Vengeful Vows

One

Alice Horvath—matriarch of the Horvath family, former CEO of Horvath Corporation and creator of Match Made in Marriage—surveyed the candlelit, flower-bedecked room and tried to ignore the trepidation that filled her. She didn’t know why she was so nervous about the union of her third-eldest grandson, Galen, to a woman who was so perfect for him it had actually brought tears to her eyes when she’d made the match. But for some reason, despite all her usual attention to detail, she felt as though she didn’t have quite her usual grip on what would happen next.

Their future happiness was her only goal, but for once she couldn’t see that far ahead for them as clearly as she did with the others. If they made it, it would require hard work and commitment from them both. Had she taken an unnecessary risk? Galen had said he didn’t want a grand passion, but everyone deserved that, didn’t they?

She thought of her late husband, Eduard, and tonight missed him more keenly than she had in a long time. But she wasn’t ready to rest in peace with him yet. She still had too much work to do, and the success of this marriage was a part of that, no matter what secrets it brought out of the woodwork.

Galen closed his eyes briefly then started as he felt a small hand take his and give it a squeeze.

It’ll be okay, Ellie whispered. She’s going to love you.

He squeezed back gently. "She’s going to love us," he affirmed.

He flicked an imaginary piece of lint from his suit sleeve and looked sideways at his best girl. Ellie grinned back up at him, and Galen felt his heart swell. Both his brother, Valentin, and his cousin Ilya had offered to stand here at the altar with him but this wasn’t about a traditional marriage. This was about providing security for nine-year-old Ellie, so it made sense that she stand up with him as he married a total stranger. Poor kid; she deserved so much better than him, but he was doing his best by her, and would continue to do so for the rest of his life.

When he’d assumed guardianship of Ellie after her parents’ shocking and sudden deaths in a car crash just over three months ago, his life as he’d known it had come to a screaming halt. No more wild parties. No more playboy lifestyle. All the commitment he’d dodged for most of his adult life had come to him in one complete package. He hadn’t been ready for it, but then neither had his best friends, Ellie’s mom and dad, expected to die, either.

He cast one more look around the room, ensuring everything was as it should be. He wouldn’t be the CEO of Horvath Hotels and Resorts without triple-checking everything all the time. He knew how to keep people happy—all kinds of people. Surely, that would help when it came to keeping his new wife happy, too?

She’s here! Ellie whispered hoarsely. And she’s so pretty.

Galen looked to the door at the end of the carpeted aisle in the function room and, honest to God, felt his breath catch in his lungs. Pretty? No, that didn’t even begin to describe the woman paused there at the end. Her face was a picture of serenity, her head poised on a long, graceful neck. Her hair was pulled back in a loose updo that made his fingers itch to extract each and every pin and let her hair fall down over the slender bare shoulders exposed by her strapless gown. Her skin glowed. A diamond drop necklace sat low on her décolletage, drawing his eyes to the rapid rise and fall of her chest—to the hint of the soft swell of her breasts, framed by the gown’s neckline. His gaze drifted lower, to the tiny waist cinched in a satin sash with a cluster of silk and diamanté flowers and then to the three tiers of flowing shimmering fabric that spread like a cloud around her.

She looks like a princess, Ellie said, loudly this time so that everyone in the room turned their heads and a collective gasp of awe filtered through the air.

Let’s make her our queen, shall we? Galen said and, still holding Ellie’s hand, he walked toward his bride.

As they drew closer, he noticed the flickering pulse in her neck. So perhaps she wasn’t quite as serene as she projected. That was fine by him. In a way, he’d have felt some reserve about marrying someone who wasn’t just a little rattled at the prospect of meeting their future life partner for the first time at the altar. And while he’d seen his brother and his cousin make successful matches that way, he’d never for a moment considered it for himself. Truth be told, he’d never even considered marriage before Ellie.

The woman’s eyes flared slightly, her bluish-gray irises almost consumed by her pupils in the candlelight.

My groom, I presume? she said in a voice that was a tiny bit husky and a whole lot of nervous.

Galen Horvath, at your service, he said, taking her free hand and lifting it to his lips.

Her skin was warm and lightly scented. Something sweet, with a hint of vanilla and a slightly headier spice. A slight tremor of her hand made him release his hold.

