Dom Vadim's Vow

Prologue: Betrothed

Prologue

Despite being twenty-one years old and knowing him her entire life, Essence was completely and utterly terrified of the man sitting on the other side of the desk in front of her. Yet as terrified of her grandfather, Iwan Angevin, as she was, his protégé, Vadim Tudor possessed the capability of making her piss her pants with nothing more than a sideways sneer.

Unlike her older sister Eliska who tried to bed the man more than once, Essence knew to steer clear of the man. Brought into her grandfather’s home when the man’s parents died along with his grandfather, Iwan’s best friend, when Vadim was nine, he tormented the hell out of his mentor’s granddaughters. The painful loss of his parents in the airplane crash along with being raised by the scary-as-hell Iwan Angevin from the time he was nine until his current age of almost thirty made him harder than anyone she met in her life.

The man was gorgeous. She couldn’t deny it but if he ever smiled it had never been in her presence, at least not that she could recall.

Her sisters Eliska and Eulalie sat on the nearby sofa, called to the old man’s mansion in London for god knows what purpose and trembling almost as much as she was. It dawned on her the last time she was called to Iwan’s office, she was a child of only eight years old and was told she was going to boarding school.

Her mother was Iwan’s only child, his wife dying in childbirth, and he never approved of his daughter’s marriage to Essie’s father. When her father had passed away before Essence’s sixth birthday, Iwan moved them back to the residence and controlled them with an iron fist.

It was only in the last year when Eulalie decided to attend a technical college in Paris, her mother finally moved out,. Their mother insisted Eulalie was too young to live on her own in the big city and accompanied her.

Considering how close her mother and youngest sister were, she knew they likely plotted their escape. Luckily for Essence she spent most of her life at boarding school, only forced to return to “home” on holidays and school breaks. She decided to study at Cambridge and with her grandfather’s wealth and influence it hadn’t been a problem for her admission. She was able to stay near campus. She graduated two days ago with a degree in History and Modern Languages.

Not one of her family members attended the graduation ceremony and while she was mildly disappointed, she was not surprised. She wasn’t close to her mother or sisters in the least. She was always the odd one out. Eliska was a stunning beauty and the only one of them who directly rebelled against their grandfather and lived her own life on her own terms. Working as a runway model with more endorsements than the Jenner sisters combined, what Eliska didn’t have was the kind of family support her compatriots did. Her grandfather felt modeling frivolous despite the fact Eliska made good money for herself and was frequently griping at her for her behavior.

Another thing she and Essence were completely opposite about was how Eliska was never shy about admitting how much she wanted Vadim. Essence would rather die than chase a man as vigorously as Eliska did, let alone one who sneered at her with revulsion. Often, Essence felt her entire being cringe with the display her sister would enact.

Alternatively, where Eliska was bold, their youngest sister, Eulalie was introverted to the point of panic attacks if her mother was out of sight.

Essence learned the pecking order long ago, Eliska would take the limelight, Eulalie would crash to get her mother’s attention and Essence would be left to her own devices. A typical middle child who was often ignored, unseen and rarely spoken to. She was fine with it. She kept a good circle of friends in school. She didn’t need anything more than them.

Now however, she was sitting front and center to her grandfather’s desk with her sisters and mother looking on and Vadim beside her. She was scared to death of what was about to happen. She was the center of their cumulative attention for the first time in her life, and it was discomfiting.

“Look at me when I address you,” Iwan spoke gruffly.

She flicked hazel eyes in his direction and nodded, “yes sir.” She cleared her throat of the thick mucus which seemed to be choking her. She was likely to strangle to death on her own fear.

“You will marry Vadim.”

Anything she expected from her grandfather’s mouth couldn’t compare to the actual spoken words. “I’m sorry. I’m to do what?”

“What?” Eliska gave a shriek. “Why is the nerd being married off? Their children will be hideous.”

“At least they won’t be at risk of whatever diseases affect your womb gathered from all the casting couches you have lain on.” Her grandfather snapped back to Eliska.

Eliska blanched, “grandfather I have not.”

“Eight lovers since the time you were eighteen, one of them your photographer when you were nineteen. You were one of three he slept with the day you spread your legs for him Eliska. You are twenty-six now and have undergone two abortions. Do not think for one minute I would think you an appropriate match for the man I am naming my heir to our company. While Essence is not as attractive as either of you,” he waved a folder at the sisters sitting on the sofa, “she’s the brightest of the three of you. Since your mother was incapable of spitting out an intelligent male heir, I have no choice.”

