The Broken Vows: Zane and Celeste’s Story (The Windsors)

I smile to myself as I place more meat on our grill in the observatory. It’s a recent addition that Celeste wanted for the monthly family lunches we’ve started doing again, and I wasn’t too sure how I felt about it at first, only to find out that my wife was right. It’s brilliant, and I love using it.

Laughter rings through the air, filling up the garden with pure joy, despite the rain that’s hammering against our glass ceiling. Sometimes I look around, and it hits me. We made it, and this is real happiness. It seems a little surreal every once in a while, especially when my beautiful wife looks at me the way she does right now.

“That’s my sister, asshole,” Archer says, knocking his shoulder against mine playfully.

I shrug and smirk at him. “Can’t help it. That’s my wife.”

“Disgusting,” Lex says as he walks past us with his own wife, Raya. He turns to her and grins. “I’ll never be like that.”

She merely raises a brow. “Lex, you literally call me your wife every chance you get. You’ve nearly gotten us caught a few times now.”

I can’t quite make sense of them, but one thing is for sure — Lexington met his match. Raya is fiery and strong-minded, and she’s exactly what Lex needs. Or she could be if she actually gave him a chance. I’m not too sure what’s going on between the two of them, but I can tell they don’t have what Celeste and I have. Not yet.

Archer chuckles next to me, and I glance over to find him on his phone. He’s barely put it away since he got here. “Are you going to tell me who she is?”

His gaze snaps to mine, and his smile melts away. “What do you mean?”

I shake my head and turn the meat. “Is it Serenity?”

His lips part in shock, and I can’t help but laugh at his incredulous expression. “How did you know?”

I glance back at my wife and grin. She looks so beautiful in that red dress and her Zane’s Wife nails. I’ve recently created even more shades for her, and every time I give her a new one, it just makes her smile in a way that brings me an insane joy.

“Celeste told me she opened your door wearing a t-shirt Raven designed the last time she came to see you.” I glance at him and shake my head. “It was a limited edition t-shirt that Celeste bought for you. Women notice that kind of thing, man. If you wanted to keep it a secret, you should’ve been more careful.”

Archer cups the back of his neck and shoots his sister a worried glance before looking down. “It’s not like that.”

I raise a brow.

“Okay, fine. It is like that, but it shouldn’t be. She’s… well, she’s my business partner’s younger half-sister. She’s a decade younger than me, and I absolutely shouldn’t be… ugh, fuck.” He rubs his face and looks up at the rainy sky. “I keep telling myself I’ll stop. It was never meant to be serious, Zane. I was just helping her with something, and it was never meant to be more than a favor.”

I begin to place the food on plates and throw him an incredulous look. “Right, so you’re fucking your business partner’s sister as a favor. What the fuck, Arch?”

He buries his hands in his hair and nods. “Literally. I’m not even joking, Zane. She’s made a list.”

“What kind of list?”

He looks into my eyes, completely flustered. I’ve never seen him lose his composure like that. “She made a list of people she considered asking… she, uh… she…”

“Fucking hell. What could she possibly have asked you that has you stammering like that?”

His eyes fall closed, and he sighs. “She made a list of people she considered losing her virginity to, and she put me on it.”

“What?”

He nods, his face contorting in torment. “Yep. I know I need to break it off, but I keep thinking of her doing everything I’ve taught her with someone else, and I just… fuck. The idea makes me sick. I should’ve just walked away when I saw that damn list.”

I shake my head as I study him, realizing he’s fucking smitten. “It’s not too late to do that,” I say, shrugging. I know he won’t — I can tell by the look in his eyes, but it’s fun to mess with Archer. He’s teased me endlessly about how in love I am with Celeste, and it’s about time I get to make him understand how fucking annoying it is.

“Zane?” Celeste calls as she walks up to me. Archer steps away to make space for his sister, and I instantly wrap my arm around her waist. She rises to her tiptoes to kiss me, making her brother turn and walk away in disgust. “Did he tell you?” she asks, her expression eager.

I laugh and pull her closer, my hands wrapping around her waist. “Why are you so nosy, Celestial?”

She pouts, and I lean in to kiss her again. “I just wanna know,” she says. “He won’t tell me anything about her, but it’s so obvious he’s in love. You’re one of his best friends, so even if he won’t tell me, he’ll tell you.”

I take her bottom lip in between my teeth and bite down softly. “So you want me to betray one of my closest friends for you?”

She leans back in my embrace and nods. “Of course.”

I burst out laughing and press a kiss to her forehead before telling her everything Archer just told me. I can’t keep a secret from her, and everyone knows it. She gasps in outrage, her eyes twinkling with mirth.

“You’re so beautiful,” I whisper, the thought leaving my lips subconsciously. “Do you have any idea how lucky I feel? It’s insane that I get to call you my wife.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “No, Zane. If anyone is lucky, it’s me.”

The craziest thing of all is she seems to genuinely believe it, and she tries to prove it to me each and every day.