The nearest exit turned out to be a stairwell with stairs leading both up and down. Lucy stood chewing her bottom lip for a moment and then decided that down was definitely her best bet. Down would lead onto the street, which could lead back to her cozy little apartment if she decided she wanted things to play out that way. Whereas up could lead to being trapped in the same building with Mack for many minutes longer than she wanted.

“Definitely down,” she decided and began descending in a clatter of heels and the swish of her skirt.

She made it about three floors when she came upon a woman huddled at the top corner of one the concrete landings. She must have heard Lucy coming with all the noise she was making, yet she made no move to get up. However, when Lucy rounded the corner she did turn her head, black hair moving against her tanned skin like a silken waterfall. Lucy could see the unmistakable signs of tear tracks, marred by mascara running down her cheeks.

“Maria!” she gasped, halting her downward flight and grabbing the railing with both hands to avoid crashing into the other woman. “Are you okay?”

Maria’s eyes narrowed to slits and her shoulders hunched as she turned her back once more. She wore a tantalizing, figure hugging red halter dress that hugged her generous curves. Even hunched in a corner stairwell crying she looked incredibly gorgeous. “Do I look okay to you?” she hissed, using the back of her hands to hastily dash away the evidence of tears.

Lucy was taken aback by the venom in Maria’s voice. She was used to the people around her responding with kindness. “I’m sorry,” she said, simply, standing from her crouch and moving to continue down the stairs. “I’ll leave you alone.”

She made it about halfway down the next flight when Maria’s voice echoed through the stairwell. “Stop.” Came the shaky, watery voice. “I’m sorry. Please come back.”

Lucy retraced her steps and sat next to Maria, sighing morosely. She could certainly use a good cry too. The other woman’s eyes teared up and overflowed again. She hiccupped and sobbed, not saying anything for several minutes, until she was finished. She reached down and used the edge of her dress to dry her face and wipe away the mascara.

She looked at Lucy. “D-did I get it all?”

Lucy smiled at her. “Uh huh. You look beautiful.”

Maria gave her a narrow-eyed thin smile. “I doubt that. My face is puffy, and I just washed all my make-up off. But I don’t really give a shit. Not going back to that party anyway.”

Lucy nodded her agreement. “Yeah me neither. If I can get out of here, I’m leaving too.”

Maria frowned. “What do you mean, if you can get out of here?”

Lucy studied Maria for a moment and then shrugged. Maria was connected to Niccolo who was clearly a big deal in the underworld. If anyone would understand, it was probably going to be this woman. “Well, my boyfriend is an overbearing asshole who’ll be lucky if my sister doesn’t shoot him before the night is over and my brother-in-law is way over-protective and currently has me followed around by two bodyguards. So, as much as I’d love to just leave this wedding reception, go home, have a bath and curl up with a good book, I’m probably stuck until Vlad and Jane are ready to go.”

Maria lifted an eyebrow in surprise and then looked at her a little closer, studying her. “Is this what you want, Lucy? To wait around for the men to decide when and where we should be?”

Lucy tipped her head and looked back at Maria, catching the glint of mischief in her eyes. She had met this woman half an hour ago. She absolutely shouldn’t trust her. She most definitely shouldn’t be thinking about doing something crazy and stupid with her. She grinned. “Nope, I really, really don’t want to wait for the men, Maria.”

Maria pushed herself off the step and stood up, swiping imaginary dust particles off the back of her immaculate red dress. Lucy had a moment of sheer envy at the curviness of Maria’s ass in that dress, since it was practically in her face at that angle, before the other woman turned around and gave Lucy her hand, pulling her up.

“Good!” Maria announced happily, all traces of tears and sadness gone now. “Because if I have to spend one more minute with Nic, I’m going to find a way to stab him. And I know I would regret it, because I really do love that fucking criminal.” Lucy’s mouth fell open, but before she could process Maria’s bold statement, Maria hooked her arm and began dragging her down the stairs. “So, I have a plan on how to get us out of here. It’s not fool-proof. Hell, it’s not even part proof since I just thought of it, but let’s do it anyway.”

She really liked Maria, the woman seemed a little crazy but was turning out to be the perfect partner in crime. “Lead the way,” she said agreeably, and clattered down the stairs in the opposite direction of Mack and all his drama.

“Hey,” Maria said suddenly. “If we do manage to bust out of this wedding without my kidnapping asshole of a man catching me and skinning me alive, do you want to skip the bath and book and go find a bar somewhere? I mean we’re all dressed up. Why let all this hotness go to waste, eh chica?”