Page 41 of The One Night Match (Mafia Matchmaker #1)

FORTY-ONE

CRUZ

T his woman is going to give me a heart attack.

At thirty-one years old, I’m in peak physical shape. I spend an hour in the gym every morning, my last health check returned a perfect report, and I can’t remember the last time I had so much as a cold.

But fuck, being married to Riley is going to send me to an early grave.

Not because of anything she’s done, because she’s not a particularly reckless person, but because the constant danger that hangs over her head is making it hard to think rationally as Colten and I rush back to the ballroom.

How the fuck did this happen?

Where is she?

Lexi and Mom have searched all the bathrooms and closets, initially sure she’d just gone for a breather.

At first, I wondered if her anxiety was riding her hard and she just needed a few minutes to herself, but when they couldn’t find her, the possibility that she may have been taken secured itself in my mind.

Jenny and Julie, the wives of my guys who run some of our legitimate businesses, said she was talking to them when she seemed to get dizzy. They tried to help her, but she was out of it, which tells me she was more than likely drugged.

Who the fuck is cocky enough to drug my wife at a family event?

We burst through the doors to the hotel, ignoring the strange looks we get as we sprint down the hallway toward the ballroom, only to come up short when Lexi and Mom come into view.

“Anything?” I ask, my voice giving away every emotion bursting through my veins.

Lexi shakes her head, her brow dipped in worry, which only makes mine peak.

My sister is famously positive and perky.

Nothing bothers her. Nothing shakes her.

But this last week, being run off the road, and now Riley going missing, seems to have shaken her in a way nothing has in many years.

“We’ve looked everywhere, Cruz. I’m so sorry.

I was watching her. She was talking to Danny’s wife.

She was fine and safe, so I thought it would be okay for me to go to the restroom, but when I came back, she was gone. ”

Tears brim in her eyes, and I tug her against me, engulfing her in my arms. I tell myself it’s to comfort her, to show her this isn’t her fault, but I’m lying to myself.

I need the comfort just as badly. I need the reassurance that I’m not going to lose Riley when I’ve only just convinced her to give us a real shot.

“I don’t think whoever has her has left yet,” Colten says, but doesn’t bother looking up from his phone. “The traffic cameras in the area have been fairly quiet.”

It doesn’t make me feel any better, but it does allow hope to ease into my chest right alongside the dread.

“Let’s check the alley behind the hotel. There are no cameras back there, so it’s the only way they could take her out without being seen.” Colten points toward the far end of the hall, and I nod, taking off in that direction.

I’m both the most focused I’ve ever been, while also completely out of control.

We burst out into the cold night, and it takes long seconds for me to process the sight in front of me.

Ben holding a squirming Timothy to the ground.

Riley unconscious in the back seat of an old, beat-up sedan.

Monica trying to wake her, tears streaming down her face.

I rush to Riley, ignoring the voice in my head telling me it’s not the right thing to do for the business. But the business can go fuck itself right now. I couldn’t care less about the De Luca family when the center of my universe is passed out and potentially injured.

Monica looks up at me, her cheeks stained with black. “He made me help him. He told me he would kill me himself if I didn’t.”

“You lying bitch!” Timothy screams, followed by a sharp grunt when one of them hits him, but I don’t bother turning to find out who. It doesn’t matter. I’ll deal with him once I’m sure my wife is okay.

I carefully lift her from the car, clutching her to my chest like she’s the only thing keeping me from losing my mind.

Which, to be fair, she is.

I’m as close to losing my mind as I’ve ever been, but feeling her steady weight in my arms helps to steady my heartbeat.

“Kitten?” I murmur, trying to rouse her, but she’s dead to the world, which only makes me angrier.

Timothy has a fucking lot to answer for, and he’ll be doing so with his life.

But not tonight.

Not when we might be able to use him to lure Dennis and Vernon out.

No matter how badly I want to slit his throat for hurting my wife, I need to keep him alive for the moment.

“Can you take her for a second?” I ask Colten.

He nods, albeit confused, and I transfer her weight into his arms.

I tug my knife from its holster and cross to where Ben has Timothy pinned to the ground.

“Turn him over,” I demand, and he doesn’t hesitate to do as I say until our captive is squirming and kicking out like he has any chance of escaping.

Even if he gets free of Ben’s hold, there’s no way he’s getting past me and Colten.

I drop into a crouch beside him, forcing him to look up at me. “Did you think you’d live after taking my wife from me?” I growl.

“You won’t be alive for long enough to do shit to me,” he spits.

I chuckle. “Because your daddy and his friend escaped? You think they’ll be able to take me down?”

“I know they will. You’re nothing, De Luca. Nothing but a weak little boy who got the jump on your dad. You never would have been able to kill him otherwise.”

He manages to tug one of his hands from Ben, but I catch it, pinning it to the pavement beneath us. It’s damp from the rain that’s barely stopped, but it’s about to be stained with something other than water.

“You’re just as delusional as your father,” I say calmly, inspecting my blade where he can see the weapon clearly. “And although I have to wait to kill you, I can’t allow you to keep your hands when you used them to hurt my wife.”

Without hesitation, I bring the knife to his wrist and don’t hesitate to cut into his skin.

His screams and blood fill the night, his body jerking violently as pain takes him over, but I don’t stop until his hand is severed from his arm and he passes out from the pain.

“What do you want me to do with him, boss?” Ben asks.

“Take him to the family doctor, make sure he doesn’t die, and then once he’s out of the woods, lock him up in the cellar.”

I shove myself to my feet and stalk to where Colten is still holding Riley.

He hands me a napkin he’s produced from somewhere, and I promptly wipe my hands so I don’t get any of that asshole’s blood on my wife.

Once I’ve cleared what I can, he passes Riley to me, and I feel settled once again.

I wonder if I can run my empire with her in my arms. I should definitely give it a try.

“You keeping this, boss?” Ben asks, kicking the severed hand closer to me.

I turn to Colten and nod. “Can you bring that with you when you come back to the house?”

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to gift that to your wife,” he deadpans.

I chuckle. “Okay, I won’t tell you that.”