Chapter 21 – Vincenzo
Five buses might not be everyone’s idea of revenge. But it sure looked good to me. Only a handful of guests raised a stink at the disruption. The loudest voice came from the lead bus. Those shrill protests nearly made my ears bleed. I swatted at the lobe again, just to be certain.
“Here’s the last of them,” Guglielmo said, stopping beside me as several of my men hurried the last bridesmaid and groomsman into the final bus. “You’re not worried about their phones recording the event?”
I adjusted my cuff. Dio, these monkey suits were unbearable. How men wore them to do battle in a boardroom was beyond me.
“I have someone to take care of that. They’ve all been remotely cut off for the last ten minutes.” I tied the mask around the back of my head. It narrowed my field of vision, which I hated, but the disguise was still necessary.
The deviant chuckled. “Remind me never to get on your bad side, Messina.”
“Likewise.” I clapped the hitman’s shoulders. At five foot nine, he was average height for an American, but a good eight inches shorter than me. I knew better than to take his slighter build for granted, however. “Are you going to take off that fucking stash now?”
“Might need it for a bit longer.” Guglielmo stroked the curled ends. “Maybe I should grow one for real.”
“Don’t.” I began to stalk back through the trees and up to the arch. On cue, Guglielmo changed the music but stayed back as I’d instructed.
From the hotel, an angelic cloud of ivory and sin began to descend the steps, leaning heavily on her father’s arm. I would have to jog to reach the arch before them. I waited, just for a moment.
Amanda’s beauty was captivating.
It would bring the most hardened soldier to his knees. It was a good thing I knew what she really was under that veil of lace. Temptation incarnate. A siren who lured men to their doom.
Not this time.
I didn’t miss the way she trembled.
Why is she shaking?
This was the kind of wedding dreams were made of.
This was everything a social climber and high powered woman should want.
Frowning, I watched as she paused to fluff her skirt, hiding the shake.
No doubt she didn’t want her father to see her nerves.
She did everything for that man. Every good grade, every extracurricular—accepting her fiancé’s terms. All of it was to make that slick bastard notice her.
Even now, draping off his arm, Loring didn’t spare her a glance. He would never be the focused, doting father she craved.
“She’s going to pass out,” I muttered. Guglielmo had told me she’d nearly fainted more than once this morning. When I asked if she’d eaten or drunk anything, the mercenary shook his head.
That wasn’t something I could fix right now. But soon….
As she righted herself, she flashed her father a smile.
It was movie star classic. Her lips were painted a deviant shade of red.
They would look incredible wrapped around my dick, but I doubted we’d reach that point tonight.
A quick study of her face had my heart thumping hard.
While she painted the picture of the perfect bride, ready to do her father’s bidding, her eyes told the haunting truth.
She wanted out. Not just of the wedding, but life.
Well…she should have been more careful what she wished for.
I hurried to my spot and put my back to the chairs. While I waited, my mind ran through the plan again. There were no weak points. The situation was perfectly crafted to force Loring’s hand.
She’s going to hate me. “She already does.”
I felt more than heard Loring’s shocked inhale as they rounded the bend. A smile spread across my lips. I wished I’d caught this part on camera.
The lawyer’s words were packed with disgust as he barked, “What have you done?”
“I didn’t do it—” Amanda gasped.
Fear. That bitter, putrid sound was fear. Fuck him for making her sound that way.
I turned around and faced the miserable scum. “She didn’t. I did.”
This was how my enemy’s fall began. I savored the moment, drinking in the shock and horror at the end of the aisle.
Loring spat some nonsense. The man was delusional if he thought he was still in charge. I slid my hands into the pockets of the tailored slacks and watched him.
But it was Amanda who drew my attention.
She wasn’t trembling. She was breaking.
Veil thrown over the back of her head, she stepped closer to her father as if his trim-cut body would protect her from her fate.
It only made me smile more. Finally, fucking finally!
She would take a taste of the bitter medicine.
She was about to feel her father’s betrayal and see him for the demonic sonofabitch that he was.
As I reminded Loring of his sins, showed him my power, Amanda grew smaller and smaller.
I…hated it.
This was what you wanted. I steeled my resolve, forcing my shoulders tight. But a knot formed in my chest as I watched defeat sink in. It shouldn’t bother me. I was made of sterner stuff.
“You can’t do this!” Loring launched forward, looking around for help.
It was too cute. His money and connections weren’t here. There was no escape from this reckoning.
