4. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Alessandrio
J immy: Holy shit. You will not believe this.
My entire being thrums with anticipation as three more dots appear beneath Jimmy’s message.
Jimmy: It’s an elite boarding school.
Not the fuck what I was expecting. A boarding school? I bark out a disbelieving laugh. What the fuck?
I forgo the messaging and call Jimmy, an IT guy hired by my brother to see things beyond the surface. He doesn’t make me wait long and answers after the first ring. I hear his fingers tapping away in the background, the clack of a keyboard filling my ear.
“A boarding school?” I ask incredulously.
“Yep. A damn expensive one. They have paid a lot of money to keep themselves in a dark zone on all maps,” Jimmy replies, his fingers not breaking stride.
I let out a thoughtful sound and stare into the trees beyond my windscreen.
“And what does that have to do with Riccardo Dolmino?” The question is more to myself than anything.
“It may be a fortress, but their cyber security could be better. If you give me a moment…” he trails off. “And I am in,” he says triumphantly.
I tap a claw against the steering wheel, trying not to be impatient as he does his thing, and yet my head is already pounding with the unanswered question.
“Oh shit.” Jimmy’s voice mirrors my disbelief.
I sit up straighter. “What?” I bark out.
He only laughs in response, and my jaw clenches.
“I’m sending it through.” He sounds awed and confused. “You may have just hit the jackpot.”
Yeah, fucking right. The jackpot would be Riccardo and I facing off in hand to hand combat, and by hand I mean me ripping his off and beating him to death with it. I rub my temple and try to relax my taut shoulders. He’s so fucking close and yet I am just sitting amongst some trees—
“You should have it now,” Jimmy’s voice cracks through my head.
I pull my phone from my ear, putting him on speakerphone. I have fifty-three text messages in my inbox, and most are from Emilio. The most recent addition is a document from Jimmy. We remain silent as the file downloads. As I watch the circle fill, anxiety churns my gut. What is our greatest enemy doing in a high security boarding school? The answer is almost at my fingertips, and yet I pause before opening it. Taking a deep, silent breath, I tap the file.
Ironwood Student File
Name: Olivia Anya Stepanova-Dolmino
D. O. B: 12.14.2003
Benefactor: Narciso Dolmino (deceased) Relationship: Father
“Fuck…” I breathe, drawing out the word.
I have never in my life felt like I was about to pass out, but as I read and reread the names, trying to make sense of it, my head feels full of rushing air. Olivia Dolmino. There’s another one. Another piece of the family puzzle. I swipe down and come face to face with a dream and a nightmare. Even from the screen, her gaze holds me enthralled.
“Son of a bitch,” I hiss from my teeth.
“He has a sister.” I jump as Jimmy’s voice fills the cabin.
In my shock, I had forgotten he was still on the line. “I’ll call you back later,” I say and disconnect the call.
I toss my phone onto the passenger chair and curve over my steering wheel, dropping my head between my painfully tight shoulders. A sister. Riccardo Dolmino’s sister. Her face has already imprinted on my brain, burning her image behind my eyelids.
“Fuck.” I smash my head back, my horns tearing into the soft cushion of the headrest. “Fuck!” My growl echoes around the cab.
I force myself to reach for my phone and open the file once more, staring at the school photo. My response to her face is visceral. All my organs clenching in disgust as my cock twitches. How dare she. How dare she be so fucking exquisite and yet so like her father and brother ? It’s in her eyes. Plain as day. The cold sharpness of them, only the grey of hers is paler, more piercing. There is no doubt in my mind that she is a Dolmino .
Suddenly my van is too small, the air too thick with want and my body burning beneath my sweatshirt. My claws scrabble for the handle of my door, catching and gouging into the interior as I try to find purchase. Finally open, I shove it wider and stumble out of the car on unsteady legs. My paws sink into the woods' soft ground, dead leaves crackling.
I suck in breaths like I have been drowning. The crisp air rips down my throat until it’s burning in my lungs as I try to control the wildfire in my blood. My claw tipped hands shake and I stare down at them. The hands of a monster, the black nails sharp, fur coating their entirety. The curse surprised me by transforming my tattoos into smudges of dark fur, with the outlines of their original forms still visible. Hell Bound. The writing across my knuckle is still clear. I am hell bound, and I plan on taking every fucking Dolmino down to the depths with me.
I open my phone again, her face stares back out at me. The sound of a predator ruptures out of me and I hear a rustling in the trees above as some birds take flight. Exiting the download, I punch out a new message to Jimmy.
Me: How do I get close to her?
Jimmy: Working on it.
Olivia Anya Stepanova-Dolmino is going to wish she was never born. I’m going to make fucking sure of it. Her family gave us this form to strip everything from us. Her brother tried to take more and now I will take everything from him, starting with her and ending with his head.