Page 51 of Wedlocked

“They’re selling their dance moves and their looks, not their bodies. They’re not paid to be hookers.”

He flashed me a bemused look. “Be careful, our dad will think you’re going soft again if he hears you talk like that.”

We stepped outside, my defenses already in place. “Then it’s a good thing you’re not going to say any—“

Bang.

Nico crumpled wordlessly to the ground, leaving the shooter in his black balaclava in full view. It was instinctive to throw myself at the man, tackling him to the ground and knocking the gun free. It skittered across the concrete even as the attacker landed a blow to my face, pushing my head back and making my ears ring.

I managed to throw a punch in the attacker’s gut, but he was as big as me and clearly knew how to fight. He landed another blow to my face before I hooked a fist into his gut. His breath heaved out and I noticed a flash of silver-gray behind his balaclava a second before the flash of a knife distracted me completely.

The sting of its blade as it slid across my jaw and spurted out blood sent me rolling away as the other man gained his feet and his gun, and raced away. It was too late to give chase. Instead I pushed into a crouch at my brother’s side, my eyes burning with tears as I looked into his empty eyes, my blood dripping onto his face.

I jerked back to the present, my breath hissing at the vivid memory that I’d successfully kept under lock and key for so long…until my wife’s betrayal.

That I’d failed to recall the flash of striking silver-gray—eyes just like Sabrina’s—behind the balaclava only made me more infuriated. I’d unwittingly allowed her brother to be a part of our wedding, invited him into my damn fucking home unaware he’d killed a member of my own family.

My jaw ached as I ground my teeth together at the injustice of it all.

My father had been right. The whole Costa family couldn’t be trusted. They had no code of honor, no integrity whatsoever.

My hands crunched into fists as I stalked away from the window and back to the newspapers I’d spread out on the dining table, where the wedding photos of myself and Sabrina were a feature. Thanks to our infamous names we were nothing short of celebrities in our own right. And now thanks to our marriage, Sabrina was no longer hidden away. She’d been thrust straight into the limelight.

But that meant half the world now also knew she was no longer by my side. It made for some inflammatory articles, ones that even my father clearly hadn’t been able to stop. I curled my lip. Or perhaps he’d incited them at my expense?

It suddenly made far too much sense. I’d gone against his advice and this would be perfect payback for him. Though he’d no doubt love to see me fail personally, he’d expect me to be professional and overcome this latest adversity by finding and killing my wife.

Bastard.

I glanced down at one of the many articles. It showed a photo of me and Sabrina on the staircase of my father’s mansion, where I’d announced my intention to marry her. A caption underneath was provocative to say the least.

Has the king of the underworld already lost his queen?

My nostrils flared as I sucked in a breath. I had no choice now but to murder my own wife to restore my reputation and keep those baying for blood at heel. The sooner it was done the better. That I’d also have to kill Salvatore wasn’t even a blip on my radar.

Blood for blood.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Sabrina

I plucked some imaginary fluff off my cotton nightgown, then shook my head at the breakfast tray the Costa family maid, Trisha, brought up to my room.

“You’ve got to eat, child,” Trisha scolded, seemingly forgetting I hadn’t been a child for some time. She’d become extra motherly to me since I’d returned home and become somewhat of a shell of my former self. “You’re fading away to a shadow.”

I grimaced. I wanted to eat, I really did, but food was so…unappetizing. “You can leave the coffee,” I said, just to appease her and not offend her any more than I already had.

She clucked her tongue, then drew apart my bedroom window curtains, followed by the glass sliding door. I blinked, the bright light hurting my eyes. “How about you sit out on the balcony and enjoy your coffee?” she asked. “It’s a beautiful day outside, and you could do with some sunshine.”

I nodded, not in the mood to argue. “Sure,” I said listlessly.

She rolled the glass door open. “I’m glad Salvatore isn’t here to see you falling apart like this.”

I grimaced. On one hand I would have loved my brother’s support, on the other hand I was glad he’d disappeared to wherever his cabin was that he so often spoke about, but rarely visited. He would probably just blame himself more to know that I was miserable.

He’d been so furious about what had happened to me he’d escaped from everything and everyone. Not only did he blame himself for allowing me to marry Ethan, when he’d seen the bruise on my face he’d assumed the worst about my husband, and I hadn’t had the opportunity to correct Salvatore before he’d disappeared.

It’d been what now?—five days, I guessed—since I’d come home. My brother had left the very next day after he’d rescued me. I sighed heavily. Guess I’d just have to be patient and wait for him to return.

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