18. Sly
Every step I take away from Vincenza as I cross her hotel room feels like a searing hot knife cutting through each organ in my body, stopping at my heart. The tip of the knife pokes at the it, pricking it with pain each time my foot touches the ground.
Walking away from her is never easy, regardless if it”s only for a while.
With the wedding ceremony beginning in just twenty minutes, I had to force myself to leave the room. There are still plans to make.
My hand hovers on the doorknob as I sneak one final glance at the bride.
Mybride.
Vinnie looks breathtaking. Her cheeks are extra rosey, and she looks thoroughly pleasured—because she is. Sitting on the couch, her eyes flare as she watches me go, and I can’t help but wish I was inside of her mind, listening to her thoughts.
“Ti amo, piccola ladra,” I say before pulling open the door and taking a step into the hall. As the door closes behind me, my heart surges as I sense a presence.
Turning quickly, my hand immediately reaches beneath the back of my jacket, clasping my pistol.
“Relax, Lucchetti. I’m here to talk to you about my sister, not further the war.” The eldest Paladino is leaning against the wall next to the door, the sole of his shoe propped up against it as though he doesn’t have a care in the world—or a wedding to attend.
“Luciano, is it?” Of course, I already know. I’m buying time, trying to analyze his body language to figure out why he is here.
He scoffs. “Don’t act na?ve, Lucchetti. We’re past that, despite this being our first meeting. The noises I just heard come from that hotel room—which I intend to permanently burn from my mind later—confirm my suspicions.”
My eyes narrow. “Which are?”
“My sister is truly head over heels in love with you. So what are you going to do about it?”
I don’t ask him how he knows about us. Perhaps she told him, or perhaps he simply has worked through the pieces of the puzzle.
My attention returns to the closed door at my back as footsteps draw near. Luciano hears them as well and grabs me by the arm, steering me further down the hall and around a corner. As soon as we’re out of sight, I shrug out of his hold.
I have no intention of clueing him into my intentions, but curiosity gets the better of me. “What exactly is there to do about it, stronzo?”
As Luciano shakes his head slowly, I see his jaw clench. “Stop it.”
Surprise rattles me, and I am aware my expression is not hiding it. “You want me to stop the wedding?”
“I want my sister as far away from August St. Jean as humanly possible. Do I want her with a Lucchetti? Absolutely not. But I want her to be happy. Am I confident that you’re the only person who can stop this wedding? There isn’t a shroud of doubt in my mind.”
“Why put so much confidence into a man you hate?”
“My father hated your uncle for a shady business deal that went down between them years ago. My life, my business, and my happiness have nothing to do with my father’s businesses nor do they have anything to do with your family.”
“Your sister said something similar to me once.”
“She’s a smart woman, which leads me to believe that you’re not shady like your uncle was.”
“My father wasn’t shady,” Enzo growls, coming around the corner. Sully and Nixon are on his heels.
Sully looks between me and Vinnie’s brother, then at Enzo. I can practically see the wheels in his head spinning as he assesses the situation at hand.
Lifting his palms in front of him, he says, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Gentlemen. I’m not sure what we just walked in on, but there’s no reason to be uncivil. We were just on our way to grab Sly and we’ll be heading out.” To further his point, Sully tips his head in the direction they just came from.
“Relax, amico. It seems as though Luciano is interested in forming a partnership,” I tell my friend.
From my peripheral, I see Nixon on high alert, looking Luciano up and down.
“We’re not partnering with a Paladino,” Enzo seethes through clenched teeth.
I walk over to him, placing my hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, cugino.”
“Yes, calm down, Lorenzo,” Luciano prods, his smirk widening. “I want Lucchetti to stop the wedding, and I will do whatever he needs help with. No part of me wants my sister to marry that asshole. The more I look into him, the more sick it makes me that she’s even had to endure him for this long.”
“I have tried many times to convince her to call it off…”
His eyes snap to mine. “Of course she’s not going to call it off. You’re the reason she’s even so hell-bent on going through with it.”
Immediately, I feel the blood drain from my face, my features drooping in combination of shock and horror. “What do you mean, I’m the reason?”
Sighing deeply as though he’s bored, he crosses his arms over his chest. “I thought Lucchetti men were intelligent—surgeons run in your family.”
Closing my eyes, I feel my hands ball into fists. My jaw pops with how hard I’m clenching my teeth. “What. Do. You. Mean. I’m. The. Reason,” I repeat, enunciating every word.
“August is blackmailing her into marrying him by threatening to kill you.”
The group grows so quiet you could hear a pin drop. For several seconds, all I can do is study Luciano to determine if he is lying.
Finally, Sully laughs boisterously. “There’s no way.”
