AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Silence falls hard over the room. I glance at Raphael, wondering where my brother’s head is as I try to process the new information myself. Raphael meets my eyes and slowly shakes his head. The news that Dad had been actively trying to secure a marriage for Raphael with the youngest O’Leary girl is news to him, too. Another power move marriage.
“What exactly are you—” Dad starts.
The door to the room flies open, and a distressed Irish guard hurries in. “Boss!”
Patrick exhales roughly, turning his angry red face to the man. “What?”
The guard swallows hard, visibly nervous to speak. His face is sickeningly pale. Whatever news he has is not good, and he’s afraid to say it. “It’s Rosaleen. The lass…she’s gone.”
“What do you mean she’s gone?” Patrick’s voice is icy calm. An eerie change from the heat it carried just moments before.
“Miss Grace said she went to the bathroom. When she didn’t return, she grew concerned and came to find me. We found the bathroom empty, except for her dress and heels. The guards did a sweep outside and found her phone broken out on the street.”
Patrick slams his glass down on the table. “What about the cameras?”
“Disabled, sir.”
Patrick stands quickly and, in one fluid motion, pulls his gun out, levels it on the guard, and pulls the trigger. The Irish man falls to his knees, crying out as he clutches his shoulder, blood seeping through his hands from the bullet wound there.
Connor stands and is at Patrick’s side in an instant. He reaches for the gun and persuades Patrick to lower it. “Patrick. Now is not the time. It’s your daughter’s wedding day.”
I glance at the guard. He’s kneeling in a puddle of his blood on the floor. If he doesn’t seek medical attention soon, he’s bound to bleed out. But he’s lucky to be alive as it is. Patrick is an excellent shot…when sober.
Connor motions for another guard to help the wounded man. “Get him to the doctor, and then make sure he stays out of sight until I come and find him.”
Patrick growls his disapproval of the decision under his breath as the guard is collected off the floor and escorted out of the room.
“What did he mean by that, Patrick?” Igor is the first to question. “My fiancée is missing?”
“We don’t know what happened,” Connor snaps over his shoulder. “All we know is that she’s not here in the church. She could have been taken.”
Patrick scoffs. “She wasn’t kidnapped. No one would dare do so today, of all days. No. The selfish brat ran off. And on her sister’s wedding day. She has no shame.”
Dad stands, buttoning his suit jacket as he says, “Well, I’ll leave you to deal with this family matter, Patrick.” The way Dad says the word family is not lost on the Irish boss. Had Rosaleen been Raphael’s fiancée, we’d happily do everything we could to help find her. But that’s not the case. Let the Mikhailovs help him.
If the news of Rosaleen’s disappearance has circulated throughout the wedding guests, it doesn’t show. Of course, our mother notices something is off when we sit beside her. Nothing gets past that woman.
After our birth mother passed away from unforeseen childbirth complications, Dad was lost, raising two infant sons. Alice entered our lives when we were barely three months old and never left. She’s raised us and is our mother in every way that matters. Falling in love with our dad, though, wasn’t a fairy tale in the slightest, but that’s a story for another time.
“What is it?” she asks, concern filling her face. She’s a beautiful woman, her Italian ancestry clear in her olive skin, dark brown eyes, and hair.
“It’s nothing serious,” Dad assures her with a smile.
Mom narrows her eyes at the sight. “Dante. Don’t play coy with me. I know when you’re hiding something.”
“I’m not playing coy,” he claims.
“But you are hiding something.”
Ignoring his wife, Dad looks around, noting a strange absence. “Gabriella’s not here yet?”
Ah. Yes. Our spoiled brat, pain-in-the-ass little sister.
Raphael and I love her, but the woman enjoys pushing our buttons to no end. The little hellion is a complete terror on the days that end with a “y.” She’s as beautiful as Queen Cleopatra with a mouth worse than a sailor’s and is trouble incarnate. Once, Dad brought up the idea of marriage with a family in Italy. When the poor boy came for a visit, Gabriella scared him into tears after just one conversation. Dad hasn’t tried since. Convincing Gabriella to do something she doesn’t want to is like trying to bathe a cat, frustrating and fruitless, and everyone will leave soaked, clawed, and bloody.
“She sent me a text that her car was pulling up,” Mom says. “Now, stop trying to change the subject.”
Our sister is in her final clinical rotations to be a nurse practitioner. As stubborn and annoying as she is, Gabriella is also incredibly smart and has a kind heart and gentle soul.
