Page 149 of Dangerous King
Toni sees it too. "You want to wait," he says, not unkindly.
"No," I answer, though I haven't looked away from her yet. "Let's all meet in my office in an hour."
I don't know what this is about, but I know better than to ignore it. In this business, you don't put anything off, not even on your wedding day. With any luck, this won't take long, and I can be back before Cat even misses me, maybe even before they call the first dance. Toni pulls out a chair next to me. He seems to be in a talkative mood, very different from the Toni I know. Hopefully, I'll get to meet this mystery obsession/woman/hostage soon. I've never seen him like this. He didn't bring her here tonight because Carlos can't know she's alive. The sooner we get rid of that bastard, the better.
Something flares in the corner of my eye, movement from the upper terrace. A flash of yellow. I frown. The bridesmaid dresses are yellow.
Another flash, fast. A streak of fabric, flying.
"Izzy?" I mutter.
I'm out of my seat before I consciously make the decision to move, and Toni rises beside me without a word. We both know that kind of velocity only means one thing: trouble.
Guards around the perimeter are tense as Izzy leaps from the low stone railing of the terrace into the grass below like a fury unleashed. No, not onto the grass, ontosomeone.
"Guards!" she bellows midair, pointing as she hurtles toward a figure trying to blend into the crowd. She tackles him. Straight uptacklesthe bastard to the ground in a blur of yellow tulle and rage. I freeze for a heartbeat. No.No fucking way.
"Ledyanoy Prizrak," I hiss, heart hammering as I sprint forward.
The bastard is here.Here. On my property. Atmywedding. Right under my goddamn nose. Izzy straddles him, dodging a wild punch he throws from below, and plants her feet like she was born in a fight ring.
"You motherfucker!" she snarls, her braid whips over her shoulder. She lands a right hook clean to his jaw. His head snaps sideways with a crunch I feel in my own molars.
The crowd screams. Chairs scatter. My men surge forward, but I'm already there, vaulting over a table, dodging champagne glasses and startled guests. Toni's right behind me, his voice is tight like steel. "No one fires unless I say so!"
I get close enough to see the ice in Alaric's eyes, and the thin smile on his lips despite the blood now smeared across his face.
"Get your hands off my sister," I growl, crouching low.
Izzy's eyes flick up, wild and bright. "I have it under control," she pants defiantly.
And she does.
But I don't care. Because this fucker being here means one thing: whatever Stephano saw on those tapes?
It's already too late.
"Take him to the warehouse," I order the guards.
While they take Ledyanoy Prizrak out of there, I hear him chuckling, "Over a fucking girl…"
"I know it's your wedding…" Toni trails off. I know that tone of voice. I don't like what he's suggesting, but… fuck, things just got real. And I need to deal with this motherfucker now. I watch my men place Ledyanoy Prizrak into a white delivery van. My father is soothing the guests, and Mattheo is instructing the band to start playing again.
I turn to the terrace doors, wondering just how in the world I'm going to explain to Cat… A deafening boom sounds out, like thunder cracking the sky in half. I'm thrown against Toni, who curses loudly, and we both go down in a heap to the ground. For one breathless moment, everything slows, time itself suspends in disbelief, then chaos explodes around me.
Shouts. Screams. The brittle shatter of crystal. A cloud of smoke and debris billows from the dining hall like a monster's breath. Red and white petals from the floral arch flutter through the air like bloodied snow.
Fuck, that was a bomb.
Inside my house.
Cat is inside.
My heart stops. She was inside. My fucking wife was inside.
Without any regard for Toni, whose limbs are entangled with mine, I scramble up off the ground. Still half hunched over, I begin to run toward the blown-out glass doors. Shards crunch underneath my feet.
I'm running, tearing through the stunned, bleeding crowd. I don't know who's screaming. I don't care. All I hear is the pounding of my pulse and the blood in my ears, only one thought driving me forward: find her.
