Page 156 of Vow Of Fire

Nico shot me an annoyed look. “I’m doing everything I can.”

I knew he was, but right now I could scarcely contain the fear I felt for Evelyn. I was so angry, I wanted to put my fist through the nearest wall.

“Why didn’t we see this coming?” I said, spinning to confront my mother. “I thought you two were friends.”

“We were,” she said quietly. “A long time ago.”

“Well, what the fuck happened?” I demanded.

She fixed me with a scathing look. “Don’t swear at me, Dante.”

I let out a growl and shoved my hands into my pockets. “Sorry.”

Nico smirked. My mother didn’t tolerate disrespect, and nor should she. I shouldn’t have sworn at her, but I was so fucking frustrated I didn’t know what to do with myself.

I would tear the world apart until I found her. Nothing was going to stop me. And when I did, I was never letting her go again.

It was my fault she’d gone off unprepared. My fault she’d been taken. If I hadn’t abducted her, hadn’t fallen for her and moved her into my apartment, Vincent wouldn’t be using her to get to us.

By making her mine, I’d made her a target. The thing I’d feared most had transpired. An enemy had found my weak spot and was using it against me. And now Evelyn was paying the price.

“He must have been very unhappy to resort to this level of betrayal,” Marco pointed out.

“You think?” Izzy said testily.

Everybody’s nerves were frayed.

“Dante’s right. We should have seen it coming,” Leo said, speaking for the first time. He sat in his armchair, cane resting against his knee. While he held himself upright, he seemed older somehow. More tired.

“How could we? He gave no indication that he was selling us out to the fucking cartel,” Marco retorted.

“Nico, I need to see his bank statements,” Valentina said quietly. She appeared to be the only calm person in the room. She sat on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, sipping an espresso. To anyone who didn’t know her, she might appear relaxed, but we all recognized the danger in that composure. She was furious.

Not emotionally. My mother never got outwardly emotional. Hers was a cold, ruthless fury that usually resulted in someone’s business, livelihood, or life ending abruptly. In this case, I was guessing it would be all three.

“Including the account in Zurich he thinks I don’t know about.”

Izzy raised her eyebrows at me.

I wasn’t surprised. Valentina was always one step ahead of everyone.

“I won’t be able to get in from here,” he said, shutting his laptop with a snap. “But maybe at his office…?” He turned to me.

“Fine, let’s go,” I said. It was Saturday, so Chloe would be there managing the place.

I couldn’t stand another second of sitting there doing nothing, anyway.

“Take security with you,” Marco said.

We both ignored him and walked out.

The Agora Gallery was still open when we arrived, although the elegant glass doors were closed against the rain-soaked chaos of SoHo.

Water streamed down the front windows in shimmering rivulets, distorting the muted glow from the lobby into blurred gold streaks across the pavement. Traffic hissed through the wet streets while somewhere in the distance, a siren wailed through lower Manhattan like an omen.

I knocked, barely noticing any of it. Nico stood silently beside me, his hoodie up against the deluge.

My entire body thrummed with a violent, restless energy that had nowhere to go. Every second Evelyn remained out there felt like a blade sliding deeper beneath my ribs. I couldn’t stop imagining her tied up somewhere, waiting for me to come for her.