Page 52 of Sins of Bliss

“You’ve been in the man’s presence for five minutes,” Enzo hisses. “He’s a Paladino. I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him.”

“That’s something you’re going to have to put aside for the sake of Sly to help stop this wedding,” Nixon replies, pushing off the wall he was leaning against to come join us in the middle of the hall. He glances at the tattered timepiece on his wrist. “The ceremony is starting in a few minutes. Put aside the bullshit and let's get Sly his woman back.”

Enzo huffs in exasperation, but relents. “Fine. Let's do this.”

“Were you able to figure out security?” I ask my cousin.

He shoots me a sharp look. “Yes, I figured out security.”

“Just say the plan, Enzo. We’re running out of time.” Nixon’s tone leaves little room for argument—I can see what little patience he has at this point.

Enzo’s eyes bounce back in Luciano’s direction, but he continues. “They already have men stationed at every entrance of the church, and in both corners of the balcony. Security isin all black tuxes, and they each have on a clear earpiece for communication. The best course of action is to simply infiltrate.”

“Are they packing?” Sully asks.

“Of course they are,” Luciano confirms.

“How do we know the second you burst in and make your objection, they won’t shoot?” Sully continues. He’s out of his depth with this mission—his family is not confrontational, or the type of family to get their hands dirty.

“Who’s in charge of the security team?” Nixon asks no one in particular.

“Capaul,” Luciano tells us. “The family butler. He’s been on my father’s staff longer than I’ve walked this earth. He heads the security team whenever needed.”

Nixon rubs his chin. “What’s his background in?”

“Retired secret service.”

“Retired? How old is this guy?” Sully questions.

“Old,” Luciano confirms. “But he knows what he’s doing.”

Glancing down at my wrist, I check the time. We need to expedite this conversation. Directing my question at Luciano, I ask, “So, how do we convince him to have his team stand down upon my arrival?”

“All depends on what you plan to do while you’re in there. If you give them a reason to shoot, they will. If a member of the Paladino family is threatened, they’ll eliminate the threat.”

“And if the threat is directed only at August?”

A wide smile crawls across Luciano’s face, and I can see the glimmer in his eye. Dare I say, there’s a hint of approval in there?

“I suspect they’ll hold their fire to wait to see what goes down. I have it on good authority that the security team isn’t a huge fan of his, either.”

“Not shocked,” Sully blurts.

Nixon clears his throat. “I hate to be a cuckoo clock, but you need to get your ass changed and down to the church.”

Luciano checks the time on his phone, sliding it from his pocket to peek at the illuminated screen. “He’s right. Vinnie should be heading out any second. We need to move. Anything I can do to make this run smoother?”

“Sì,” I tell him, pulling my phone from my pocket. Pulling up the new group message between myself, Sully, Enzo, and now Nixon, I click on the addition sign in the top corner to add a new contact to the chat. “What is your number?”

Enzo groans and begins walking down the hallway, away from us. Nixon tips his head and follows, while Sully waits with me. “We went from three to five awfully quick,” he muses as Luciano recites his number and I punch it into my phone. “There’s no way this wedding is happening.”

Stretching out his hand, he offers it to Luciano, who takes it. The two men shake cordially, then Sully disappears down the hall in the direction Enzo and Nixon went.

“I’m going to put an end to this,” I tell Luciano, once it’s just the two of us again. “I love your sister more than life itself. I’ll go to the ends of this earth for her. But make no mistake, Luciano. Your sister will become my wife. I will never walk away from her again, no matter the circumstances.”

Slapping my shoulder, he grasps it tightly and looks me dead in the eyes. “Now’s your chance to prove it, Lucchetti.”

Chapter 19

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