Page 147 of Road to Redemption

I was shocked when she passed off her bike keys to one of the valets. But then I saw the slender sword-and-wing tattoo tracing up the back of their hand. Catching my eye, the valet winked before hopping onto the back of Dom’s bike.

“We’re everywhere, Viper.” Dom assured me, guiding me toward the stairs with a hand on the small of my back.

But so were Isaac’s men. As we reached the top of the stairs, I hoped we might slip in with the large group who’d arrived ahead of us. The burly guard held out a hand to stop us though, immediately narrowing his eyes at Dom. “Name?”

“Dom Dumont. As in ‘the groom’s daughter.’” She sneered right back at the man, already sick of his attitude.

He scanned the clipboard in his hand. “Only name I’ve got here is Madeline.”

“Call me that again, and it’ll be the last thing you say,” Dom growled.

The tension of the exchange instantly put me on edge — I couldn’t stop thinking about the gun under her jacket, how quickly things might escalate if the guard put his hands on it.

To my surprise though, he let the threat go. I guessed Isaac had already warned the guards about Dom’s short fuse, even if he didn’t bother to put her correct name on the list. “I don’t see any plus ones for you.”

His critical gaze turned my way, and I almost opened my mouth to offer my name. But then I remembered where I had been for the past few days and how I had probably ended up there.

It didn’t seem like Isaac had ordered for Gabe to hold me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d ordered my kidnapping. After all, Gabe was too stupid to pull off something like arson.

He wasn’t too loyal to go rogue, though. We’d seen as much with his little trophy vault in his apartment.

If I had to guess, Isaac probably wanted me dead. But Gabe liked playing with his food too much. He’d always been too greedy, too selfish, too proud. It was no surprise to me that his appetites eventually caught up with him.

“Don’t you think we can make an exception for the daughter of the groom?” I asked, trying to keep my nerve under the guard’s scrutinizing gaze.

But Dom just laughed. “Don’t worry, man. Trust me, my dad’s going to want to see this.”

82

KIERA

There was a tense silence, the security guard looking us up and down. Behind his eyes, I could see what he was trying to place me, that something about my face was raising alarms. But a few days in captivity had made my face more gaunt.

Just enough to obscure my identity, I hope.

Sucking his teeth, the guard decided he wasn’t interested in challenging the boss’s kid. “Fine. Go.”

I tried to hide the shock on my face as Dom grabbed my arm, breezing right past the metal detectors and into the grand Italian manor.

Without my disguise, my bright red hair was a beacon in the crowd. If the guard hadn’t recognized me, Isaac’s cronies certainly would.

But as soon as we passed the security guard, he whipped his head around. His brow was furrowed as he started to make the connection.

“Ignore it. We belong here.” Dom grumbled, keeping my arm looped with hers. Even through the layers of tux jacket and button down sleeves, I could feel her rippling muscles. She’d lost me twice now, she wouldn’t let it happen a third.

Heads turned as we walked through the crowd. Dom grabbed two glasses of champagne off the caterers’ trays, a wink from one of the women.

One of ours.

Handing me a glass, Dom downed the other before placing it back on the silver platter. I sipped mine, still sensitive to alcohol after months of minimal drinking and barely getting fed while I was trapped in that abandoned factory.

Dom checked her watch and whispered. “The files are live.”

Around us, a few of the guests’ phones dinged with notifications. A few read the alerts, skimming the information they were receiving. And even fewer walked toward the exit, uninterested in being involved in Isaac’s sick games.

Moving toward the back garden, the crowd parted for us as we walked.

I knew overhead that Leo and Spencer would be silently traversing the second floor, taking out as many guards as they could while getting into position. It should have comforted me that no one was rushing upstairs, but the calm just made my blood pressure spike.