Page 15 of Brutal Vows

Slouching against the tiled wall, I let out a long breath of relief. Closing my eyes, I let the warm water ripple over me and wash away the feeling of arousal and shame Vitali managed to draw out of me. When I finally start to feel normal, a sense of calm washing over me, I open my eyes and break away from the wall.

My eyes scan the shower, landing on a pretty pink razor. Greedily, I pick it up, lathering some of the shaving cream I find next to it, and proceed to shave every inch of me I can reach. It’s been nearly a month since I’ve been able to do this, and the simple act of normalcy nearly has me in tears.

When I’m done, I quickly rinse off, shutting down the shower with the fancy control switch. There is a towel waiting for me on the counter. I use it to dry my hair and body before slipping on the white robe that hangs on a hook. It’s been too long since I’ve had such luxuries.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I spot the tray of food that is left for me. Picking it up, I sit cross-legged in the middle of my bed and do the only thing I can.

I plot my escape.

Vitali De Luca has no idea who he is dealing with.

Nine

“I’ve got it,”I whoop in triumph from across the room. The bar was the easiest place to set everything up and since last night I’ve done nothing but search for the woman responsible for nearly having my best friend’s new bride kidnapped. Charity LaMontagne’s days are numbered.

Rising from the plush couch, Kenzo makes his way over to me, peering over my shoulder to study the security footage I found. Kenzo and his team have been working relentlessly since the wedding, combing through every inch of the initial footage on the night of his wedding, but there has been no trace of her.

Until now.

“See these red markers here and here?” I motion to two seemingly identical sections. “Upon closer inspection, they are not seamlessly connected like the rest of the footage. Someone has deleted and clumsily reassembled these portions. Amateur work.”

“What times are these from?” he asks me.

I punch in a few commands, and a new screen appears. “About half an hour before your wedding and—right before your reception.”

“Do you think you can retrieve the original footage?”

Smirking, I give him a confident nod. “My program is currently reconstructing everything as we speak.”

“That’s good news,” Kenzo says with relief. “Perhaps we’ll be able to determine if she was taken against her will or not.” He stares at the computer for a few seconds longer. He doesn’t have to speak for me to know what he’s thinking.

Why go through the trouble of deleting footage if nothing incriminating took place.

“Wait, there’s something else,” Adrian speaks up from across the room. He approaches us with several sheets of paper in hand and lays them down on the counter between us. “I dug into Charity’s spending habits and noticed that she visits the same store every month around the same time.”

“Why is that significant?” I ask. “So she enjoys shopping. I went through some of her receipts; that woman loves her Botox more than Jennifer Coolidge.”

“But here’s the thing,” Adrian interjects, his eyes gleaming with discovery. “The purchases she makes are always for the same amount.” He points to the totals on her credit card statement. “When I went through her email. She had returns for those exact amounts on the same day. Except, there are no returns on record.”

Kenzo leans in closer to inspect the statement. “But that doesn’t make any sense. If she’s returning items, shouldn’t there be some indication of it?”

Adrian smirks triumphantly. “Exactly. Which leads me to believe that she is getting her money back through some other method.”

“But why go through all that trouble?” Kenzo wonders.

Adrian shrugs. “Perhaps she needed cash without her husband knowing.”

“Or maybe she needed cash to hire someone to kidnap her own daughter at the wedding?” I suggest with a heavy sigh.

“Let’s go shopping, brothers,” Kenzo laughs as he slaps me on the back.

Wonderful.

“So—” Here it goes. I knew it wouldn’t be long before one of them would become too curious to hold back. “Are you going to tell us what’s been going on with you?” He turns slightly in his seat next to mine to face me better.

“And why you showed up in the middle of the night with a girl who was gaunter than the Grim Reaper?” Kenzo puts in his two cents from the front seat.

“Nosy fuckers.” I roll my eyes but there is no heat behind my words. This is what the brotherhood is about. Caring for one another.

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