Page 52 of The Virgin's Dance with the Devil
Rico tried to catch Gennaro’s eye, but the groom’s brother had cold-shouldered him since all the groomsmen hadgathered in Niccolo’s suite earlier, Rico’s question of how Marisa was stonewalled with a look that could kill.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the groom slip out of the side door that led to the toilets. Knowing Mattia would be watching him, Rico turned his attention to Dante, the best man who’d arrived with barely an hour to spare with Callie Thomas on his arm – Rico didn’t have the energy to wonder how the hell that had happened – and was chatting to Gennaro at the top of the aisle. Unlike Gennaro, Dante didn’t avoid Rico’s stare, but then, he owed Rico. It was sheer luck – or God’s will as Marisa would call it – that had seen Rico looking out of Niccolo’s window when Dante had appeared on the pathway below with the blonde Englishwoman. With the excuse of needing fresh air, he’d left the suite, then run down the stairs to head them off.
“It isn’t safe for her to be here,” he’d told Dante bluntly. There was nothing in Niccolo’s demeanour that made him think the groom was in any better a state of mind than he’d been the day before. If given the chance to bolt, the groom would be gone, and all hell would break loose.
Dante must have read something in his face that convinced him Rico was being serious, for when Rico had thrust the card key for his suite in Dante’s hand and told him to hide Callie there until the wedding service was over, he’d taken it and then taken her without arguing.
Trying not to let the burrowed rats in his chest start clawing at his chest again, Rico scanned the congregation once more. Still no Marisa or her family. Not even her sister.
About to head over to Gennaro and demand to know what the delay was with the Rossellinis, the signal came that the bride had arrived. The groom was still in the bathroom. Mattia made a signal to the groomsmen to delay the bride, and disappeared through the door the groom had not long ago slipped through. Although Leonardo was the groomsman closestto the entrance, he didn’t move from where he’d propped himself against the wall. He looked as ill as Rico felt. It was Tommaso who hurried onto the piazza to tell the bridal party to hold off their big entrance for a few more seconds. He came back into the church at the same moment Mattia came back through the door with his phone glued to his ear. Tommaso beckoned the bride inside, not noticing Mattia now looking as ill as Leonardo. But Rico noticed.
Dread rising like a poisonous snake inside him, he moved quickly to his oldest brother, reaching him as he ended his call. “Where is he?” he asked in a rough undertone, even though he already knew the answer.
“Gone. I’ve sent my men after him and ordered all Esposito men in Accardiano to find him.” He shook his head and closed his eyes.
“He’sescaped?” Rico clarified in horror. If Niccolo had escaped the church grounds, he could be hiding anywhere amongst the thousands-strong crowd. Thousands and thousands of people, all armed with phones that would video everything. Hundreds and hundreds of press.
Cursing viciously, Mattia nodded.
Now Rico cursed with equal viciousness, angry with himself as well as Mattia, who’d dropped the ball on the most important task of the whole wedding – making sure the damned groom was at the altar to recite his vows.
He should have shared his concerns about Niccolo being a flight risk, but amongst Rico’s anger at what was minutes away from becoming an international scandal and humiliation for the Espositos was a silent prayer of thanks that he’d been able to hide Callie Thomas away from the inevitable fallout… and also a silent prayer to Niccolo to get himself the hell out of Accardiano.Run, Niccolo. Run…
His stomach suddenly dropped.The first order his father would give would be for Georgia Thomas to be taken from her home, and the order would be given to Rico to enact.
The noise level of the congregation had increased, but in whispers, people realising something was wrong.
Siena stood in a huddle with her bridesmaids at the church entrance. The best man and the groom’s brother were deep in urgent conversation with the priest. Tommaso and their father, whose hand was gripping his chest, were heading towards Rico and Mattia. Their father’s grey face was one of barely suppressed thunder.
Rico braced himself and felt Mattia brace himself too. Felt every set of eyes in the church fall on them. Excitement and apprehension permeated the air.
“Where the fuck is he?” their father demanded, rounding on Mattia.
“We’ll find him,” Mattia insisted, standing his ground. “Everyone’s looking for him.”
“You let him escape?” Their father didn’t raise his voice. Like Marisa, he didn’t need to for the impact to be felt. He whipped his stare to Rico and hissed. “Get the girlfriend. Get hernow–” Thenowended abruptly, but with an inflexion of surprise. His father’s eyes widened, and then in a blink, Rico was no longer staring into his father’s eyes.
Lorenzo Esposito had fallen into a heap on the floor.
Chapter Fourteen
“Marisa?”
Marisa kept her eyes closed. She didn’t move a muscle. If she moved, Luisa would know she was faking sleep.
The mattress dipped. A hand stroked the top of her head. “Marisa, I need to talk to you. There’s something you need to know. Please open your eyes for me.”
She didn’t want to open her eyes. Reality was only real when she opened her eyes. When she opened them, she would find herself back in her childhood bedroom, where she’d been since the early hours of the morning.
After collapsing in her sister’s suite, the Rossellinis had made a collective decision, without Marisa’s input, to go home. Marisa hadn’t been capable of giving input. She hadn’t spoken since falling into her sister’s arms. She couldn’t. She didn’t dare speak or open her eyes. If she could only block her hearing off too, she would be able to completely anaesthetise herself.
“I know you’re awake and that you can hear me,” Luisa said gently, sliding her fingersthrough Marisa’s hair as Rico liked to do. “Believe me, I know you want to be left alone, but you need to hear this – Lorenzo Esposito’s dead.”
Her broken heart catching, Marisa’s eyes flew open before she could stop them.
Her sister was gazing down at her. She looked drawn. Tired.
“They think he had a cardiac arrest. It happened in the church. Rico and one of his brothers gave him CPR, but there was nothing they could do.”
