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I glanced over at the girl who helped me into my dress. She leaned against the doorframe and flirted with a guard.
We had little time to talk, so I leaned into my twin and lowered my voice. “They’re going to get themselves killed.”
“They wouldn’t come here without a plan,” he assured me.
“Have you seen them? Are they armed?”
He shook his head. “They don’t allow weapons on the island.”
I blew out a deep breath, my heart racing in my chest. This conversation didn’t bring me any comfort. Knowing my men would come here unarmed, risking their lives to save me, filled me with dread. Because I knew they would all die for me. They wouldn’t think twice if it meant keeping me alive.
“Luca is one of the craziest people I have ever met,” Aiden said under his breath. “But he’s also the smartest. He wouldn’t come here without an exit strategy.”
I chuckled. “That must have killed you to say that.”
He smirked. “Luca is a lot of things. But he’s not an idiot.” Aiden squeezed my hand to comfort me. “I will do everything in my power to stop you from marrying Lorenzo. So will the Salvatore brothers and the Knights. We took an oath, Lexie. Protect our queen at all costs.” His hand moved to the back of my head, and he kissed my forehead. “Even if I hadn’t made the oath in front of the Knights, I will always put your life before mine.”
A cell phone rang in the hallway, snapping my attention back to the guards.
One of them entered the room and raised his hand. “Let’s go!”
I glanced at Aiden.
“It’s okay, Lexie.” He rubbed my shoulders. “I’m right here.”
We boarded a private jet at an airstrip in Hartford and headed toward Florida with the Knights. From Key West, we would charter a boat to the island where they were holding theIl Circoauction.
I finished the rest of my scotch, set the glass on the table, and pushed myself up from the chair. Marcello looked in my direction. I gestured for him to follow me into the back of the plane, away from the Knights. He hadn’t spoken a word since we received the invitation to the island.
We entered the bedroom.
Marcello shut the door. I sat on the bed and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my thighs.
“We’ll find her,” my brother assured me, as if he read my thoughts. He dropped to the bed beside me. “Our plan will work. Trust me.”
Scrubbing a hand across my jaw, I sighed. “We need to prepare ourselves for the possibility…”
I couldn’t even finish my thought.
“Lorenzo needs Alex,” he said with certainty in his tone. “He won’t hurt her.”
“But he’s unpredictable. He can turn on the charm and make you think he’s your best friend. And the next second, he stabs you in the back. I bet he’s giving Alex the royal treatment, making her believe he’s not a bad guy. That he doesn’t want to hurt her.”
“I’m afraid for Alex.” He aimed his sad blue eyes at me. “What concerns me most is the mental torture she’s enduring right now. This is too much for someone with her illness. She may never recover.”
“Alex is tougher than you think,” I shot back. “Give her some credit, Marcello. She put up with all of our shit for years. Our girl isn’t a delicate flower anymore.”
Marcello shook his head. “Alex has been through hell, but nothing like this. We may need to hospitalize her after we get her back. She was already fragile before the kidnapping.”
“Alex is family.” I squeezed his shoulder. “And we protect our family. We’ll do whatever is necessary to help her.”
He nodded. “Anything for our queen.”
I gave him a surprising one-arm hug. At first, Marcello tensed, because this was an unusual exchange for us. But then he pulled me into his arms like he needed this hug as much as me.
We were both scared of what our enemies would do to her. Physical pain was nothing compared to emotional pain. This was the reason I didn’t allow myself to feel. The reason I never wanted to let Alex into my heart.
Losing her broke me.