Essence was shaking. Her entire body trembled as if she were sat in an ice bath. Her breath was short, and her lungs were being squeezed so tightly pinpricks of blackness coated the back of her eyelids.

“In order to ensure my company remains in this family, Vadim will marry one of my granddaughters and provide an heir within a year of the marriage. Otherwise, I will dismantle the entire organization, give it to charity and leave you all with nothing.”

“Vadim, you cannot want this.” Eliska begged from the sofa. “We were together not two weeks ago.”

Her grandfather shot her another annoyed glance, “whatever your relationship was with Vadim is now at an end. Do not embarrass this family any further by f*****g around with your sister’s husband.”

Essence could not believe how silent Vadim was being. He was never one to speak much but this was his life!

“We love each other!” Eliska screamed, tears streaming down her face. “I waited so long for him to admit his feelings and now you tear him from me and give him to,” she looked to Essence with disgust, “her? Look at her? She looks like something the cat dragged in and yacked on the floor.”

“Eliska,” her mother Wilhelmina hissed, “she is your sister. Do not be mean her. None of this is her fault.”

“Is it not? How long has she been plotting to steal my love from me? She’s been eyeballing him since we were kids. She was always seeking to see where he was.”

Essence snapped back, “only to make sure he was nowhere near me. If he was in a room, I wanted to be in a different one. He’s a scary beast and not anyone I want anything to do with.” She turned her attention to her grandfather noting the surprise in his eyes at her outburst and oblivious to the grunt of displeasure from the man to her left, “please. Do not make me do this. I was about to take a job in America.”

“You will not.” He shook his head firmly. “You are twenty-one now. If you desperately wish to work, Vadim will find you a place in one of the companies.”

“You run an investment firm and I don’t have a clue what he does. I studied ancient languages and antiquities. There is nothing for me here. Please.” She turned to Vadim, “make him see sense. You love Eliska. She loves you. Surely you are not afraid to stand up to the man who prizes you above his own granddaughters. We mean nothing to him, but you mean everything. Tell him you don’t want this.” She wanted to fall at the feet of the man with the eyes as black as coal, convinced they were not darker than his soul as he stared back at her without any emotion at all.

“If you fail to do this, Essence, I will cut your mother and sisters off.”

“What?” Surely she did not hear her grandfather correctly.

“Not only will I cut funding for Eulalie’s education, but I will also repossess the apartment they have in Paris. Eliska will lose her apartments in London and Milan, and I will release the evidence, including the videos of her acts of depravity over the last eight years. Despite the fact she and Vadim recently dated, prior to this, she partied too hard. I have enough evidence now to destroy her career with a single push of a button.”

“Kate Moss came back after being exposed for doing drugs.” She shot Eliska a reassuring smile which was not returned.

“Kate Moss didn’t do lines of cocaine off three different c***s before getting reamed by each of them at the same time. Do you really want me to release a video of your sister being spit-roasted and tag-teamed before she was DP’d and throat f****d?”

Her grandfather’s disgusting words made her gasp, but it was her sister who fell to her knees in horror.

“I cannot have a woman with such loose morals on the arm of the head of this family. You have barely made out with anyone from school. You’re still a virgin. You will marry Vadim, or I will destroy your sisters’ dreams.”

“I was only nineteen. I was experimenting,” Eliska begged on her knees. “Do not do this, grandfather. I was angry because Vadim rejected me back then and I acted out but now he and I –”

“Are through,” Vadim said suddenly. “I will do what is best for the company. Arrange the wedding.”

His cold voice was like a bucket of icy water over her. She looked around the room. Her sister’s distraught features, her mother’s pleading and then to her grandfather’s stern countenance before looking to Vadim. He was not even giving her a sideways glance now.

She bolted from her chair.

“Where are you going Essence?”

“I need to think,” she whispered, “excuse me.”

“There is nothing to think about,” her grandfather boomed. “A car will return you to your college apartment for your belongings. You will move back into this house by nightfall. Your wedding will be arranged within six weeks, otherwise, all five of you are cut off. If you disagree, I will cut Vadim, Wilhelmina, Eliska and Eulalie off. I will take back all their current supports. You will also lose your trust fund.”

She nodded once and then walked out of the room tears streaming down her face while Eliska screamed at the top of her lungs like her heart was shattered. She needed to get out of here.