Everything was not fine.
The venue was empty.
Even the bridal party was gone. The groom stood alone under the marble archway.
“What have you done—” my father started to say.
“I didn’t do it!” I gasped, tugging the veil over my head. It didn’t change the world around me.
“She didn’t.” The groom turned around, and heaven retreated as the devil himself smiled down on us. “I did.”
The man at the end of the aisle wore a Venetian half mask, complete with horns. The cruel twist of the monster’s mouth fit so well with the mask that they seemed to be made from the same artist’s hand.
This was my nightmare, come to claim me.
I stepped close to my dad, knowing that the shelter I craved wasn’t there to be given. Dad would know. He would find out that this fiend had been tormentingme. And instead of dealing with it, I let the dark fantasy continue until now it ruined everything.
“This is a private event!” Dad barked.
The devil slid his hands into his pockets. From behind the slits in the mask, something terrible pulsed in a dark light.
“Good to see you too, Mr. Loring.”
I shivered, suddenly freezing despite the jolly sun casting beams of warmth on the lawn around us.
“This won’t go well for you,” my father promised. “I will make you suffer.”
A humorless laugh croaked from that thick chest. “You can try, but I hold the cards now. Funny, isn’t it? How the tables have turned?”
“You’re a lunatic! I’m calling security,” Dad spewed.
“No, you’re not.” The voice was hard. Granite and unforgiving. “You’re going to do exactly what I want, or else your sins will be plastered across the evening news on every station in this country, and most of the developed world.”
Dad blanched.
Gone was the shelter and protection of his body. He stepped forward, looked around, then stopped. “You can’t do this.”
“I can, and I did.” The devil rose on the balls of his feet and then came back down. “It took years, but I’m finally more powerful than you, Archy. And now, I hold every piece of information that will damn you. Some of it might put you behind bars. The Rock Water Files? Those might get you assassinated by the Braxton Brotherhood before you even get to trial.”
My father…sat.
Collapsed in a chair.
Slid down and slumped.
The man who other men feared in the courtroom, the terror of a boardroom, the scourge of many businesses, was shaken by this…this….
Monster.
I looked between the men, not even bothering to ask what sins were being spoken about. Both men knew the stakes. And I always knew my father played hardball, not afraid to get his hands dirty if he found a legal loophole. He might have cleaned up his image after refusing to be an associate for the mob and endinghis services as their lawyer. Yet that didn’t mean he was above board in all his dealings. The law was just a tool for him to get his way.
“What do you want?” Dad managed to keep his voice steady.
The devil slid a hand from his pocket. Slowly, he raised it, pointed a finger at me, and crooked the digit. “I want what’s already mine.”
Chapter 21 –Vincenzo
Five buses might not be everyone’s idea of revenge. But it sure looked good to me. Only a handful of guests raised a stink at the disruption. The loudest voice came from the lead bus. Those shrill protests nearly made my ears bleed. I swatted at the lobe again, just to be certain.
