Page 132 of Devil's Vows

“Is there any way I can watch her first? See if it’s her before I actuallyfaceher?” I whisper. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

“Fuck…of course.” He rakes a hand through his hair. “I didn’t think about it. There must be a solution?—”

“The secret passage,” Matteo calls as he heads down the stairs.

“Yes, here, quick,” Dominic says, showing me to follow him. “There’s a double-sided mirror in the guest washroom. You access it through the pantry closet.”

Now my heart is beating in my throat; we only have minutes.

“Why would you have a double-sided mirror in theguest toilet?” I ask as Dominic rushes me to the pantry, opens the double doors, and once inside, presses on the wall that holds the brooms and dusters and mops.

“Mafia,cara, obviously,” he says with a tease of a smile as the wall makes a clicking sound and he pulls at it to reveal a secret passage. It’s basically just another door, without a doorknob, and if you didn’t know it was there, you’d never see it.

“This way.” As he steps inside, it triggers a motion sensor, and a row of lights illuminates the narrow passage.

“Better lighting than you’d ever find in a convent’s secret passages, I can tell you that much,” I mutter as I follow him, traversing the expanse of the kitchen and now understanding the layout. We’re heading straight for the guest washroom but coming from behind.

When we reach the dead end, he pulls at a string, rolling up a blind that reveals a window onto the spacious washroom’s handbasin and door. The two-sided mirror.

Good grief. It’s a clever little hideout and spy chamber. “Thank the Lord it doesn’t look over the toilet.”

“No. We’re not that evil, but if you want to watch, you can just lean in and to the side, like this?—”

“Dominic,” I say, giving him a sisterly shove. “I’ll come out as soon as I’m…I’m… ready.”

“Take your time. I’ll close the pantry doors, but leave the secret entry open.” He squeezes my shoulder. “Remember she can’t see you. We might need to funnel some water down her throat first, so just be patient.”

I roll my eyes at him, but I can do with time alone. To process this. To process everything that’s happened over thesepast weeks—years—that’s culminated in this moment. I didn’t expect the reality of facing this woman to affect me this much. I watch as Dominic walks out, then there’s a shuffling sound and Ivan peeks down the passage.

I meet my husband’s gaze down the length of the corridor.

“You’re okay in there?”

“Yes. I’ll be fine.”

He looks deeply worried, so I muster up a smile to reassure him.

With a nod, he closes the closet just enough to let a thin strip of light in. All I want is to rush up, shove my foot in at the last second to hold him back and sayI love you, but I don’t.

68

IVAN

I shoot Yuri a glance as I follow Dominic back to the living area of the penthouse, unable to shake a sense of foreboding. We don’t have weapons, but I bet Matteo and Dominic are armed to the teeth. Then there is the ever-absent Benedict, still on his ‘call’ in Matteo’s office, wherever that may be, ready to pick us off like ducks on a pond.

With a deep inhale, I steady my nerves. This is not a trap.

And if it is, I walked into it blindly.

I curse under my breath. I should have left Yuri with the girls. Milana isn’t even here?—

What if I’ve put my sister in danger, now with Gabriella locked up in a room where she won’t witness what her brothers do to me? And thank God for that.

Then I recall we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Gabriella. Her brothers didn’t even know she was being hunted until I told them so.

Trust.Just learn to trust again. One fucking inch at a time.

I’m neurotic and shove my hands into my pockets, biting down on my jaw and tasting blood.