Page 59 of The Cost of Corruption

But a quick scan of the crowd didn’t show any other familiar faces. And no one else seemed to be paying the least bit of attention to our interaction.

Not even Matteo, who was busy drinking his own bottle of water.

Which meant if I wanted to satisfy my curiosity and see what the hell my cousin was doing here, now was the perfect time.

I stood up from the sofa and apologized to Matteo. “I need to visit the ladies’ room,” I told him.

Technically, it wasn’t a lie.

“I’ll walk you there,” he said, already starting to stand up.

But I stopped him before he could take a step. “That’s okay,” I said. “I see where it is. I’m sure I can get there and back on my own.”

“Okay,” he said, sitting back down. “But hurry back.”

That was the plan.

Whatever Alessia wanted to say to me, I was determined not to let it ruin what was turning out to be another wonderful night.

Without Matteo’s height and muscle to push through the crowd, it took me a couple of minutes to make my way to the bathroom. When I got there, Alessia was already waiting inside—impatiently, of course.

“Oh my God, Chastity,” she said, uncrossing her arms as I moved toward her across the gleaming black tiles of the restroom. “Look at you. I can’t believe my eyes. I barely recognized you.”

I flashed her a tight smile in greeting, then quickly got to the point. “What are you doing here, Alessia?”

She laughed, the loose, slightly mocking sound making it obvious that the drinks she’d been downing all night weren’t water.

“Same thing as you,” she said. “Having a good time and picking up men.”

“Shouldn’t you be on your honeymoon?” I asked, ashamed to admit that I was only now realizing that I’d missed her wedding.

A wild tangle of black curls flew around her face as she drunkenly shook her head.

“The wedding was canceled,” she said matter-of-factly. “I decided to ditch that jerk Jimmy when I found him fucking around at La Sera.”

“I’m sorry.” I decided to take the high road and not mention that she’d been there doing the exact same thing. “Still, it’s good to see you, but I should get back to?—”

“Matteo?” Alessia finished for me. “I can’t believe you actually ran off with him. After that night at La Sera, I thought you’d freak out and sprint back to your convent.”

“I didn’t think I could,” I admitted. “I figured my father had called and told them not to open their doors to me ever again.”

“Are you kidding me?” she asked with a laugh. “He might threaten something like that, but he’d never actually do it. The only thing Uncle cares about is you becoming a freaking nun. If he’d found out you’d showed up there any time this week, he probably would have stopped raving like a damned psycho.”

“What are you talking about, Alessia?” Suddenly, my whole mood shifted, turning darker. “What has he been saying?”

“That he’s gonna fucking kill you.”

The breath stopped in my throat. My heart hammered so hard against my breastbone that I thought it might crack.

“Excuse me?” I said.

“Uncle Michael, says he’s going to kill you.” she said as soberly as was possible for someone as drunk as she was. “I thought you should know.”

I took a step forward. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“Oh, sugar, I wish it was. Uncle went fucking nuts when you ran off with Matteo,” she said before immediately becoming distracted. “Good choice, by the way. If you’re going to get killed for banging a dude, you might as well make it one of the hottest ones in the city.”

“Alessia.” I grabbed her arm, desperately trying to bring her attention back to the topic. “Please tell me what the hell is going on.”

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