“Me too,” I said, then rose to my tiptoes and kissed his lips.

“Damn it. Matteo isn’t picking up his fucking phone.”

“Do you think something happened to them?” Aria asked.

Romero let out a small laugh, and exchanged a look with Luca.

“The only thing happening is that he’s probably fucking your sister’s brains out right now and ignores his fucking phone,” Luca said.

I wrinkled my nose. Of course I knew my sisters had sex, I just didn’t want to be reminded of it, or worse: imagine it. “Can’t we go over to their room?”

Luca shook his head. “It’s farther away from the back entrance.” He dialed again. “Damn it!”

“We should carry Benito into the bathroom and cover the blood stain in the carpet with something. That way if someone walks in tomorrow morning, it might buy us a bit more time.”

Luca shoved his phone into his pocket, then gripped Benito by the feet while Romero took the arms. I shuddered as I watched them carry the corpse into the adjoining bathroom. My husband was like a sack of flour in their hold.

“You should get out of your wedding dress and wear something more sensible,” Aria suggested softly. She touched my arm lightly, drawing my eyes away from the dead body. After a moment, I nodded. Luca and Romero came back out of the bathroom and discussed how best to go about our flight.

I grabbed jeans and a pullover from my bag in the corner, before heading toward the bathroom to change in peace, but froze in the doorway. Benito was sprawled out in the bathtub. I didn’t want to be alone with a dead man. Bile traveled up my throat.

“Hey,” Romero said gently, coming up behind me. “Do you want me to come with you?”

I nodded merely and finally stepped into the bathroom. Romero entered after me. I quickly got out of my dress with his help. “Somehow I always imagined it would be different when I’d help you out of your wedding dress,” he murmured.

I laughed breathlessly. I dropped the dress unceremoniously on the ground. For me it was only a symbol for the worst day of my life. I wasn’t sad to be rid of it. Maybe one day I’d get the chance to have another wedding, one I’d want, with a husband I loved. I changed into my other clothes.

Romero picked the dress up, and for a crazy moment I thought he wanted to keep it for our own future wedding. “What are you doing?”

“I want to cover the blood stain in the bedroom with it. Nobody will get suspicious if your wedding dress lies on the floor after your wedding night.” He headed out of the room and set the dress down on the ground.

Luca nodded. “Good. Now let’s get going. I don’t want to risk staying here a moment longer than absolutely necessary.” He held out his hand for Aria, who took it. I suspected the tension between them would be over after tonight. The way they looked at each other gave me hope that Luca would forgive her for her secrecy. After pulling his gun, he opened the door and peered out into the corridor.

“Stay close to me,” Romero told me, drawing his own gun and grasping my hand with his free one.

Luca gave a curt nod, then pushed the door open wider and stepped out, Aria a step behind him. Romero led me after them. Nobody said anything. The long corridor was empty but from below you could hear scattered laughter and music from the party. The smell of smoke travelled up. Immediately I was reminded of Benito’s breath and the taste of his tongue in my mouth. I shoved the thought out of my mind.

I needed to focus. I really hoped none of the guests would decide to head our way. Luca or Romero would have to shoot them. What if it was someone I knew? I didn’t even want to think about it. Aria glanced over her shoulder at me as Luca pulled her along. The same worry I felt was reflected on her face.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Liliana

Romero and Luca showed only determination and vigilance as they led us through the house. Eventually we arrived in front of Gianna’s and Matteo’s door. Luca knocked lightly, but I could tell from the thunderous look in his eyes that he’d have loved to take the door down if it weren’t for the risk of getting overheard. Again nobody reacted and I was starting to freak out, when after another louder knock the door finally opened. Matteo appeared in the gap, hair ruffled and only dressed in boxer-shorts; they looked like he might have put them on the wrong way in his hurry and there was a bulge hidden beneath them. I drew my eyes away.

“Didn’t you get the hint that I didn’t want to be interrupted when I didn’t answer your fucking call,” Matteo muttered, then his eyes settled on Romero and me, and he grimaced. “I have a fucking bad feeling.”

Luca shoved Matteo’s shoulder. “For fuck’s sake, Matteo, pick up when I call you. You need to get dressed. We have to leave now.”

“What’s wrong?” Gianna asked, coming up behind Matteo in a satin bathrobe. Her lips were red and swollen. There was really no doubt what they’d been doing before we arrived. Her gaze darted from Aria to me. “Shit, something bad happened, right? Did the asshole hurt you?” She slipped past Matteo despite his and Luca’s protests and hugged me.

“He’s dead,” I whispered.

“Good,” she said without hesitation. She patted Romero’s shoulder. “You did it, didn’t you?”

Romero smiled tightly. “Yeah, which brings us to the reason why we need to hurry.”

“Romero is right. We need to get out of this house before someone realizes that the groom is dead,” Luca said impatiently.

“I’d have bet everything that I’d be the one to start a war between the Outfit and the Famiglia. Kudos to you, Romero, for proving me wrong for once,” Matteo said grinning.

“I would have bet that too,” Romero said.

Luca sighed. “I hate to interrupt your chitchat but we need to get the fuck going.”

Matteo nodded and motioned for Gianna to get into their room. The rest of us followed and waited while Matteo and Gianna got dressed. Every time I heard voices, I jumped, half-expecting Father or Dante to rip open the door and shoot us all on the spot. Romero brushed a few strands that had fallen over my eyes away from my face. The look in his eyes made me realize that it was worth it. Love was worth risking it all. I just wished I hadn’t dragged others into danger with me. Five minutes later, the six of us left the room and continued our journey through the house. The sounds of the party had dwindled further, which meant more people could be walking back to their rooms and potentially cross our paths, but so far we’d been lucky.

We took the second staircase in the back of the house down to the first floor and headed for the door that led to the underground garage. Most houses in this area had them because outside space was limited. There was the sound of steps from the corridor to the left of the door. Romero pulled me to a stop and pointed his gun ahead. Both Matteo and Luca did the same. My pulse pounded in my temples. They had silencers on their barrels but a shooting always made some noise, and I really didn’t want to have more blood on my hands.

Someone turned the corner into our hallway and I clutched at Romero’s arm to stop him from shooting. It was Fabiano. He jerked to a stop with his own gun pointed at us. I didn’t even know he wore a gun, especially to my wedding. He was too young for this. His eyes scanned our small group, his dark brows drawing together in suspicion. He was still in his festive vest and trousers. What was going on here?