Luciano runs his hand over his freshly shaven face. “It’s what my sister believes.” He tips his chin in my direction. “When she told me about the situation, I tried to tell her there was no way August would be able to pull something like that off—the Paladinos have way more influence in this city—but she was so convinced he would, she refused to believe my words.”
“Why did you not come to me immediately?” I ask, my stomach twisting from the weight of this revelation.
“She never told me who the man she fell in love with was, just that August had threatened to kill him. I didn’t know it was you until you stepped out of her hotel room. I came to try and convince her again to call it off, but then I heard noises I hope to never hear from my sister again, and took a walk before coming back to see if I could speak to her. Your timing was impeccable when I made it back to her door.”
“You told me you were here to talk to me.”
“Indirectly. I was here to talk to her, but seeing you presented an entirely different opportunity. Now, we are on borrowed time as it is. Are we going to come up with a plan to stop this wedding or not?”
“We already have a plan,” Sully states, and immediately Enzo barks, “Sully,” in warning.
From behind me, Nixon finally speaks up. “I trust him.”
Looking over my shoulder, his eyes connect with mine. Nixon has a knack for knowing when people are lying or using certain situations to their advantage. Him saying he trusts Luciano’s word is not something to take lightly.
“You’ve been in the man’s presence for five minutes,” Enzo hisses. “He’s a Paladino. I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him.”
“That’s something you’re going to have to put aside for the sake of Sly to help stop this wedding,” Nixon replies, pushing off the wall he was leaning against to come join us in the middle of the hall. He glances at the tattered timepiece on his wrist. “The ceremony is starting in a few minutes. Put aside the bullshit and let”s get Sly his woman back.”
Enzo huffs in exasperation, but relents. “Fine. Let”s do this.”
“Were you able to figure out security?” I ask my cousin.
He shoots me a sharp look. “Yes, I figured out security.”
“Just say the plan, Enzo. We’re running out of time.” Nixon’s tone leaves little room for argument—I can see what little patience he has at this point.
Enzo’s eyes bounce back in Luciano’s direction, but he continues. “They already have men stationed at every entrance of the church, and in both corners of the balcony. Security is in all black tuxes, and they each have on a clear earpiece for communication. The best course of action is to simply infiltrate.”
“Are they packing?” Sully asks.
“Of course they are,” Luciano confirms.
“How do we know the second you burst in and make your objection, they won’t shoot?” Sully continues. He’s out of his depth with this mission—his family is not confrontational, or the type of family to get their hands dirty.
“Who’s in charge of the security team?” Nixon asks no one in particular.
“Capaul,” Luciano tells us. “The family butler. He’s been on my father’s staff longer than I’ve walked this earth. He heads the security team whenever needed.”
Nixon rubs his chin. “What’s his background in?”
“Retired secret service.”
“Retired? How old is this guy?” Sully questions.
“Old,” Luciano confirms. “But he knows what he’s doing.”
Glancing down at my wrist, I check the time. We need to expedite this conversation. Directing my question at Luciano, I ask, “So, how do we convince him to have his team stand down upon my arrival?”
“All depends on what you plan to do while you’re in there. If you give them a reason to shoot, they will. If a member of the Paladino family is threatened, they’ll eliminate the threat.”
“And if the threat is directed only at August?”
A wide smile crawls across Luciano’s face, and I can see the glimmer in his eye. Dare I say, there’s a hint of approval in there?
“I suspect they’ll hold their fire to wait to see what goes down. I have it on good authority that the security team isn’t a huge fan of his, either.”
“Not shocked,” Sully blurts.
Nixon clears his throat. “I hate to be a cuckoo clock, but you need to get your ass changed and down to the church.”
Luciano checks the time on his phone, sliding it from his pocket to peek at the illuminated screen. “He’s right. Vinnie should be heading out any second. We need to move. Anything I can do to make this run smoother?”
“Sì,” I tell him, pulling my phone from my pocket. Pulling up the new group message between myself, Sully, Enzo, and now Nixon, I click on the addition sign in the top corner to add a new contact to the chat. “What is your number?”
Enzo groans and begins walking down the hallway, away from us. Nixon tips his head and follows, while Sully waits with me. “We went from three to five awfully quick,” he muses as Luciano recites his number and I punch it into my phone. “There’s no way this wedding is happening.”
Stretching out his hand, he offers it to Luciano, who takes it. The two men shake cordially, then Sully disappears down the hall in the direction Enzo and Nixon went.
“I’m going to put an end to this,” I tell Luciano, once it’s just the two of us again. “I love your sister more than life itself. I’ll go to the ends of this earth for her. But make no mistake, Luciano. Your sister will become my wife. I will never walk away from her again, no matter the circumstances.”
Slapping my shoulder, he grasps it tightly and looks me dead in the eyes. “Now’s your chance to prove it, Lucchetti.”