“I can, and I did,” I said calmly, rocking forward onto my toes. It took every drop of control not to close the distance and obliterate him. Oh, how he would squeal with my knife poking holes in his belly.
Amanda, standing by herself, watched her father sit. Alone, defenseless, she had no power to stop this.
I felt her gaze on me, searching for any shred of mercy behind the mask. There was none.
Loring finally came to his senses. “What do you want?”
You. Rotting and hanging from a beam as I strip every pound of flesh from your bones. But I would settle for something else. Something warm and wonderful…for now. I crooked a finger. “I want what’s always been mine.”
“My daughter? What does that mean, always been yours? Who the hell are you?” Loring spewed daggers.
“This time, you won’t be able to stop me.” How sweet those words tasted. I’d been waiting years for them. “I’m more powerful, have more money than you, and my allies are stronger.”
And I’m going to destroy you.
I kept that part to myself. It was more fun to save a little suspense for later in the show. Let my enemy think this was my grand move, the biggest blow to his ego. I would attack when he least suspected it and burn his world to the ground.
He should have killed me, but the only thing he had the stomach for was sending me to prison. That forged me, made me the monster he saw today.
“Come here, Amanda,” I beckoned, crooking a finger. “We have a plane to catch.”
A golden ray of sun fell on the bride. It was as if heaven stamped her with its approval. Under the shroud of warmth, Amanda drew herself up straight.
“No.”
One word. One little act of defiance.
It made my blood thrum hot.
Not because I enjoyed the challenge. I did. But that wasn’t why.
No…it was that it felt like the first honest thing she’d said in years. That was the response of a woman who defied the changing tides and wrestled for control of her destiny.
Too bad fate already molded it to mine. “You don’t have a say, cara.”
The endearment slipped out, and I wanted to kick myself for it.
Turning to the lawyer, I finalized the terms of the negotiation. “You’re going to let me take her, or they’ll know all about your sins, Loring.”
“You’ll be arrested before you leave the island,” Loring spat, pushing to his feet. “You can’t get away with this. There are witnesses.”
I spread my arms wide. “What witnesses? The staff saw nothing. It’s your corrupt word against mine.”
“Where are the guests?” Amanda demanded.
My lips twitched at her observation. Always thinking of others instead of herself.
But her father wasn’t budging. This had been a possible outcome. That he would try to deny his former crimes in this moment and waste enough time to have me discovered. It was time to up the ante and force his hand.
“Here’s how this is going to work.” I took a step forward, holding out my hand. “You give me Amanda, or I’ll kill the whole of the earl’s family and pin their deaths on you.”
“You can’t stage something on that level,” Loring mocked, but there was a real thread of fear in his voice.
“Can’t I?” I took another step. “Remember that sunset cruise your wife had to have? It would be a shame if the vessel sank and you collected a fat insurance check. NEB Co. already has the paperwork filled out, ready to file, to make you a very rich grieving widower, Mr. Loring.”
Blackmail, pure and simple. Loring wasn’t going to sink the ship, but I had everything set up to make it look like that was his plan. Not that it would ever come to that.
The lawyer sat back down, hard enough to make the white wooden folding chair shiver. He knew he’d been beaten. “Take her.”
Coward.
Amanda sucked in a sharp breath, rounding on her father. I didn’t miss the way her fists clenched at her sides. The hate wafting off her was the sweetest scent.
See him for the rat that he is, fiore mio.
I was beginning to doubt if this betrayal would be enough.
No matter, I would show her every sin he’d committed. Even then, pleasing him was ingrained in the very fibers of her being. It might take years to purge it.
On to business, then….
I clucked my tongue. “That’s not how a father gives the bride away.” My outstretched hand jerked, waiting. “Give your daughter away, Loring.”
“Dad, no! What are you—you can’t be serious!” Amanda tried to back up.
But in an attempt to save himself, the bastard reached for his daughter and tugged her forward. I bristled at the grip he had on her slim arm. Closing the distance, I grabbed her hand, wrenching her out of his grip. The symbolism was there, and he’d touched her long enough.
“Daddy, no!” Amanda gasped.
I held her tight. “My thanks, sir.”
Loring opened his mouth to speak. A whistle brushed through the air, and the barb stuck out from his throat. My hitman never missed the mark.
Amanda screamed.
“Hush now, fiore, it’s only a tranquilizer,” I chuckled as I tugged her along.
Amanda jerked hard. “You psycho! Let me go.”
“Not going to happen, Mandy. I’ve waited too long for this.” With that, I scooped her into my arms and carried her, despite her pounding fists, through the trees.