Chapter 2 - The Lock
My scream lodged in my throat as two large men dragged my father toward the warehouse entrance.
His custom Italian suit was torn and stained with dark, terrifying patches.
“Dad!” I gasped, lunging toward the door.
Nico’s hand clamped around my wrist, his grip like a steel vise.
“Sit down, Evelyn.” His voice was calm, conversational even, which made it infinitely more terrifying.
“Let him go! What are you doing? We have a deal!” I thrashed against his hold, desperation turning me feral.
“The deal,” Nico said smoothly, finally releasing my wrist, “was that you marry me to clear his debt. The deal did not include his sudden decision to contact the FBI twenty minutes after the ceremony.”
The blood drained from my face.
The FBI?
My father, the man who had just traded his daughter to the mafia to save his own skin, had immediately tried to flip on them?
“You’re lying,” I choked out, though doubt was already gnawing at me.
Nico gestured lazily to the front seat, where his driver handed him a thick, Manila folder.
He tossed it onto my lap.
“Photos. Transcripts. Wiretaps. James Hart isn’t just a bad businessman, Evelyn. He’s a snitch.”
I didn't open the folder.
I didn't need to.
The cold certainty in Nico's eyes told me everything I needed to know.
“If he’s an informant,” I whispered, “why did you marry me?”
Nico leaned closer, his scent a mix of expensive cologne and something inherently dangerous.
“Because,” he said softly, “a wife cannot be forced to testify against her husband.”
I stared at him, the horrifying truth sinking in.
I wasn’t a bargaining chip.
I was a human shield.
“And what happens to him now?” I asked, my voice barely audible over the roaring in my ears.
Nico didn't answer immediately.
He just watched as his men shoved my father into the dark maw of the warehouse.
“That depends,” Nico finally said, adjusting his cuffs. “Are you going to be a good wife, Evelyn, or do I need to re-evaluate his usefulness?”
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed in my clutch.
May you like
It was a text from an unknown number.
“Don't trust Caruso. Your father isn't the only one he's lying to. Look in the trunk of the third SUV.”
