Page 11 of A Vendetta That Ruins

“I married Anna just an hour ago and sent out a message across the city to make sure those sadistic bastards know she’s under my protection.”

“I want to hear from Anna. I want to know that she went willingly into this wedding.”

It’s not that I wasn’t expecting something like this but still the insinuation hurts. “I wouldn’t hold Anna against her will for a wedding unless it was to save her life but that wasn’t necessary. Our wedding, it was consensual, and I will love, cherish, and protect Anna for the rest of her life whether you like it or not, Massimo.”

“I need to hear it from her.”

“And you will, as soon as I can trust there aren’t rats in your organization that put Anna’s life in jeopardy.”

“The fuck! You blame my guys for this when she got taken at your fucking club?”

My jaw locks tight just thinking about that night. “Look here, that night. Who knew she was gone, who knew she was at my casino in Atlantic City and not in Jersey City? Someone had to know, someone had to give her up and send that order. That grab at my club, it was orchestrated by someone, and our guess is it was the Gallinis.”

“So, who told them?” Massimo growls.

“She came to my club, Massimo. No disguise except a small mask. Hell, I recognized her that night. Any person in the club could have recognized her and gave her up to the Gallinis.”

“You got her away from them that night?”

“Followed the fuckers and got her back to safety.”

Finally, Massimo is starting to settle down. “I want to see my sister-in-law. Sophia is going to want to see her sister to make sure she’s safe and happy. Just the two of us and my brother. We’ll leave security at your front entry.”

“That I can agree to. But before we settle on a time, we should decide what we’re going to do about the Gallinis because after today, they’re going to make a play.”

11

Anna

Carmela walks toward me in a short summer dress and kitten heels and places a glass of champagne in my hand. “The men, always some business to attend to somewhere. You are used to this, no?”

My own family name is no secret in our world. “Yes, no matter the occasion, the work must go on, especially for the boss. It was like this with my papa too.”

Her dark eyes meet mine and she smiles mischievously. “It is good to know you, Anna, and even better now that you’re a DeLuca.”

“Thank you,” I murmur appreciatively, taking a sip. “This is excellent.”

“Mm-hmm, produced in the DeLuca vineyards in Italy, the finest around.”

“Indeed, it is delicious.”

The other cousins join our side with glasses and small talk but it’s hard to keep my concentration on what they’re saying instead of what’s happening behind Vincenzo’s office door. The only thing I can imagine pulling him away from this day is either his mom, and that’s not the case or Nicolo would be by his side, or the Gallinis. My eyes go wide. Unless he’s told Massimo and then all hell is probably breaking loose behind that wall. Massimo Roselli and Bastian Gallini are probably pissed at Vincenzo right now. He knows what he’s doing though, and I wasn’t lying when I told him I trust him. I’ve never felt safer for me, but now I’m afraid for him.

It’s impossible to avoid the feeling of dread that even the thought of Bastian getting ahold of me brings. It’s even harder to envision his fury at Vincenzo and his family for standing in his way and especially for taking me and giving me his last name. Bastian has to know by now.

Revenge of the deepest kind will be in Bastian’s heart, burning like a white-lightening rod until he gets his vengeance. It’s hard to say what kind of security Vincenzo will have in place now but by the way the guards are placed, and the snipers on the adjacent balconies and rooftops were positioned for the wedding tells me security around here is going to be tighter than it ever has.

Vincenzo walks back into the dining room and his eyes immediately search mine out, drawing me in with that magnetism that makes me wish everyone else would just disappear. He closes the distance between us and draws me close with a hand to my lower back. “You miss me, princessa?”

The cousins giggle, well on their way to being looped up on the bubbly from Italy. I shake my head at their antics and don’t miss the self-assured smirk on my husband’s face. “I missed you very much.”

Ms. Lottie says something to the cousins in Italian and I don’t catch it all, although I’m not that rusty. The dialect is just a little off. “Her dialect is from the north?”

He smiles, clearly surprised at my knowledge of the language. “You never cease to amaze me.” Vincenzo leans down to whisper in my ear as the cousins continue speaking with Ms. Lottie. “I’m still trying to figure out where you put my tie.”

I flush with embarrassment.

His finger tilts my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Tell me, princessa?”