Nausea roiled in my belly at the thought of Olivia alone without her mom. But it wasn’t going to happen. I’d prepared my own document—a letter—to be delivered to Chloe after I turned myself in.
“We’d better get back.” I helped Chloe to her feet. “We’ll need to stall so Bella has time to get away.”
“Gage might be able to help,” Jack said quietly from behind us.
I spun around at the sound of Jack’s voice, my eyes making contact with his broad chest before I tilted my head back to meet his cool gaze. “How long have you been there?”
“From the moment you left the house. Gage is busy with the elephant. I wanted to make sure you were safe.”
My heart swelled in my chest. We’d been extra careful. There was no way we could have been seen, but it made me happy that he’d come.
“How can Gage help us stall?” Chloe asked.
Jack smiled, but I saw a glint of mischief in his eyes. “We could ask him to arrange an elephant stampede.”
* * *
◆ ◆ ◆
?We didn’t get our stampede, because the handler had taken the elephant home by the time we returned to the party. Instead, we got DJ Ka-Poor filling the dance floor with his upbeat high-energy playlist.
“Where the fuck is Bella?” Mario accosted me beside the enormous working ice sculpture of a family of swans—another of Bella’s extravagant demands.
I smoothed my face into a mask of bewildered innocence. “She went to get changed into her going-away outfit.”
“She’d better hurry up or we’ll miss our flight.” He stabbed at his phone, an overt dismissal.
“Where are you going for your honeymoon?” I tried to keep my tone light although everything about this dude made me seethe inside. “Bella said it was supposed to be a surprise. I promise I won’t tell.”
“Berlin.”
“Berlin?” I struggled to hide my shock. “It’s not really a traditional honeymoon destination but it’s good to be different. I would have picked somewhere warm and tropical—Hawaii, Jamaica, or maybe somewhere new and exciting—a cruise down the Nile, or a hike up to Machu Picchu. Or Morocco. I’ve always wanted to see Fez.”
“Just go get her,” he snapped. “I’m tired of waiting.”
I took a long walk around the house and checked in on Rose, who was still playing referee between the caterer and the nonnas. Emma texted that she was back and ready to ride. Upstairs, I lingered in Bella’s room and then walked up and down the hallway calling her name. After a suitably long time, I made my way back to the main floor and asked everyone I met if they’d seen her.
“Mr. Angelini wants to know where his daughter is.” Gino cornered me in the grand hallway, a scowl on his menacing face. “The happy couple are supposed to be on their way to the airport.” His voice was rough and gravelly, like he gargled with stones.
“I don’t know where she is,” I said honestly. “She left to get changed over an hour ago. I was just upstairs, and her suitcase is packed and on the bed. She must have come down to say good-bye to her friends. I was just about to check the kitchen.”
“Mr. Angelini isn’t happy. He wants her in the car in ten minutes. The guards are already searching the property.”
“I don’t know why she’d be anywhere except right here at the house,” I said brightly. “We still have to do the petal parade, throwing the bouquet . . .”
“Ten minutes.”
“I’ll get my crew on it right away, and I’ll check the bathrooms again,” I said. “It might just be a case of bridal jitters.”
Ten minutes later, Gino escorted me to Mr. Angelini’s office, his thick hand heavy on my shoulder. There was no evidence of our visit or of Cristian’s clandestine meeting with Mrs. Angelini on the brown leather couch.
“Where is she?” Mr. Angelini drummed his fingers on the desk.
“We’re still looking for her.” I wrung my hands and furrowed my brow for effect. “The last time I saw her, she was going upstairs to change.”
I was tempted to feign shock at the very notion that she would run from her marriage to such a wonderful man, but he knew I knew Mario was an abusive bastard. Her disappearance couldn’t have been a huge surprise.
Mr. Angelini leaned forward, dark eyes intense. “Did she ever share any plans with you about running away? Did she have a boyfriend?”
“We didn’t really have any personal conversations. There was a lot to do and not much time, so we mostly talked about her dress, the flowers, music—wedding stuff.”
“Work with Gino,” he barked. “Find her.”
I didn’t want to work with Gino, but Gino said, “Come,” and I went because Gino wasn’t the kind of guy any sane person would refuse.
“Someone put balloons in front of the cameras at the back exit,” Gino said. “We had no visibility at the back door.”
“That’s unfortunate.” I met Gino’s fierce gaze with one of my own. After everything I’d been through in the lead-up to the wedding slash heist, nothing and no one could scare me.
“It’s convenient,” Gino said. “Not unfortunate. I don’t believe in fortune—good, bad, un, or mis.”
“I don’t think that take on prefixes really works,” I pointed out. “My mom is an English professor. I thought about being an English major, but it would have been a huge disappointment to my family. They wanted me to be a doctor. What did you study? Or did you go straight into intimidation?”
Gino wasn’t up for a conversation. “Where were your people when Bella went upstairs?”
“Running the wedding,” I said. “Rose was in the kitchen overseeing the food. DJ Ka-Poor was rocking the dance floor. Emma was taking a nap in the limo while she waited to drive the bride and groom to the airport. Gage was helping with the elephant. Chloe was doing a security sweep. And Jack was spritzing the flower arrangements to keep them fresh for the second meal. I have to say we’ve done an excellent job.” I also gave myself an A+ for excellent lying and quick thinking on the spot.
Gino folded his arms over his massive chest. “Didn’t do such a good job if you lost the bride.”
“Didn’t do such a good job as head of security if she managed to leave without being detected,” I countered with the same level of snark.
His eyes narrowed. “Are you saying she left?”
“Are you saying she didn’t?”
Who was this woman burning a terrifying armed Mafia guard without a trace of fear, and what had she done with Simi? I wasn’t scared of Gino. I was just annoyed that he didn’t seem to believe my lies.
“Are you mocking me?” His voice rose in incredulity, and really, it was incredulous. I was waving a red flag in front of a bull, heedless of the consequences.
“What do you think?” I folded my arms, mimicking his pose. “A bride goes missing, and instead of thinking wedding jitters, or maybe she needed some alone time, you’re treating me like I did something wrong. I’m the one who made this wedding happen. Why would I help her run away? Disappearing brides are bad for business. Not only would that worry potential clients, but it would also mean I’d have no one to give me a five-star review. Are you a contractor or an employee?” I didn’t wait for him to answer, because I didn’t really care how Gino made his living. I just wanted to keep him busy to give Bella the time she needed to get away. “If you’re a contractor, you’ll understand the importance of reviews. Instead of pointing the finger at me, you should really be looking for Bella or you might get a one-star review for losing the bride. You’ll never get another security gig. This could be the end of your career.”