Page 14 of By His Vow

I hate that he’s right.

Hate it.

Scooting forward on the chair, I hold my hand out for Richard to pass me a pen.

The metal is cool in my fingers, the weight of it almost unbearable as I drag the tip of his fancy fountain pen across the paper.

My signature is almost unrecognizable with how violently my hand is trembling.

A huge breath rushes from my lungs as I sit back and stare at the ink.

Fuck.

“Kingston,” Richard says, holding the pen out for him.

“Of course.”

Smoothing down his tie, he sits forward and scratches his signature beneath mine.

Unlike me, his hand is steady, his writing strong and sure.

Nothing ever unnerves this man. Even signing a year of his life away to me is just another day to him.

Right then and there, I make myself a promise.

Even if I achieve nothing else in the next year of my life, I want to find out what makes him tick, and I want to experience him lose control.

Just once.

I want to experience Kingston Callahan as a real person, not a corporate robot.

The second he sits back, I pull the door open and all but flee from my father’s office.

I was wrong when I walked in there earlier. I thought hearing Richard read the will would close the door on a part of my life I’m mostly happy to leave in the past.

But I have a feeling a whole new level of hell is about to start.

Pressing my hand over my racing heart, I stumble down the hallway, my only focus getting out of this house and away from everyone.

I’m almost at the front door and able to grab my bags and escape when Miles’s deep voice booms down the hallway.

“Tate, wait.”

I stop where I am with my hand resting against the wall.

My legs are weak and my head is spinning. The last thing I should be doing is heading toward my car.

“I can’t stay here, Miles. I need…I don’t know what I need.”

Alcohol. You need lots of alcohol.

Fuck. I’m not even sure if that’s going to be enough.

“Are you okay?” he asks quieter.

He’s right behind me. The heat from his body warms mine.

I desperately want to turn around and fall into his chest. But if I do, I’m afraid I might drown in my own tears.