Page 39 of Violent Delights

He turns his head slightly, his jaw ticking. “You ever seen her in a wedding dress before?”

“Not like this.”

He finally looks at me—really looks. “That supposed to mean something?”

I exhale through my nose, eyes still on the glass door. “Ignacio gave me orders. I’m to stand outside the fitting room. Make sure she doesn’taccidentallyrun into anyone from her old life. He’s suspicious. Thinks she might try to stir up trouble.”

Guillermo scoffs while shaking his head. “He thinks she has the balls to pull something off without help. That’s cute.”

“Yeah. Cute.” My voice comes out sharper than I mean. I roll my shoulders back, trying to ease the tension crawling under my skin. “He doesn’t know her the way we do. He doesn’t see what’s building under all that sweetness and innocence.”

Guillermo steps closer, lowers his voice. “He will know soon enough. I want to make a suggestion for our plan. Something that I know she’ll agree to.”

“I don’t like we’re you’re going with this,” I tell him honestly. I’m already nervous about this plan, but involving her will only add to it.

“I need you to trust me.” Guillermo looks me in the eye then and I know I can trust him. I may not be the man he wanted for Lia, but I’m the one she’s chosen. And I’m not leaving unless she wants me to. “Do you want her forever?”

The question hangs between us, heavier than the European heat. I glance at the boutique’s window, and suddenly, she steps out of the fitting room in a dress of silk. That’s when I see her properly.

Hands lifted.

A veil lowered. A life she doesn’t want being stitched around her like a trap.

“She’s not alone in this,” I say finally, then look back at the man questioning me. “I will die before I allow any harm to come to her.”

Guillermo nods once, slow and deliberate. “So we’re clear—he’s suspicious, but he doesn’t know anything. We do what we need to end the Mosca line.”

“He won’t have her. No one will. There is only one man for her.”

Guillermo nods slowly. “You planning on keeping him blind all the way to the altar?”

“If I have to.” This time, I stand up, squaring my shoulders as if my enemy is right in front of me.

There’s a pause, then Guillermo takes a step closer. “You sure you can hold it together that long? Watch her pick out the dress she’s supposed to wear to marry someone else? Keep pretending?”

I meet his eyes. “I don’t have a choice.”

He studies me like we’re back on our home ground, as if we’re in New York and he’s learned my true name—like he’s running through every angle, measuring the cracks.

Then he gives a slight nod. “All right. You don’t tell Ignacio anything. He asks, you tell him she picked white and didn’t stab anyone with a pin. End of story.”

I nod. “Agreed.”

“I’m not doing this for you.” His voice is low but not cold. “I’m doing it because I remember how she used to smile when she felt freedom. And how shestoppedsmiling when she realized she has to be married to a man she will never love.”

Something in my chest knots. “This time, she doesn’t have to choose. I’m here and I’m not leaving.”

“Don’t screw this up. I wouldn’t want to have to kill you,” he says with a dark chuckle and I know he’s not joking.

Before I can answer, the boutique door opens, and a soft voice calls my name. “Nico?”

I turn. Lia stands in the doorway in a pale blue robe, hair pinned up, bare feet on polished tile. She looks younger than usual. Or maybe just tired.

“I need you,” she says simply. “Zia wants to see you inside.”

I nod and glance at Guillermo.

“I’ll be here,” he says. “Stone wall and all.”

---