Page 62 of Broken Hearts of Sin

Floating above my head in a cloud of euphoria, I look down on my body in glee. I can see everything,feeleverything. It’s all so… unreal. I see my body, lying there, a bit of drool dripping from my mouth, looking as dramatic as a damsel in distress. I nod with satisfaction. I did it – I finally did it. I have set myself free.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

Iarrive at the pier just as the sun is rising over the horizon. It's a beautiful view, one I wish I could enjoy, but my heart is too troubled for that. My spirit is too anxious. I need to know what's happening with Giada before I can relax.

I'm early and I know it, but I'm still impatient that Eric hasn't arrived yet. I lean against the pier staring out into the water, watching the light beams dance with the waves, as the day gets lighter.

Joggers and cyclists pass me by and I can't help the irritation that I feel at all these people going about their days as if everything is fine. The best thing to do is ignore them before I punch someone in the face.

He comes up on me so quietly that I don’t see him until he’s right at my side.

“Fuck!” I rear back in surprise.

“You really need to watch your six. That was careless.” He chuckles.

“Yeah well…” I have nothing so I just glare at him, “What is going on?”

“Your girl is getting married today. To Patrizio Freccia.”

I blink at him a few times, my mind failing to compute what he’s saying. “You mean…?”

“I mean, right now, Mr. Freccia is making his way to the chapel. Your bride is probably not far behind.”

I glare at him, “What happened to plan B? I thought there was an escape plan.”

Eric shrugs. “Yeah well, you should probably get on that. I think you’re supposed to stop the ceremony or something?”

I give him a disbelieving look, “What do you mean, stop the ceremony?That’sthe plan B?”

Eric gives a deep sigh. “No, of course not. There’s more to it than that. You have a role to play, an important one. You'll know it when you see it. For now, I know you're packing. Hand over all your weapons.”

I just continue to stare at him in disbelief. This man cannot be serious. “I'm not doing that.”

He reaches into his pocket and extracts a gun. “Give me what you have, and you can have this one. It's untraceable.”

I quirk an eyebrow in surprise. Sure, Eric is our mediator but as far as I know he's never dealt guns. “Where'd you get this?”

“What do you think? The evidence locker. Hopefully, you won't need to use it, either way I want it back by the end of the day. I’ll exchange it for your weapons.”

With my own sigh, I reach into my boot, extract my weapon, hand it over. I reach into my coat and get my other weapon and give it to him. He gives me a look. “This is all you have?”

With a huff I take my knife out of my other boot and slap it into his hand. “That's it.”

He hands me the gun and I slip it into my boot. “Okay so now what?”

“Now you go stop the wedding. Good luck with that.”

I give him a jaundiced glance. His attitude is really getting on my last nerve. I get it he's mad at me over the whole Mark thing, but he's not the only one who lost somebody that day. “Where is the wedding?”

He blows out a breath, “Saint Mark's church, just down the road from their mansion. You can't miss it.”

“And Gigi knows I'm coming?”

“She's absolutely relying on it.”

I nod, get on my bike, and go. I feel like Eric is withholding stuff, so I try to call Father Lorenzo. Unfortunately, I get his voicemail telling me that he is at mass, but that I should leave a message and he will get back to me as soon as he can.

With a huff of annoyance, I drive faster. There's a sense of urgency inside of me, an instinct that saysdanger! danger! and I am inclined to pay attention to it.

---