Page 77 of Burning Beauty

"Ronson," she spat venomously, hoping her voice was steadier than it sounded to her ears. "I should’ve known he’d send you to collect his prize."

He ignored her and shifted his gaze to the man holding her. "She’s been hurt," he grunted. "Boss said no one touches her."

The guy holding her jerked his head to the side, to the man holding Lucy. Maria's heart pounded in terror. Ronson was a mean motherfucker, he wouldn't hesitate to put Lucy in the ground, didn't matter if she was an innocent and a woman. In fact, that would give the evil bastard more reason to kill her. He seemed like the type to enjoy torturing small and helpless creatures.

"She was fighting us," the guy grunted.

Ronson’s nostrils flared in annoyance. "And three big guys like you couldn’t control one small woman? When we hired you, we specifically said no damaging the goods. Was that so fucking hard to understand? Bloody Mexicans."

Maria took stock of the men holding her and Lucy. Gang tats, bad attitudes, familiar accents. She was embarrassed that she shared her home country with them. She wanted to smack them all and tell them to go home to their mothers and beg forgiveness.

"And who the fuck is this?" Ronson asked in disgust, his glare finally falling on Lucy. She flinched back, desperation making her more afraid of the man in front of her than behind her.

"She was with the woman you wanted us to pick up, so we grabbed her too," the guy holding Maria said.

Ronson nodded, eyeing Lucy thoughtfully for about ten seconds before he pulled a gun from the holster at his back. He stepped up to her and pressed the metal to Lucy's forehead. "We don’t need this one."

"No!" Maria screamed, lunging against the guy holding her. "Don’t kill her."

Ronson turned his cold gaze on Maria, the barrel of the gun still pressed to Lucy’s forehead. He raised an eyebrow saying nothing, inviting Maria to give him a reason not to murder her friend. Maria’s frantic eyes met Lucy’s. Lucy sagged in her captor’s arms, too shocked to say anything.

"She’s Vladimir Sitnikov’s sister," Maria pleaded, desperate to say something, anything that would move that gun away from Lucy's head. "If she turns up dead there’ll be a bloodbath. He won’t stop. You know he won’t. You’ve heard of him, right? It’s one thing to piss off Niccolo DeLuca. But do you really want to take on both of those guys at the same time on two different fronts?"

"If she’s really Sitnikov’s sister, you aren’t giving me a reason to keep her alive," Ronson growled. "She’s more of a liability alive than dead." His finger tightened on the trigger.

"No!" Maria cried. "Not here! He’ll find the body here. Trust me, you don’t want that kind of war. Just take her someplace quiet. Make it peaceful, give him time to look."

Ronson watched her, skepticism clear on his face. Anyone who knew Maria knew she had a good brain and knew how to use it. She hadn't spent much time with Ronson, but enough that he knew she was feisty and smart.

Finally, Ronson grunted. "She’s right. Not here and not messy. Get the bitch out of here, take her someplace else, make it quiet. Make sure there’s no body for Sitnikov to find."

The man holding Lucy began dragging her back to the car. Maria was passed over to Ronson, who held her as she sagged against him, unable to hold herself up. "Lucy," she called out, reaching for the other woman, desperately worried about her.

Lucy looked over her shoulder at Maria. The last thing Maria saw before she was taken on the plane was Lucy's terrified eyes.

Chapter Forty-Three

Nic gave her fifteen minutes before going after her, he counted down each one, his eyes on the door she disappeared through. Fifteen was more than enough time for her to cool down and think of ways to make him suffer. Nic started forward, nodding toward the security guard standing next to the door before going through.

"Maria!" he bellowed, uncaring of who might hear him.

When no one answered he frowned and tried to figure out where she would have gone. She had been pissed, but she wasn't stupid. She would know better than to leave the hotel without security. Wouldn't she? Maybe she was angry enough or feeling bold enough to try.

Nic pulled his phone out of his tuxedo jacket and called down to Luke and Justin. His blood ran cold when they denied having seen her. Nic barked at them to start searching. It wasn't their fault she wasn't where she was supposed to be. The wedding invitations had specified that all uninvited security would have to remain in the lobby, only King security was allowed on the actual floor of the wedding venue.

Nic went back through the same door, only to be stopped by the guard. Once he saw who Nic was he stepped back. So, it would seem that security was only interested in people coming into the event, not leaving. A gaping hole in the King security that no one had thought to close. Considering the calibre of guests, every person should have been checked, whether they were coming or going. If Maria somehow managed to leave the hotel, there was going to be hell to pay for this lapse.

"You," Nic barked at the security guy. "The woman that went through this door earlier, did she come back in?" Nic described Maria.

"No, sir," he answered.

Nic gave the man a long, hard look. If anything happened to Maria, he would be paying this man a visit. In Nic's opinion, he'd failed at his job, and in the mafia business, there was no room for failure. Nic turned to scan the room, then his eyes landed on Luke who was striding toward him. Nic met him halfway across the ballroom. Luke's eyes were on his phone.

"Report," Nic snapped.

Luke stepped up, relaying all relevant information that he and Justin were able to collect in the five minutes since Nic called down to them. "Justin’s on the first floor with security. Hotel video shows Maria leaving with another woman. She looked fine and left the hotel of her own volition. Hotel staff has identified the other woman as Lucy Miller, Sitnikov's sister-in-law."

Nic looked around and zeroed in on Sitnikov, who was standing off to the side, deep in discussion with his wife and the bounty hunter, Mack Hudson. Nic beelined for them flanked by his bodyguard. As he approached, he overheard them discussing the unexpected disappearance of Lucy Miller from the wedding reception. He interrupted their conversation.

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