Page 82 of Secret Seduction

“Hey, Lorenzo,” Solace says. “Vanessa is …” She glances around. “Well, shoot, I don’t know where she is.”

“Franco asked to see her,” Felisha says, just as Franco, the casino manager, walks through the back door.

“Mr. Russo.” He shakes my hand. “How are you?”

“Good. Came by to see my wife, but I was told she was with you.”

His brows furrow, and before he even speaks, I know something is wrong.

“She was supposed to be, but she never came by my office to …”

Before he can finish what he’s saying, I’m out of my seat and cutting across the room to the entrance where Sal is supposed to be guarding Vanessa.

“Where is she?” I bark.

“What do you mean?” he questions. “She’s in there.”

“No, she’s fucking not. Find her!”

“She never came out of here,” he says, pulling his two-way out and speaking into it to let everyone know she’s missing.

“She was supposed to go see Franco, but never showed up.”

“Shit, then she would’ve gone through the back.”

Sal runs inside, and I follow.

“Have you seen Vanessa?” he asks one of the guys sitting in the security room.

The guy clicks the mouse a few times and then pales. “She’s in the bathroom located in the Azul Room. We don’t have access to it, but a gentleman just went in after her.”

“Fuck!” I run toward the Azul Room with Sal on my heels.

“Tell me you have a key, or I’m going to shoot this fucking door in.”

“I have it.” He unlocks the door and swings it open, and we both draw our guns out, preparing for anything.

In life, every decision you make leads to some kind of consequence, so when you make your choice, you have to decide if you’re willing to live with the consequence.

And as I stare into Vanessa’s terrified eyes—who’s fighting the ex-mayor, begging him not to rape her as he slaps her and tells her to shut up, with his limp dick hanging out of his pants and her shorts wrapped around her ankles—I make a decision without giving a shit about the consequences.

“Get your fucking hands off my wife,” I say lowly.

Eric’s bloodshot eyes meet mine, and he stumbles back in shock.

When Matteo warned me that he was leaking the recording of Eric admitting his part in ensuring he won the election, which led to Eric being forced to step down, I should’ve considered that he would go after Vanessa, but I didn’t. We’ve been so caught up in our own little bubble that it felt like we were untouchable.

Without giving Eric a chance to respond, to explain himself, to beg me to go easy on him, I pull the trigger. Then I pull it one more time for good measure.

I don’t have a silencer on my gun, so I have no doubt people nearby heard it going off. Security will be notified. The police will show up. There’s a chance that by killing the ex-mayor of Harbor Point, I’ll end up back in jail—this time for murder.

But my only focus is on Vanessa. Tears are streaming down her face, her body visibly shaking. I cut across the restroom, ignoring the blood all over the walls and floor, and pull her into my arms.

“Thank you,” she chokes out, nestling her face into my chest as her sobs cause her entire body to tremble. “I … I tried to fight him off. He was going on about losing everything and it being my fault, but … but … oh God, Lorenzo.”

I pull back and can see it in her eyes, hear it in her tone—she’s having an anxiety attack.

“Do you have your pills, baby?” I murmur, framing her face with my hands.