Page 59 of Chaos & Carnage
Retrieving my thigh holster from the floor, I strap it to my thigh beneath the dress and slip my trusty blades from my boots, tucking them into the holster as well. Unfortunately, the dress is so tight that I don’t have anywhere else to hide weapons. I even have to discard my bra. Sometimes less is more, and I pray to god that this is one of those times.
Next, I reach up to pull out the hair tie I used to pull my hair back from my face before I left the house, running my fingers through my red strands. Scanning the counter, I find some mascara and a tube of bright red lipstick and help myself, finishing off the ensemble.
Lastly, I slide my feet into the heels, buckling the straps around my ankles. When I look in the mirror this time, I see a viper ready to strike. A woman prepared to fight for everything she wants. It’s not the dress or the makeup that stands out but the fierce determination flaring in my eyes. I stare into those blue depths, darker than usual, for a long moment as I draw the memory of everyone I love to the forefront of my mind: Luc, Enzo, Oliver, Dante, Cain, Bones, and the kids, the other Rejects.
As I picture each of them, my shoulders unconsciously push back, my spine straightening until I’m a force to be reckoned with. By the time I’m done with him, Giovanni won’t know what hit him, but he’ll be dead, so that hardly matters.
All set, I step away from the sink, traversing the bedroom. Reaching the door, I crack it open before peering out into the hall. Still empty. Stepping out, I move back into the service elevator and press the button to take me back to the ground floor.
When it opens, I quickly hurry out, moving in the opposite direction to the guard at the other end of the hall, manning the stairwell. It doesn’t take me long to find a door that leads onto the main casino floor. I hastily push through it, only relaxing when I’m swallowed up by the crowd, most of whom appear tipsy or on a winning high from one of the nearby tables.
Standing on my toes, I look over their heads until I find the guest elevators, then I begin pushing through the crowd. People jostle me, men giving me long glances as I pass, but I don’t pay them any mind. I have only one goal—get to Giovanni.
Making it across the room, I give the two security men guarding the elevators a once over before I approach.
“Upper floors are for approved personnel only,” the one on the right states, not even sparing me a glance.
“I’m here to see Mr. Antonelli,” I say, ignoring him.
That gets his attention, his sharp gaze snapping to mine before slowly raking over my body.
“We haven’t been informed that he was expecting company.”
“He might not have been expecting me, but I assure you, he’ll want to see me. Tell him his daughter-in-law is here.”
That statement only earns me another sweeping glance, while the other security guard murmurs into his earpiece, too low for me to hear.
“You can go up,” he states in a gruff professional voice, pressing the button to call the elevator.
The three of us stand in silence for a moment until the light above the door lights up, signifying the car's arrival. Once the doors slide open, I keep my chin held high as I confidently stride inside, not letting any of my nerves show.I’m the motherfucking Reaper. I crawl through the night in the search of scumbags that don’t deserve to breathe. My blades are the bringers of death. I will not let some asshole in a suit make me forget what I am capable of.
The guard who spoke into the earpiece follows, and I notice him open the same flap that was in the service elevator, allowing the device behind it to scan his eye before we begin our ascent.
My fingers itch to touch the blades pressed against my thigh, but I don’t dare even brush them against the fabric of my dress in case it draws his attention. I’m relying on the fact that I’m a mere woman to avoid a pat down, and I’m fully expecting him to demand I lift my arms so he can do exactly that any second now.
It’s only when the elevator doors open with a whoosh that I realize I haven’t breathed the entire ride, and I let my breath out in a silent burst. My heart is doing crazy things, making me feel as if it’s about to explode out of my chest as I follow the guard out of the elevator and into a small corridor. Two guards are stationed on either side of the elevator doors, with another two opposite the only entry in the entire hall behind them.
Four guards. The odds would definitely not have been in my favor if I’d stuck with my original plan of killing my way to Giovanni. I use that knowledge to bolster me—the affirmation thatthisis the right plan, that Iwillsucceed—as the guard who rode up in the elevator with me nods to one of the men standing beside the door. With a neutral expression, the man opens the door, granting us entry, and I have to quiet the voice in my head telling me that this is all too easy.
I follow the guard into Giovanni’s suite, quickly scanning my surroundings. We’re in some sort of lobby area with a large circular table in the middle of the room and a vase of colorful flowers placed in the center. Various pieces of artwork adorn the wall, but I’m too worked up to pay it any attention as I search for my target.
“You’re to wait here. Mr. Antonelli will be with you shortly.”
I spin to face the guard, but I pull up short when I spot two more standing to attention behind him.Fuck.How the hell did I miss them? I was too focused on Giovanni that I completely let my guard down to any other threat. I must remember that while Giovanni is my target, he will not get his hands dirty when it comes to harming me. He’ll have one of his goons do it, so I need to be just as aware of their movements as I am of Giovanni’s.
The guard exits the room, the doors closing behind him. Now panic truly does set in, no matter how hard I work to squash it.Fuck,I’m really doing this. Assuming this isn’t all a ploy on Giovanni’s part to get me away from prying eyes so one of his gorillas can put a bullet in my brain.
Turning back to face the room, I make sure to keep one eye on the security men by the door. There are three other sets of doors, meaning I practically need eyes in the back of my head. Sadly, I do not, and I’m on the verge of a panic attack as I struggle to keep all three doorsplusthe security men in my line of sight—all without looking panicked or suspicious. A tough fucking job.
It feels like ages, but in fact is probably only a minute or two, before the door opposite me opens and Giovanni appears, looking as devastatingly cruel as always. I can see parts of Dante in him. Not just in the way he looks—the eyes and mouth are definitely the same—but in the way he carries himself. In his general,don’t fuck with me,aura. Dante has made himself in his father’s image, yet the similarities are only skin deep. Proven by the first words out of his mouth.
“Dante sent his pretty lackey to do his dirty work?” He smirks, his eyes like chips of ice as they rake over my body. Suddenly I regret changing into a dress. Instead of feeling sexy, I feel exposed. “Or maybe he sent you as an apology.”
My teeth grind as I tame the urge to launch myself at him and rip his head from his shoulders with my bare hands.Not yet. I can’t make a move toward him with his goons behind me. Even if I did manage to kill him before they intervened, I’d find myself joining him in hell far sooner than I’d like to.
The problem is, now that I’m here, right in front of him, I have no idea what the fuck to say. Everything that comes to mind is more likely to get me killed than present me with the opportunity I need to eliminate him once and for all. I hadn’t actually figured out what the hell I was going to say to the slimeball when—if—I made it this far. Perhaps because I was expecting to get caught long before this point. Either way, I’m here now, and instead of having something intelligent to say, I’m struck dumb.
As I stare at the man single-handedly responsible for ruining the lives of the men I love, I try to figure out if he genuinely means what he just said. Does he seriously think Dante sent me over here as some sort of twisted apology?