Vengeful Matrimony | ✔️

Chapter 85

NICHOLAS

I slid my mask back on as I exited the bathroom, just in case there were any lurking guards.

My phone buzzed in my pocket incessantly as texts poured in. I drew it from my pocket. I had five texts from Matteo, three from Enzo, and ten from Evander. I frowned as I clicked on Matteo's first. Did someone pass away?

MATTEO: Where the fuck are you?

MATTEO: Get the fuck out of there. The building's about to explode.

MATTEO: Fucking answer your texts. Get out of there. Gregorio knows you're there. He strapped a bomb to his body, and it's going to go off in less than eight minutes.

MATTEO: If your stupid ass dies on me because you refused to answer your phone, I'll beat the shit out of you.

MATTEO: You're not too far away. I'm on my way.

Evander and Enzo's texts, like Matteo's, told me to leave the building. A video was attached to one of Enzo's texts, and it showed Gregorio with a bomb strapped to his body and a smug smile on his face.

"I know you're in this building, Nicholas, and I know you'll kill me when you find me. This is me taking control of the situation." He laughed and threw his head back as if his psychopathic ass didn't have a bomb strapped to him. "It will also be less painful. I already feel sorry for Rocco. Some windows have explosives strapped to them, and they will detonate soon."

The video cut off after that. This could be a ploy by Gregorio to get me out of here so he could escape, but I wasn't ready to take a chance.

I ripped the mask off my face as I dialed Lachlan's number. The few seconds it took him to answer the call felt like an eternity on my side.

"You're not supposed to call in the middle of a job, Niko. It's distracting."

"Have you found her?"

He must have sensed the urgency in my tone because when he replied, his voice was devoid of its usual humor. "No. I just got to the dressing room. A bunch of kidnapped girls are in here, but there are no traces of Giselle. I'm helping the girls out the back door."

Fuckfuckfuckfuck.

"Find her now, Lachlan. Fucking n..."

I heard screams in the background, followed by a curse from Lachlan.

"What's going on there?" I asked.

"Some girl fell from upstairs. She cracked her skull on the floor, and there's blood everywhere."

That was the least of my problems right now. "Get the fuck out of there and find her. Gregorio placed explosives around the house, and they go off in less than eight minutes."

"Shit. There's a fire escape here. I'll climb up and start from the top."

I shoved my phone into my pocket, making quick work of the locks on the door to the auction room. If the bomb threat was real, they could burn with Gregorio.

I heard raised voices from inside the room as I made my way up the stairs, throwing doors open as I went, partially hoping I'd come across Gregorio's office. I could put an end to this crippling fear that the building would explode with Giselle in it by putting a bullet in his head.

I counted ten rooms on one floor.

If that was how many rooms every floor had, I wouldn't have enough time to check every room before the explosives went off. There were about eight floors in this place.