Happily Ever After: The New Dawn Wedding

Chapter Seventeen

Ella

Imarch into the bedroom and go straight to the walk-in closet. Niccolo is right behind me. No surprise there. I doubt he”ll let me out of his sight for even a second.

”What we found is in the safe,” I tell him, holding out my hands to him. ”You”ll have to undo my ties.”

”Nah, I don”t think so. You”ll give me the combination,” he says, lifting me off my feet and depositing me to the side. Then he studies the cupboard in front of us.

It looks like any closet with shelves. I never even knew the safe existed until Mateo told me about it and gave me the number sequence to unlock it.

The safe was empty when we opened it, and now it only holds our passports and a few things of Tiero”s we found around the place and meant to give to Mateo.

”This will be faster if you tell me where the safe is,” he says as his gaze keeps searching the space.

This time it”s me smirking at him. ”Something the mighty Niccolo Romero doesn”t know?”

He grins back at me. ”Now, now, Miss O”Neil. You”re quite cheeky when you”re not shaking with fear or blushing with embarrassment,” he chuckles.

Of course, that comment is enough to make the color rise in my cheeks. Dammit.

”But back to the matter at hand. The safe?” he asks, dropping the humor from his voice.

I incline my head toward the shoe shelf. ”There is a small button on the roof of the bottom cube that will make the shelf spin.”

There really is no point in delaying the inevitable. And if I want to get married today, I need to get rid of this guy as quickly as possible.

Niccolo follows my directions, and within seconds, the shelf spins, revealing the safe on its back. Through gritted teeth, I call out the number and letter combination to my captor. Aiden and I had changed it to something we could remember on our first visit. Guess now we”ll have to change it again.

Niccolo opens the door to the small safe, and the papers we found yesterday are in plain sight, sealed in a ziplock bag. He pulls them out and flicks through them.

He cocks his head to the side, his lips pursed.

Turning back to the safe, he rummages through the contents. He throws our passports to the side and then pulls out the ziplock bag with Tiero”s belongings.

He holds it up to the light, chuckling. ”You”re very neat, aren”t you?”

From him, it doesn”t sound like a compliment.

He opens the bag and pulls out more papers and pictures. He flicks through them, but then his movements freeze. So does my breathing.

Is this what he came here for? So he wasn”t after the papers we found in the cave?

I”m confused.

”What are these doing here?” he mutters more to himself, his brows drawn together, and I crane my neck to spot what has him so fascinated.

I spot the photos of the little boy with eyes so much like Tiero”s. The pictures I found hidden in this very closet when I was cleaning it out on our first visit to this island.

We wanted to ask Mateo about them, but never got the chance. I still don”t know who this kid is… or do I?

Niccolo”s eyes lift to mine, and my breath catches. He doesn”t look much like the small kid in the pictures, but those eyes…

”How did these get here?” he asks, and I”m not sure the question is directed at me, because how would I know?

”Is that you?” I ask instead, wanting an answer to the puzzle.

Niccolo shakes his head, placing the pictures into the ziplock bag with the papers we found yesterday.

”She wouldn”t have.” He says so quietly, I almost don”t hear it. ”It would have been a death sentence. And while she is a woman, she would not have been that stupid.”

My eyes widen. Surely, I misheard that!

While she is a woman?Is this guy for real?

But I have no time to be outraged. When Niccolo turns back to me, his expression is unreadable.

My stomach churns, and my chest tightens uncomfortably.

”Is that it?” he asks, pointing to the papers we found yesterday.

”Yes, that”s all there was in the box.”

”And you found it in the cave, right?”

Any confusion about which hidden treasure Niccolo is after lifts with that question. I hadn”t mentioned the cave so far, but he clearly knows about it.

”Yes. In a small metal box with an eight-digit code.”

Niccolo is pacing the small space of the walk-in closet. His jolly demeanor from earlier is gone, and he”s pulling at his neck impatiently.

”Was there anything else in that box? Those papers are not what I really need.”

”What do you mean, they”re not what you need? There wasn”t anything else,” I insist.

And then it occurs to me what he”s here for.

I drop my gaze to the floor, not wanting to give myself away.

No! He can”t have it.

Niccolo”s eyes are on me, studying me—I can feel their intensity burning into my skin.

He stops in front of me, placing his index finger beneath my chin and lifting it. It forces me to look at him.