Never one to be shy, his best girl piped up. And I’m Ellie. Will you marry us?

A smile tweaked the woman’s lips. Both of you? Now, there’s a bargain, she said as her smile widened and her eyes sparkled with obvious delight. The answer is yes. I’m Peyton Earnshaw, and I would be delighted to marry you.

Galen felt something shift deep inside as he watched her. Her smile, her manner, her scent. It all coalesced into something powerful inside him. Lust, he told himself. Pure physical attraction; that was all it was. And it was far, far more than he’d anticipated experiencing on meeting his bride. The tension that had gripped him all day began to ease. This was going to be okay. They were going to be okay, he corrected himself.

Peyton had done a lot of things in the pursuit of investigative journalism, but she’d never gotten married before. When she’d decided to do an exposé on Alice Horvath she’d been delighted to discover an old college acquaintance among Alice’s staff. And when she’d learned the matriarch’s own grandson was searching for a bride, she’d called in an old debt and secured Michelle’s assistance gaming the system to match Peyton’s profile with the grandson’s. The fact that the matchmaking results could be manipulated like that lent weight to Peyton’s argument that Alice Horvath’s company was a complete fraud in the first place.

Peyton swallowed her nerves as, flanked by Galen Horvath and Ellie, she walked down the aisle toward the celebrant, who waited with a benevolent smile. She’d been prepared to do anything to achieve her goal—even marry a stranger—and now here she was.

Acutely aware of the warm strength of Galen’s hand holding hers, she tried to calm the unaccustomed racing of her heart. He was just a man. Seriously, her groom could have been anyone—but he wasn’t. He was one of Alice Horvath’s many grandchildren. He could have been short, tall, thin, full figured, hirsute. He was tall, more handsome than any star she’d seen at the movies lately, and he exuded a charisma that she felt pulling on her in ways she’d never expected. And his touch was doing weird things to her insides. Things that she prided herself on not feeling. Things she’d inured herself to—by choice. She wasn’t some naive creature full of unrealistic expectations. Oh sure, she knew you could fall in love, but she also knew the pain of a stupid decision made in the heat of the moment, and she wasn’t going to make that kind of mistake ever again.

Everything okay?

A soft whisper of breath caressed her ear as Galen leaned close to her.

Just peachy, she said with a bright smile that she was far from feeling.

His eyes met hers and he stared at her a moment before his face broke into a smile that literally stole the breath from her lungs. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before letting go. She was going to have to be careful around this guy, she told herself as she composed her features and faced the celebrant.

The service was simple. She’d have liked to have said it was honest but she was here under false pretenses. It gave her a moment’s pause when she considered that what she planned to do would not only affect the man she was marrying, but also the little girl, who looked up at him with trust and adoration. Well, she just wouldn’t let anyone, herself included, become too attached; that was all there was to it. And when her in-depth article exposing Alice Horvath for the manipulative and cruel woman she truly was hit the newsstands, no one would be hurt but the woman who’d destroyed Peyton’s father and, in turn, her entire family. Even the baby she’d been forced to give away.

Peyton blinked back the sudden burn in her eyes. Show no weakness. That had been her mantra then and it remained her mantra now.

Congratulations! the celebrant announced with warmth and enthusiasm—as if this was a real wedding and as if they were planning a real future together. I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.

Oh, no.

Peyton froze as Galen took both her hands in his and leaned toward her. A sense of inevitability seeped through to her bones as she instinctively closed the final gap between them and allowed his lips to brush hers. Except it was more than a brush—it was an enticement. The gentle press of his mouth against hers sent her pulse thudding out of control, and when she parted her lips—to protest, she would tell herself later—he took advantage and tasted her with a practiced sweep of his tongue. She should have pulled back, she should have ended it, but she didn’t. Instead, like some sappy lovestruck teenager, she leaned even closer and kissed him back as if this was a real marriage and they’d been anticipating this moment for months.

When he withdrew she felt oddly bereft, even shaken. She looked up at him and saw the same kind of expression reflected back at her and instantly knew keeping Galen Horvath—her husband—at arm’s length was going to prove a great deal more challenging than she’d hoped.

Yay, we’re a family! Ellie said excitedly as she wrapped her skinny little arms around them both and gave them a big squeeze. Nothing bad can happen now.

