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He bends and scoops me up in his arms, papers and all, and strides over to one of the couches in the VIP area. I don’t even have time to register the fact that I didn’t want to sit here where all the death came calling last time, before he sets me down beside him on the leather settee.
“Show me the note, Bianca.”
I hand it over, and he reads quickly before crumpling the paper and throwing it across the room. It falls and rolls, landing up against the glass partition that surrounds this VIP space.
“We need to call the estate,” I whisper. “Get Emilia down to the bunker. Get everyone down there.”
There’s a strange ringing in my ears that seems to warp the sound around me, making it almost nonexistent despite the number of people in the bar. As if I’m in a bubble.
Maybe it’s this bar, I think, almost breaking into laughter. Every time I come here, something bad happens. I know it’s shock making me feel this way, but that doesn’t ease the strange feeling of being separated from reality.
And then a roar permeates the warped silence. Rio, letting out his emotions in a bone-shaking yell. Reality returns with the force of an explosion.
“Get out!”he screams.“Everyone out. Now.”
It’s testament to my level of shock that I don’t even jump at the tone. Everyone else does, though. There’s a rush of patrons and staff for the various exits, as if everyone in the club knows of Rio’s reputation and is afraid he’s lost it.
Minutes later, there’s only us, and the goons, left.
I gently tug on his arm. “Could I use your cell, Rio? To call the nanny.”
He fumbles in his jacket pocket and hands me his phone, before turning to someone and ordering them to call the man Danelli left in charge at the estate.
Penn answers after a couple of rings, sounding surprised to hear from me. “Everything all right, Mrs. Agosti?”
“Emilia. Is she…”
“She’s fine, ma’am. She’s been fed, bathed, and last I checked, which was less than two minutes ago, she was drifting off to sleep in her cot.”
Relief floods through me, weakening my limbs. “Okay, good. Well, if Rio’s men come up to see you, do exactly as they say. No questions asked.”
I can hear her frown in her tone when she says, “Sure. Um, okay.”
I hang up, feeling faintly better, though there’s still the matter of what the man said…
No. Don’t think about that now.
I turn to Rio and hand him back his phone. “I just spoke to Penn. Emilia’s fine. She’s—”
“Boss?” One of the goons has approached and interrupted me, which is unusual.
Rio and I both look at him, and my nerves kick straight back in again at the troubled expression on the man’s face.
“I’m sorry, sir, but…we can’t get through to the estate. No one there seems to be answering their phones. We’ve tried at least ten of the team.”
“Try the rest. Call them all. My sister, too. Call Angel.”
“Yes, sir. Already on it.”
“But…I just spoke to Penn. The nanny,” I clarify for the goon. “She’s at the estate. She said Emilia is sleeping.”
Rio stills, then slowly reaches for his phone and hands it back to me. “Call her back. And tell her to take Emilia and head straight down to the basement. She is not to wait for anyone.”
Dread sends a shiver through me, and I punch in the number again with shaking fingers.
This time when the nanny answers, there’s a strange note in her voice. “Ma’am? Something’s wrong, isn’t it? What’s going on?”
“Penn, listen to me. Take Emilia now and head down to the bunker. Don’t wait for security. Go now.”
