Page 13 of Curse of the Bride Assassin

“Okay…”

“I wasn’t completely honest with you either. Have you felt thispulltoward me? Like an unexplainable attraction?”

After a few moments, she nods. “I’m not sure why though. Even though we just met, it feels like I’ve known you all my life.”

“I feel it too. From the moment I saw you, I knew we belonged together. We’re fated mates,” I admit.

“That explains a lot. It’s how my dad feels about my mom. I can’t believe it.”

She sits down in the chair next to our captive, a shocked expression on her face.

“Talk to me. What’s going through your head?” I need to know what she’s thinking. If she’s as sure of this as I am. If she’s having doubts, I need to help her work through them.

“My parents are fated mates. They told me the story of how they met so many times, and my dad said he felt a pull toward my mom—he just knew from the jump. I held out from seriously dating anyone my whole life because I didn’t want to settle for anything less than what they had. Now I found you at the worst possible time. I can’t give up on searching for my mom, Vincenzo.”

I sit next to her, pulling her into my side. Having her snuggled into me feels so natural. So right. We were made for each other. “Beautiful, this is the best time to find each other. I’ll make sure you hit your target. We’ll find your mother together. Then we’ll have our happily ever after. I promise you that.”

Dana—sorry,Delilah—gives me a small smile. A glimmer of mischief dances across her face as she pushes a strand of her vibrant red hair behind her ear. She looks downright evil with the way her eyes glow neon red. She kisses me on the cheek, and the simple gesture makes me feel…light. Like for a moment, my empire isn’t in jeopardy and the weight of the world isn’t on my shoulders.

“Fuck you, Vincenzo!” Benito slurs, broken on the floor. Delilah kicks him in the face with her heel, leaving a bright red mark on his forehead. The silver handcuffs block his powers, so he’ll heal slowly, like a mortal. He’s so weak right now, he probably can’t even stand up. He’s not a threat to us.

“Since you’re awake, Benito, would you mind if I borrowed your phone?” Delilah picks through his pockets, ignoring his protests. She finds his phone and points it at his face to unlock it. “Are your men tracked through these?”

“Yeah, everyone but my uncle and me.” I can see the wheels turning in her head.

She scrolls through his texts, her face lighting up. “Bingo, look at this.”

Mario: Good to know he still trusts you. Let me know when the job is done.

Benito: Yes, sir.

That was an hour ago. I take the phone from her, and type out a message.

Benito: Vinny texted me that their location was compromised, so they moved somewhere else. He didn’t say where. He asked me to get the mausoleum upstate ready for their secret wedding tomorrow at midnight.

The three little dots pop up, and it takes forever for my uncle to type his response.

Mario: You’re a moron. Help him plan it, tell me the time and place. I’ll end him myself.

Benito: Yes, sir.

The mate bond must make trusting me easier, because her automatic response is “What’s the plan?”

“I’m going to arrange a ‘secret wedding’ for us,” he says with finger quotes. “He’ll attack us, we’ll kill him, then we’ll find your mom and have our happily ever after.”

“You make it sound so easy…” she trails off, sighing.

“That’s because together, it will be. You’ll see.”

I scoop her into my arms, squeezing her tightly. She melts into me and for a few minutes, we sway together. Before I met Delilah, I was never into this touchy-feely shit. My schedule didn’t allow for it, or so I thought. Now I realize, I just didn’t care about those women enough to find out how they felt or comfort them about it.

“Since Mario thinks we moved on, I think it's still safe to stay here. I’m going to bring Benito downstairs and take care of him. Why don’t you get ready for bed?”

She gives me a sly smile, then pulls a pair of ear plugs from her little purse on the table. “Can I come with you and show you how deadly my wail is?”

She’s a beautiful, top-grade assassinandshe loves torturing people? I hit the jackpot.

“That sounds like a fun end to our first date, come on beautiful.”

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