Page 6 of Revenge & Ruin

“Who exactly are you, blondie?” Dante asks. “Cuz you sure as hell aren’t on the invite list.”

“I–”

“Dante.”

A sharp voice clips at our ears. From my angle—smashed into the table—I can just about make out a flash of red hair.

“Can we do this somewhere that is NOT in the middle of the goddamn reception?”

The hand holding me down instantly releases me, and I find myself smirking as I stand back up again. The fiery maid of honor looks torn between who she wants to strangle first.

Dante, however, only tightens his grip on my arms. “Gatecrasher. Do you want to get Rocco, or…?”

“Take her to Teo,” Red snaps back. “He can deal with it.”

Dread hollows out my entire being. There is no possible way I can be within striking distance of that man. My pick-up will be here any second.

There’s only one thing for it.

I snap my head back without warning, causing Dante to hiss as his nose is crushed on impact. His hands loosen on my arms, and I yank them free, jerking away for him as I turn to sprint out the door…only to feel the press of cool metal against my throat.

“Stop. Making. A. Fucking. Scene,” Red seethes in my ear.

Where the hell did she even get a knife from? Everyone was checked three times before we even entered the church,includingthe bride and groom.

A second later, Dante is back, manhandling me into compliance. “Do you think maybe you might be taking your role as maid of honor too seriously, Mia?”

Mia doesn’t reply. Instead, she turns back to the room. “As you were.”

With a shove, Dante marches us all forward and out of the reception hall, away from all the curious and bemused glances of the wedding guests.

With every step, a cool feeling spreads further through my body, threatening to send me into my own personal ice age. This has gone so horribly wrong. I shouldn’t be here. I should have left the moment Rocco made the announcement.

Teo Vitale. The new don of the Guild.

The son of the family who tried to ruin mine.

The name alone is one my mother taught me to fear and despise. How quickly it triggers memories of a fraught history of violence and greed and death.

How much of my training has been to protect myself from him? How much of my education did I spend becoming a technological weapon to secure my family’s safety? How muchhave I studied him to ensure we always remained one step ahead?

There was always the possibility that I would see him today, and my instruction was not to engage under any circumstances.

This could jeopardize everything I’ve ever done to stay out of his line of sight.

“In here,” Dante grunts.

Suddenly, I’m shoved through a door to the side and into a near-empty conference room. The blade at my throat scratches across my skin. Mia doesn’t care that it draws blood as she pushes me to my knees.

“What the hell is going on?”

Finally, kneeling on the floor, my entire body succumbs to the cold. I’m frozen in place by the timbre of that voice.

“Gatecrasher,” Mia announces.

“Then chuck her out.”

Please. Please, please, please.

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