Chapter 2  A War of Vows

I should have walked away.

I should have told Dominic Caldwell to go straight to hell.

Instead, I sat across from him, trapped in a deal I didn't fully understand yet. My father's scandal was being buried as we spoke, my family's legacy preserved-but at what cost?

I wasn't stupid.

Dominic didn't save people. He destroyed them.

And now, I was bound to him by a contract as unbreakable as the iron in his eyes.

I forced myself to hold his gaze. "You said you're destroying my father, not saving him. What does that mean?"

He took his time answering, leaning back in his chair like a king surveying his latest conquest.

"It means," he said slowly, "that your father is drowning in his own corruption. I just decided when and how he would sink."

A chill crept up my spine. "You planned this from the beginning."

A smirk ghosted across his lips. "Would you believe me if I said it was fate?"

I slammed my hands on his desk. "This isn't a game, Dominic."

His eyes darkened. "It's always a game, Sinclair. The only question is whether you're playing or being played."

I gritted my teeth. "And what am I in this twisted little game of yours?"

His smirk vanished. He stood, closing the space between us, his presence suffocating.

"You," he murmured, "are the queen on my chessboard."

My breath hitched as he reached out and traced a single finger down my arm. A warning. A promise.

"And when this is over," he continued, his voice a whisper against my skin, "you'll either be by my side-or you'll be nothing at all."

****

By the time I left Caldwell Enterprises, the engagement had become international news. Social media exploded. Headlines screamed about the upcoming "power wedding of the decade."

Elena Sinclair, the senator's daughter, engaged to the infamous Dominic Caldwell?

The world ate it up.

Too bad the fairy tale was built on lies.

I barely made it back to my apartment before my phone rang.

"Elena," my best friend, Ava, snapped the moment I answered. "WHAT THE HELL?"

I groaned. "Ava, I don't have the energy for this right now-"

"Are you seriously engaged to the devil incarnate?!"

I collapsed onto my couch. "It's complicated."

"You hate him."

"I still do."

"Then why the hell did you say yes?"

I hesitated. Ava was the only person I trusted, but even she didn't know the full extent of my father's situation. If I told her the truth, she'd try to fix it, and this wasn't something that could be fixed.

"I didn't have a choice," I admitted. "But I'm not rolling over and playing house for Dominic."

Ava exhaled sharply. "You're playing with fire."

I closed my eyes. "I know."

What I didn't tell her was that I was already burning.

****

Two days later, I found myself on Dominic's arm, standing in front of a sea of cameras at a high-profile charity gala.

His grip was firm on my waist, his touch possessive, as if branding me as his.

"Smile," he murmured. "You're madly in love, remember?"

I turned to him with the fakest smile I could muster. "I hope you choke on your champagne."

His laugh was low and lethal. "Careful, Sinclair. Keep looking at me like that, and I might actually believe you want me."

I dug my nails into his hand, but he only smirked harder.

The cameras flashed. The media ate up the image of the perfect couple.

Too bad no one knew I was mentally plotting his demise.

Then, just as I thought I had a handle on the night, someone new entered the room.

And my entire world tilted.

He was tall. Broad-shouldered. Devastatingly handsome with sharp green eyes that flickered with recognition the moment they landed on me.

No. No, no, no.

Not here. Not now.

Dominic's grip on me tightened. "Something wrong, sweetheart?"

I forced myself to breathe. "Who is that?"

His lips barely moved. "Liam Caldwell. My twin."

Twin.

The word sent a jolt of panic through me.

Because Liam Caldwell wasn't just Dominic's brother.

He was the man I almost married three years ago.

The ex who shattered my heart.

The one secret I never wanted Dominic to know.

And now, he was walking straight toward us.

Liam stopped in front of us, his gaze flickering from me to Dominic. "Elena."

His voice was smooth, but there was a tightness in it that only I would recognize.

I swallowed hard. "Liam."

Dominic's expression didn't change, but I felt the shift in his energy. "So you two know each other?"

Liam's jaw clenched. "Something like that."

Dominic's fingers brushed my hip, a silent warning. "Interesting."

The tension between them was suffocating.

Liam's gaze locked onto mine. "I need to speak with you. Alone."

Dominic's grip on me didn't loosen. "That won't be happening."

Liam's green eyes darkened. "Don't test me, Dominic."

I felt the unspoken words between them, the old wounds, the years of unresolved hatred.

And I realized something horrifying.

This wasn't just my war anymore.

It was a war between brothers.

And I was the prize.

****

I barely made it through the rest of the night. Liam's presence rattled me more than I wanted to admit, and Dominic knew it.

By the time we reached his penthouse, I was ready to rip the engagement ring off my finger and throw it in his face.

"Why didn't you tell me about him?" he asked the moment we stepped inside.

I spun around. "Why would I?"

Dominic's jaw ticked. "You were with him, weren't you?"

I forced myself to stay calm. "That was three years ago."

He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. "And yet, you still looked at him like he was your greatest regret."

My throat tightened.

Because he wasn't wrong.

I should have said something. Anything. But before I could, Dominic reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone.

And when he handed it to me, my blood ran cold.

Because on the screen was a picture of me and Liam.

From three years ago.

From the night I almost ran away with him.

Dominic's voice was quiet. Lethal.

"Tell me, Elena." His fingers brushed my wrist, gentle but unyielding. "Did you ever love him?"

My lips parted, but no words came out.

Because I had.

And Dominic knew it.

And in that moment, I realized something terrifying.

This wasn't just a contract marriage anymore.

This was personal.

And Dominic Caldwell?

He didn't lose.