Page 79 of Borrowed Bride

“What?” they both cry, and Leo’s jaw falls open.

I focus on Gianna. “I’ve lost enough time with my family already. Five years. If we survive this then Leo, you can have all the power. I already have what is precious to me.”

“Dude,” Leo gasps.

Gianna smiles shyly, her cheeks flushing crimson as I take her hand, and she steps closer. “Are you serious?”

“Deadly. I want to be with you. I want to marry you and spend the rest of my days with you and our daughter, away from everything else.”

Her arms drape around my shoulders and she kisses me sweetly as her eyes sparkle. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Holy shit,” Leo repeats.

I glance at him. “I get it. You didn’t expect power so easily.”

“No, no, not that.” He glances up from his phone. “It’s Fawn. She caught Dante.”

“What?!”

33

GIANNA

“This wasn’t part of the plan!” Marco hisses at Fawn, grabbing her arm the second she greets us outside the old bakery she brought Dante to.

The building is smack-dab in the middle of the city and in Fawn’s words, it’s the perfect place to hold him. No one will be looking right in the heart of disaster, and I have to agree with her.

“No, it wasn’t part ofyourplan,” Fawn snaps back, jerking her arm out of his grip. “I saw an opportunity and I took it, okay?”

“What opportunity?” I ask before Marco can let out another frustration that might have Fawn turning us away.

She glares at Marco, then turns to me with a small sigh. “When I was in that apartment for Emilia, I took a look at Dante’s computer. There wasn’t much to go on, but I noticed he had Find My Device turned on, so I secured access and pinged his phone. Easy peasy.”

“Dangerous,” Marco mutters.

“Amazing,” pipes up Leo, but he’s quickly silenced by a glare from Marco and Fawn.

“Do you want to spend all night out here arguing about it or do you want to confront the fucker?” Fawn crosses her arms over her chest. “Because at this point, I’m good with either.”

Marco grumbles to himself and indicates for Fawn to lead the way inside. On our drive over, he kept telling me that it was a bad idea for me to come and that I should return to Freya, but I refused. I need to know why he locked me up for all those years, for my sake and my daughter’s.

Inside, Fawn leads us through the dusty, unused bakery and through a small corridor down to where the old kitchen is. Nothing in here has seen light for years, and the only scent, other than dust, is a faint, acrid stink of rye. Fawn has Dante tied to a chair near the old furnace and it’s no surprise that somehow she’s managed to stoke the fire and bring the flames to life. The light dances over Dante’s bruised face where he’s taken one or two punches.

“Oh there she is,” Dante spits. “The fucking whore. And who did she bring with her, huh?”

As Marco steps forward, Leo catches my arm and holds me back with him in the darkness. As much as I want answers, Dante is Marco’s father and he likely has a great deal to say to him, almost as much as Fawn, no doubt. My heart goes out to Marco as I watch his shoulders bunch up while he steps into the flickering light. Dante flips like a switch.

“Oh my son! You came! Thank God, thank God! Please, you have to help me. This woman, this crazy woman attacked me and killed my guards, then dragged me here. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but thank God you’re here!”

Marco doesn’t reply. He stops a foot away from his restrained father and folds his large arms over his larger chest.

“Don’t just stand there!” Dante pulls against his restraints and rocks his chair back and forth. “Kill her!”

“Why did you sell her?” Marco asks, and confusion flashes over Dante’s face.

“Sell her? What are you talking about? I don’t even know her!”

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