Shattered Vows: An Arranged Marriage Standalone Romance (Tarnished Empire)

Nothing about this park was tranquil. Cade texted to say he’d meet us in an hour as walking with the stroller was taking longer than he’d anticipated. The man thought he could control everything with technology but some things he had to still navigate in real time.

Luckily, he’d managed to get us passes to skip most lines. Morina and I decided to take on the biggest ride in the park. It was well known and took pictures of the riders.

After checking the signs, I ushered Morina to the faster line. We needed our cards and fingerprints to get through but Cade didn’t disappoint and they worked fine. Even so, we waited about ten minutes.

Taking in the park while we stood in the shorter line was an eye opening experience. A man told his son to stretch taller and taller just to get on a ride.

Morina watched, wide-eyed. “Do you think he’ll make it?”

I shook my head when the devastation occurred. The park employee dressed in full get up told the son and father he still wasn’t tall enough. The father yelled, and the kid’s face fell.

“Oh, jeez.” Morina said it like it broke her heart too. Her hand had left mine after literally minutes, and now it turned those beads on her wrist.

I wanted to punch the father, if not for the kid’s sadness, then for Morina’s.

That emotion wasn’t one I should’ve had, but it looked like one I’d need to deal with for the foreseeable future.

“He shouldn’t be held accountable for something he can’t control,” I mumbled more to myself than anyone else. When a kid can’t control an outcome, their parents can’t possibly hold them accountable.

My father had. It stuck with me far more than I wanted it to.

Morina heard though. “No, he shouldn’t. His father is human too though. He’s probably working through something himself. At least they’re here.”

I glanced around while the theme park music played softly on speakers above us. All these parents navigated one another, pushing their kids around in strollers, doling out food from backpacks, all with smiles on their faces. They were definitely different from the parent Mario Armanelli had been. My father would never have brought me here. This whole park was full of parents who wanted to do right by their children.

Mario wanted to train me, not love me.

“Yeah, this is not a place my family would have ever come.”

Morina moved up in the line. It was supposed to be a rollercoaster that splashed us half way through. I wasn’t looking forward to getting my suit wet but the pictures would serve us well.

She thought about it for a second, her leg jutting out so she could tap. “Maybe my parents would have if they hadn’t been so occupied with their own stuff. Not sure.”

She didn’t seem bothered at all by this admission the way she had been before. “Were your parents ever not occupied with their own stuff?”

She glanced away. Ah, there it was, the past pain we both had.

“I guess we’ll tackle family relations later in our marriage.”

The word had her snapping her attention back to me. “I think we need to decide when that should happen.” Her hair blew in the wind, flying back enough to expose her neck. There was just a hint of blush there, like she was embarrassed to bring up our arrangement.

I found myself wanting to bring that color to her skin more and more in a very different way.

“Your file said the board meeting is just weeks away and the will says we need to get this wedding planned,” she pointed out.

“We’re building to that.” I should have discussed the plan with her. “I’ve got it figured out. The timeline I have in place will work well.”

She nodded and glanced at the family in front. One kid on the mom’s hip screaming and the other pulling on the dad’s leg, whining about hunger, told me we were fine–they weren’t paying any attention to us. “So, it might be nice to include your fiancé in the planning of that timeline.”

“My fiancé? My fiancé doesn’t really want anything to do with planning a fake wedding, does she?”

“Well, I don’t want to get stuck doing something I don’t want to.” She gripped the metal railing. “This gala is where we’re making our public entrance?”

“I think that’s best. We can go separately or together, whichever you prefer. Maybe make a display of it.”

“Display how?”

“People need to know I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Because your dad did that for my grandmother?”

“Essentially.” I winced at how easily I lied. He’d taken advantage of her partnership but he’d also protected her in some capacity.

“Why can’t we just have the same understanding?”

“You’ll never be as protected. Your grandmother had ties to people overseas and refineries around the world. Now, you’re one lone woman with one ally.”

“And that’s you.”

“That’s right.”

“Grandma should have just let me sell the stock to you immediately.” She rubbed her forehead like this was all frustrating and confusing at the same time.

“I agree. I’m good to my word.” Even if her grandma hadn’t believed me.

“Yeah, well, grandma wasn’t stupid either. Yet, she only spoke highly of you. I’m guessing she wants us to fall in love and make the decisions together.”

“She was a tad delusional,” I grumbled and walked forward, almost at the ride. “The love aspect was far-fetched. But she was right about protecting you and it will ultimately benefit me. I’ll get an understanding of the company before I buy in.”

“Are you considering not buying in if you don’t like what you see?”

“No. I’m considering changing what I don’t like and evolving the port. This gives me time.”

“Couldn’t you just buy out some other shareholder?”

Although Morina was young and acted like a free spirit with no attention span, her questions were on point.

“Curious today, huh?”

“I’m always curious. It’s a curse of mine. I wouldn’t fall down rabbit holes if I didn’t inspect everything.”

I chuckled because just as she said it, we stepped up to the ride platform. We weren’t given many instructions as we boarded a log shaped boat on the channel of water. I pulled a bar over our laps and wiggled it over Morina’s hips.

She froze as my hand grazed her thigh.

My jaw ticked and every muscle in me tightened. Just a small touch set both me and her off now. I hadn’t been sleeping around or pursuing other women since the will hearing.

I probably needed an outlet.

Six months was going to be a long time, and we were still only counting down to our wedding. The marriage aspect would make it hard, if not impossible, to find another woman I could indulge with.

The feeling of her smooth skin on the back of my hand as I confirmed the security of the bar made me not even want to think about another woman.

I had silky, soft flesh here and she knew exactly how to make my cock feel good.

The ride started and into the lair of psychedelic painted creatures we went. Bears ate honey with loud music pounding, and my mind ran away with fucked up ideas like how the honey would taste on Morina’s skin.

“This is a whole different type of aura,” Morina whispered, her blue eyes wide. “Oh, my God, Bastian, look at that!”

I leaned back and watched her turn into this bouncy girl, completely entertained with a kid’s ride.

Her hands fluttered around, and the rings she’d put on today glittered with topaz and other jewels I had no understanding of. “I thought this was going to be hoaky!”

It was definitely still hoaky, but they’d put in more detail than I’d expected–probably more than most parks. And who was I to ruin her fun? She bounced next to me and our shoulders knocked together enough that I put my arm on the back of her seat.

We’d have looked like a couple to anyone watching but no one was. They watched the moving plastic creatures and the bright colors, and if anyone did glance at us, they’d have been caught up with the stars in her blue eyes.

After a while, the boat tilted backward as the bottom hooked onto the ramp that inched us up, up, up to the big drop.

“This is going pretty high!” She squealed and glanced at me. Her face fell a little. “Oh, right. This is probably where they take the picture too. I’ll just…lean into you here, I guess.”

Something about her face falling, about the way she lost the little girl inside to take on her responsibilities had me wanting to bring back the emotion. Or just feel an emotion with her.

I gripped her chin in a way I shouldn’t have. I murmured, “Smile for the cameras, Morina.”

“Bastian.” She whispered it like she knew what was coming, like she had any ability to stop it.

I leaned in and took her lips in mine.

Morina’s aura was rubbing off on me.

Her kiss ran through me, those lips so soft reminding me how soft she felt everywhere. My finger dragged down her neck and she shivered and nipped at my lip just as the boat went over the edge. She gasped and I pulled her closer, taking the opportunity to dive deeper.

I was in the psychedelic state of Morina.

And I needed to get out of it before we found ourselves in a fucked up situation.