”What else was in that box?” he asks again, his tone carrying a clear warning not to mess with him.

My pulse jumps at his touch and the threat in his voice. My stomach lurches, bile rising in my throat.

I swallow it down. I doubt this man would react well to me vomiting all over him.

Unable to push the words past my lips, I stay quiet.

Niccolo”s face lights up again. Holy crap, he”s mercurial.

”Ah, you do know what I”m talking about. Where is it?”

He really is after Tiero”s necklace, isn”t he? But why?

”What do you want with it?” I ask before I can think better of it, and with that confirming that the necklace is in my possession.

”Where is it, Ella?” he asks again, not answering my question.

If my hands weren”t tied, I”d probably try to clutch the pendant. It”s an instinctive reaction, and my hands twitch.

Niccolo doesn”t miss it.

He smirks.

His gaze travels over my body and comes to rest on my neck where the leather band of Tiero”s necklace is visible above my shirt.

Niccolo presses into me, and goosebumps race over my skin. They”re not the kind Ade elicits, but ones of fear.

His eyes are locked on mine, that mocking glint ever present, and I force myself not to look away. He traces a finger along my cheek and down my throat until it lands on the leather band around my neck. Ever so slowly, he takes hold of it between his fingers and pulls on it.

I feel the roughness of the pendant move up my skin until it”s gradually revealed. Only then does Niccolo allow himself to look down.

The grin on his face grows.

He brings the pendant up to his eye-level and studies it.

”So pretty, isn”t it?

”You can”t have it,” I say, finding my voice.

”Can”t I now?” he laughs, effortlessly lifting it over my head.

”No!” I yell, but it only makes him laugh harder.

”Yes, little Ella. This belongs to me now.”

”But why? What could you possibly want with a piece of broken jewelry?”

He taps my nose condescendingly. ”It”s nothing to concern yourself with. You better focus on your wedding.”

He tucks the necklace over his head and beneath his shirt. I loathe that he now has one of Tiero”s most prized possessions.

This isn”t right.

But there”s absolutely nothing I can do about it.

Niccolo pulls out his phone and types out a message. Then he turns and walks out of the wardrobe, seemingly not caring if I follow him or not. I”m hot on his heels, though. If I don”t show up with him, Ade will assume the worst. I can feel his worry as it is, and I won”t add to it.

”Party is over, boys,” Niccolo tells his men.

They get up from the sofa they”ve been lounging on, still pointing their guns at Ade and Lex.

Ade”s eyes fly to mine as soon as I enter the room, sweeping over me, checking for any injuries.

”I”m fine,” I mouth at him, and his shoulders drop just a little.

Moments later, the noise of a helicopter descends on us.

”Here comes my ride. Thank you all for your hospitality. I have to say I enjoyed this trip,” Niccolo quips. ”I doubt we”ll meet again. So farewell.”

Niccolo salutes Ade and Lex before stepping out onto the deck. The helicopter he arrived on is hovering above the house, the noise deafening.

A rope ladder is lowered from the top and his two men climb up with quick steps.

Niccolo”s grin is firmly back in place. And why wouldn”t it be? He”s got what he came here for.

He pulls out a small pair of wire cutters from his jeans and steps closer to me. He bends down to kiss my cheeks. ”Thanks for this,” he says, pointing to his chest, where the pendant is well hidden from view. ”And congratulations. May married life bring you everything you hope for.”

If it wasn”t for his sarcastic tone, I”d be touched by the sentiment.

He cuts the cable ties binding my hands and places them on a nearby table. ”I”ll leave it in your capable hands to release the others.”

With a cocky wink, he takes the few steps to the ladder and climbs on. The helicopter takes off with him still hanging on.

I don”t waste my time watching him. Instead, I grab the wire cutters and make quick work freeing the others. The guys rush out onto the deck, Rhia and I following them. We watch as the small figure that”s Niccolo Romero disappears into the helicopter as it flies over the sea. Then it”s gone.

”I feel like I”ve been thrown into some bad action movie,” Rhia says dryly.

”You”re not wrong,” I reply, hugging her to me. ”Are you okay?” I whisper into her ear.

”Yeah. All good,” she replies as I let go of her, and she throws her arms around Lex.

I”m about to do the same with Ade, but he steps back, his eyes so full of thunder, I freeze right where I”m standing.

”What the fuck were you thinking?” he yells at me.