Page 49 of Wedlocked

I handed her my clutch bag. “You might as well put it back in there,” I said, and take out whatever you need from your own bag before I take it. I’ll also wear your dark wig.” I cleared my throat. “And I’ll need to use your cellphone,” I reminded.

She nodded. “Fine. Whatever.” She thrust her phone into my outstretched hand and began undressing even as I rang Salvatore and quickly explained the situation. Despite the fact my brother stayed in New York quite a lot thanks to our family’s business dealings, it seemed like providence that he was in the city tonight of all nights, and fairly close by.

This really was it, my one chance.

I hung up and quickly unzipped my pantsuit, standing in nothing but my thong when a couple of girls walked in and saw us.

One of them whistled. “Looks like we’ve interrupted something.”

“You know, I’d turn lesbian too if you looked like her,” the other woman said before they each pushed open a toilet door and closed it behind them.

I ignored them and nodded at the woman in her wig, drawing on her short black skirt and white crop top, before I rolled my ponytail into a bun and covered it with the dark wig, its ends touching my shoulders. A nervous giggle escaped me. I really did look different now, kind of tough looking.

I’d need to be.

The other woman stood back and looked at herself in the black pantsuit. It wasn’t a perfect fit, with her breasts too small and her ass too big, but in the dark nightclub with her blonde wig my identity would be kept secret for a little while at least.

I twisted my wedding ring on my finger, then touched my medallion. I couldn’t give either one of them up. If I really did escape they’d be my keepsakes. I’d have nothing else to show for my trouble other than a whole lot of memories.

The other woman secured her hair into the same ponytail I’d had. When she picked up my clasp bag and I took hers, she nodded at me and called out, “Good luck.”

I managed a smile, then I stepped out of the ladies room and into the much dimmer nightclub. I touched my dark wig, ensuring it was in place even as I glanced around the club quickly as I headed toward the exit doors.

Ethan was still talking to his soldiers, but I was halfway to the exit doors when he spun on his heel to walk toward the bar where he’d left me.

Shit. I didn’t have much time.

It wasn’t until I was almost out, then glanced back, that I saw the pretend me leave the bathroom and walk the opposite way of the bar. I expelled a sigh of relief. It’d give me a little extra time.

Then I was walking through the foyer and toward the elevator, Ethan’s men barely glancing my way. It wasn’t until the elevator doors slid shut behind me and I was carried to the ground floor that a shiver of trepidation moved through me. I hoped Ethan’s men didn’t pay with their lives for my escape.

I exhaled as the doors opened and I stepped out. I couldn’t worry about that right now. My own life was at stake.

I hurried through yet another lobby, where two men in uniform secured the entry and exit of everyone in the building. I was only glad none of Ethan’s brothers were on duty tonight. Though being that they were capos they’d have their own men and tasks to oversee.

I stepped outside into the cold, dark air, the traffic still busy even at this time of night. I lifted my face into the light rain, its cold touch that misted my face awakening something inside me. I wanted to holler with joy at my freedom even as I wanted to sob in denial and turn back and run into my husband’s arms.

“Sabrina? Shit, what are you doing? Move it!”

I looked to my left, where my brother was standing beside one of his nondescript, dark town cars he’d parked on the side of the road. That my brother recognized me, even under the wig, shouldn’t have surprised me.

I was hurrying toward him when I saw his eyes darken before Isabella called out, “Sabrina?”

I turned automatically, seeing her standing on the pavement with the man she’d been dancing with, his arm slung possessively around her shoulders. Her eyes widened when she realized it really was me.

“Don’t do it,” she shouted, her voice cracking. “If you run, you know Ethan won’t be left with any choice.”

I knew exactly what she meant. If I ran, his men would expect nothing less than my death at his hands. If I stayed, I might live a little longer. But then Lorenzo’s words came back to taunt me. It won’t be long before his interest in you wanes.

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Isabella, I can’t risk it.”

My brother opened the passenger side door and ushered me in. “Don’t listen to her. She’s a fucking Agostino. None of them can be trusted.”

Isabella ran after me. “Sabrina, please, listen to me! My brother—“

Salvatore clunked the door closed behind me, shutting out whatever Isabella had to say and enclosing me in a world that should have felt safer, yet didn’t. I bit into my bottom lip until I tasted blood, then stared listlessly out the side window as Salvatore finally climbed into the driver’s seat.

What had he been doing anyway? Had he exchanged words with Isabella? Though they might have been attracted to each other in the past, they clearly weren’t anymore. Their hatred was palpable now.

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