Nothing ba— Peyton started.

I’ll explain more later. Right now we have some celebrating to do.

And they did. They took photos with their guests, including a few of her friends from college she’d kept in touch with. The Horvaths had been suitably sympathetic when she’d explained that her mother had died when she was a child and her father was unable to make it for the wedding.

After they were done with the formal photos, they toasted and ate and danced and toasted some more. And with every step perfectly in tune with her new partner, Peyton kept a smile on her face and acted as if this was exactly what she’d wanted all her life.

When the lights dimmed in the reception room and the music slowed to a dreamy romantic number, Galen took her back into his arms and led her out onto the dance floor.

Don’t you ever get tired? Peyton teased. You haven’t been allowed to sit down yet.

He flashed a brief grin at her before his expression grew more serious. I wanted to let you know what was behind Ellie’s statement earlier.

Do tell, she encouraged when Galen fell silent.

If she wasn’t mistaken, a shimmer of moisture appeared in his eyes. He tilted his head back slightly and blinked hard before meeting her gaze again. Then he drew a deep breath and his words came in a rush.

Ellie’s my ward. Her parents died in a car crash at the beginning of the year. They were my best friends.

Galen’s voice cracked and Peyton was instantly flooded with compassion. She knew what it felt like to have your world ripped apart unexpectedly. But to lose both parents at the same time? That was almost too awful to contemplate. She waited, not wanting to fill the new silence between them with platitudes.

After a couple of minutes he continued. I think she’s done really well coping with her loss. Often, she’s coped better than me. She’s had grief counseling and we haven’t made any changes to her lifestyle that she wasn’t ready to make. In fact, it was her idea I buy a house in her old neighborhood for us both to live in. She said being at her old family home made her too sad.

So you did that?

Well, it’s a work in progress. For now we’re staying here in my apartment at the hotel. I hope you can help us choose our home together.

Our home together. Right. That’s a big thing to ask when we’ve only just met, don’t you think?

He nodded. True, but if we’re going to make our marriage work properly, we need to be living under the same roof, right? When she didn’t answer, he continued. Anyway, I thought Ellie and I were doing okay but she blindsided me one day. I found her crying in her room and when I managed to get to the root of the problem it floored me. It wasn’t something I could just throw money at, or tease a smile out of, or distract away.

What was it? she prompted.

She told me she was terrified about what would happen if I died like her mom and dad. If one day she was completely alone. He drew in a deep breath and looked around the room at the revelers. His voice was low and intense when he spoke again. I knew then that I needed to get married, to find a wife who wanted to share Ellie’s life with me. To help her feel secure and loved and needed, the way her parents did. I want to be totally honest with you, Peyton. This marriage didn’t start out in a traditional sense, but I’d like to think we can work together to achieve that eventually. We’ve both come to Match Made in Marriage with the same goal. Finding a life partner. I’m being clear and up-front about my reasons for needing to find a wife. Right now Ellie is the most important person in my world, and I will do whatever I can to make her happy. I need to know you’ll commit to that, too.

Two

Peyton didn’t know where to look or what to think. She was consumed by guilt. Suddenly, this assignment was skewing out of her control. Not only did she feel like she was constantly fighting with her instincts to just let go and enjoy being with the man who held her so capably in his arms as they did another turn around the dance floor. This also wasn’t what she’d signed up for. She’d expected an uncomplicated union, a chance to dig for more dirt on Alice Horvath and eventually the opportunity to extract from her the apology her father and her late mother had been due for far too long.

And now what? Now she was married; that was what. It wasn’t the wedding she’d dreamed of as a child, where her father would proudly walk her down the aisle, but one engineered by a stranger so she could marry a stranger. She had been confident she could handle it. How hard could it be?

But now she was a stepmom, too. And not just a stepmom, but to a child who already knew far too much about loss and how the whole world could be upended in the blink of an eye. Already Peyton felt a pull toward the girl—how could she not? Ellie was bright and engaging and demonstrative. Everything she herself had been at that age. Except when Peyton’s world had turned upside down she’d retreated into herself. She’d been nothing like Ellie. Did she dare risk crushing Ellie’s spirit? Could Peyton enter into this debacle of a marriage and then exit it without causing harm?