“Maybe nothing, but Vivian went upstairs almost twenty minutes ago to change.”
“And it can take a woman twenty minutes to get out of a wedding dress. I assume she has guards.”
“Three.”
He nodded and we both scoured the ballroom. “Enzo has been surprisingly calm during the festivities.” As the only member of the Italian Cosa Nostra family attending the wedding, his appearance had been on the down low, the last-minute notification having the exact effect we’d hoped.
Unrest.
“Don’t look now,” Kazimir said as he took a swallow of his drink. “Trouble in paradise.”
Enzo had pulled Sean McCarthy to the side, trying and failing to have a calm conversation with the man. While I didn’t trust Sean in the least to maintain the act he’d sworn to do with the Italians, I could tell there was genuine discord between them by their hand gestures.
“This is going as planned. So far,” I offered while scanning the ballroom in hopes of seeing my lovely bride.
“Stop worrying. I’ll send one of my men to the suite to check on Vivian. Keep mingling. You are the groom and we need to keep up appearances.”
“Yes, sir.” I grinned as he walked away. I’d thought of little else but how life-altering the wedding would be to both Vivian and me. We’d talked very little about making changes or even where we’d live. There’d been no discussion. It would all depend on what happened tonight.
This was why I wasn’t a gambling man. I hated not having every aspect of my life in my control.
From where I stood, I had an excellent vantage point with the remaining guests. It was late and even I was tired from the festivities, although I had a feeling they were just beginning.
Would we have fireworks to go along with our nuptials?
After a few minutes, I moved through the ballroom, doing nothing more than paying attention to the guests. A brief loud voice caught my attention. Enzo’s voice. As he walked away, his phone to his ear, a couple of Sean’s men were obviously concerned enough to ask their boss what they should do. Sean waved them off, but I had a sense he was more than just unhappy.
At first, Enzo moved toward one of the doors, finishing up his phone call. Maybe telling his father things hadn’t gone as well as expected. My hackles were beginning to rise.
Especially in seeing him move through the crowd, finding Nikki talking with her cousin. The moment he tried to jerk her away to come with him, I headed in their direction. Nikki was adamant, pushing him away with Kathleen even stepping between them. Whatever was said between the two, Enzo left in a huff.
Nikki was clearly upset, but before I could get to her, Kazimir moved with intent toward me before I could ask Nikki what had been said.
“She’s gone,” he said with no emotion, no waver of sound.
“What do you mean gone?” I froze, every muscle in my body tensing. “Who? Vivian?”
“Yes. The soldiers were shot and there are minimal signs of a struggle. I’ve instructed men to surround the property and stop every vehicle.”
“What about the tracker?” Instantly, I pulled out my phone. He stopped me, placing his hand over the screen. She couldn’t be gone. She was supposed to be protected.
“As of a couple minutes ago, she hasn’t had time to initiate the system.”
“Fuck. Fuck!” I turned in a circle, noticing Sean was watching. When Dante noticed my level of stress, he approached.
“What’s wrong, boss?” he asked.
“Everything. Take Sean and Gerald to the small conference room. Whatever happens, do not allow them to leave.”
Dante looked toward Kazimir who nodded. “Do it. And have my wife take Nikki somewhere comfortable.” Kazimir’s voice was strained.
“There are too many damn exits. How the fuck did this happen?” I hissed through clenched teeth.
“It appears room service was the reason she opened the door.”
Room service that she likely thought I ordered. Which meant someone had been keeping a close eye on what we were doing.
“Goddamn it. She taunted me to send up champagne. Dimitri has a leak in the staff,” I yelled at him absently as I reacted to the news, unbuttoning my jacket and yanking my weapon into my hand.
