Page 41 of Sadistic

I groan. "It's really happening."

"Yeah, it is." Dalla takes my hand. "But hey, at least the car's nice. And you'll have the best dressed wedding in criminal history."

"That's not funny."

"It's a little funny." She squeezes my fingers. "We're going to get through this, Rev. Together. Just like always."

I look at our joined hands—hers with chipped nail polish, mine with the obscene sapphire.

"What if I lose myself in this?" I whisper.

"Then I'll remind you who you are." She pulls me into a hug. "Every damn day if I have to."

CHAPTER FOUR

Doran

The surveillance reports spread across my desk tell me what I need to know—Revna spent the night at Everly's, windows locked, no unusual activity.

Good, she's learning.

The morning sun cuts through my office windows, highlighting dust that dances like scattered promises.

I've been up since four, not able to sleep, reviewing every possible threat to the wedding—to her.

Mikhail enters my home office without knocking, tablet in hand. "Njal tried to leave his apartment around 3 AM. Oskar had to physically hold him back."

"From doing what?"

"Driving to her place. He was drunk, talking about winning her back, how he wasn't going to let this happen." Mikhail scrolls through his notes. "Kept saying she didn't mean it, that she was being forced. Oskar sedated him. He's sleeping it off."

"Good." I close the reports, check my phone. A text from my father sent twenty minutes ago:

Wheels up in 2 hours. Havana meeting confirmed.

Cuba.

Bembe Reyes—the new head of the Culebra cartel, who thinks his brother's death gives him license to hunt on my territory.

To threaten what's mine.

"I'll be gone until tonight," I tell Mikhail. "Have Vadim watch her. Discreetly. Any threat, and I want him to handle it."

"The dress fitting is this evening."

"I know." My mother's been texting me about it all week. Something about bringing the families together, letting the women bond. "Make sure the house is secure. My mother and sister will be there as well."

"Already done. I posted two men at the perimeter, one inside posing as staff."

"Good." My phone buzzes.

Speak of the devil.

Mum:

Don't worry, we'll be perfectly charming.

Me:

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