Breaking Midnight (Il Paradosso Series Book One)

Chapter twenty-six

I wanted to kill him.

But first, I needed to find him and have someone hold the bastard down so I could punch him. He was built like a fucking brick wall, so he would undeniably wring my neck first, and the fact that he was a complete psycho didn't make things any easier.

I had lost Amanda when we entered the club, and now she wasn't in the VIP room—that was fully packed to my disliking. Halloween had brought out a lot of people tonight. We sat in the booth on the upper far end, which was regularly reserved for Antonio and his men. It was closer to the bar, enclosed from all of the other tables and could be easily isolated, if needed.

The perks of being his personal whore. Gosh, I had to stop repeating that in my head.

The woman sitting at the bar, wearing a black dress that looked like it had been sewn onto her body, with a slit that went all the way up her thigh—stared daggers at me.

Great, Eleanor was here. Her hair was styled neatly in a slick up-do and she was wearing her signature red lip, giving her an exotic look.

Kenny shot me a questioning glance that I ignored. This wasn't the time to dive into that conversation. I had to find my missing friend and get that Goddamn mask off of her, before something irreversible commenced.

The short ruffled skirt was riding up my buttocks, making it slightly uncomfortable to maneuver easily. I had to cross my legs to maintain a less revealing position for the people sitting in the booth closest to ours, who were eyeing us with curiosity.

After the waitress brought our drinks, I excused myself and praised the Lord for slipping away unnoticed. Or so I thought. I headed towards the exit, on my way out catching a glimpse of Eleanor's glare.

Resting my arms on the metal railing, I scanned the dance floor below. Hoping to spot the blonde beauty, my sight landed on a pair of dark green eyes, flickering beneath the beaming lights across from me. He was standing on the other side of the balcony, with a daunting smile.

I gripped the metal bar, contemplating my next move, which I knew had to be carefully calculated or everything could easily convert into chaos. So I smiled back and he tilted his head to one side, with a menacing glint in his eye. I could have sworn it was almost demonic.

I pulled out my phone, texting Amanda. Asking her where the hell she was, I waited as we continued our stare down. The phone buzzed in my hand, indicating a reply from her saying that she was on the dance floor, looking up at me.

I spotted her in the crowd, releasing a strained breath of air from my lungs and hurried down the spiral of stairs, breaking through the groups of people.

"I can't hear anything from the music!" she screamed in my ear as I mouthed words to her that were muffled by the pounding beat.

"Take the mask off, Amanda!"
She shook her head, disregarding my commanding exclaims and proceeded to sway her hips and bob her head to the music. I flinched, feeling a warm breath on my shoulder. I moved forward, ramming into Amanda who staggered backwards.

Shit. This wasn't going to end well.

I lifted the ponytail off my shoulder, exposing the Godforsaken tattoo, knowing it was my only armament in this despairing predicament. The distance was immediately put between us and the asshole standing too close to me.

I craned my head back to see that he was already reversing as if he'd seen the devil himself. His friends nodded in recognition, pulling him away through the crowd.

I turned to face Amanda again but she was already trying to get away from me. I grabbed her arm forcefully and spun her around, taking her by surprise when I reached for the mask, tearing it away from her eyes.