Page 109 of Isaia

“Mr. Del Rossa, I’m…I’m so fucking sorry, man. You were all at the fundraiser. I assumed?—”

“Youassumed?” My eyes narrow, my pulse going apeshit. “Has no one told you,” I pull and slam him back, his head hitting the wall with a sickening thud, “that assuming is the master of all fuckups?”

“Sir, I’m sorry. I didn’t?—”

I grab my gun.

“Isaia.” Alexius steps forward. “Don’t?—”

I pull the trigger. I don’t blink. I don’t even hear the gunshot that should be deafening in the confined space. All I hear is my blood boiling, booming in my ears.

The man crumples to the floor, blood slithering out of his head onto the marble. My chest rises and falls, my breathing sharp and uneven, but I don’t feel anything.

No guilt. No hesitation. Nothing.

I just want my fucking girl back, and I’ll kill a thousand more if that’s what it takes.

“Jesus Christ,” Nicoli mutters, running a hand through his hair.

“You really should start picking our security better,” I say to all of them, pulling a hand through my hair. “Because this fucker didn’t cut it.” I spit on his corpse, my rage pumping, the veins on my hands bulging.

Alexius doesn’t even look at the dead man. His focus is entirely on me. “Was that really necessary?”

“It was either a bullet throughhisskull, or Caelian’s.” Without taking my eyes off Alexius I aim at the door where Caelian just appeared.

“Hey, what the fuck did I do?”

“Your smirk is too fucking loud, and I hate your face.”

“Jesus,” Caelian whines. “You didn’t think to check and make sure this fucker was in position?”

“I assumed?—”

Cealian cocks a brow.

“Fuck you,” I spit out.

He shrugs. “It’s the yellow car, man. It makes you stupid.”

“I will shoot you. In the face.”

“If you need help getting your balls out of the twist they’re currently in, just fucking ask.”

“Shut up, Caelian. Maximo, get the jet ready. We need to leave for New York A.S A. fucking P.”

“New York?” Alexius frowns.

“Yeah. I already know who took her and to where.”

“Care to enlighten us, brother?” Nicoli lights a cigarette, eyes trained on me.

“Rinaldi. He took her back to New York.”

Alexius leans back in his seat. “Why would he do that?”

I give Caelian a knowing look, silently telling him to keep his mouth shut.

“He wants to auction her off to the highest bidder,” I say, and technically it’s not a lie—just a slight bending of the truth. But I’m doing what I need to do…for her, for us. The thought of her standing at Anthony’s side, her hand in his, her lips pressed to his, him claiming her—not just her body but everything, her future, her freedom?—

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