always, and never worse.”

“Dante, you are everything to me,” she says. “My heart and my soul. My happiness and my safe haven. Life without you was lonely and bitter. The only thing that brought me joy was Henry, our son. He’s a piece of you and me, the best thing we ever did. I love him for himself, and I love him for how he reminds me of you.

“I promise to choose you for the rest of our lives. To choose you over fear or selfishness. Over ambition or other cares. I promise to never let you down again. To always be there for you. I promise to give you every bit of joy this life has to offer. You are the most incredible man I’ve ever known, and I promise to be the wife you deserve. “I’m so lucky today. I’m the luckiest person in the world.”

I promise to choose you over fear or selfishness. Over ambition and other cares. Is that what love is? Is it putting the other person above your own fears and desires? I thought that might be the case. And that’s why I thought I’d never fall in love. But now I have, by accident.

I think I might want him more than all the things I wanted before. More than my fears and, yes, even more than my ambitions. Does that make me weak and pathetic? Do I have to give up myself to have love?

You’re happier here. This is where you belong: here, with me. I’m afraid. But I want to choose Raylan over that fear.

She’s never been more beautiful. It’s funny—we were in a room full of gorgeous women, but I only had eyes for her.

I felt this duty to stay. But then I realized . . . duty isn’t the same thing as desire. What I thought I wanted…I don’t want it anymore. Maybe I never really did.

I want to choose you, Raylan. I want to choose you over anything else.” I shake my head in amazement. I really thought I was getting the hang of Riona. Then she knocks me over like this.

“When you really fall in love . . . that person becomes your world. You’ll come back sometimes. But mostly you’ll want to be with Raylan. And that’s okay. I’m happy for you! I’ll miss you like crazy, though!”

“Sometimes it’s clearly meant to be. I knew it from the moment I saw you.” “All you knew was that you were driving me crazy.” He grins. “And I wanted to do it a whole lot more.”