Chapter 3
THREE
ELENA
Five Days Later
Elena stared at the row of coffins, counting them once more. Five. The number hadn’t changed in the span of seconds since she’d done it last.
Marco. Paul. Tony. Francis. Valente.
All five heads of her immediate family were contained in the deep mahogany lined with creamy satin. Well, all the male members.
There would be no open caskets. The funeral director told her in no uncertain terms there wasn’t enough left of their heads to reconstruct.
Assassination style, Jamie told her. Their hands bound behind them, brains spattered over the greasy brick walls below a factory. Marco wet himself before he was shot.
Elena almost wished she’d been there to see that. Almost.
Her father’s Omegas had disappeared within hours of the news arriving at their door. They’d taken their children and run back to their families and whatever protection they could provide. Leaving Elena all alone in the huge house with ghosts and nightmares.
Her mother was dead, that family long gone. Not that they would have taken Elena in regardless. She was tainted. Damaged goods.
“Miss, it’s been four hours…”
“I know.”
“It appears that no one is coming, Miss.”
“I understand.”
The man they’d sent from the funeral home shifted his weight, his restless energy prickling along her spine. He was a Beta, little danger to her with Jamie close by, but it remained that she was an Omega alone.
“I have other families to attend to,” he said on a faint growl, reaching for the monstrosity of red roses and white calla lilies set by the door.
“Leave it,” Elena snarled, careless of her broken arm as she shoved the man back out into the hall.
“We’ll call for the necessary arrangements.” Jamie took the funeral employee’s arm, leading him towards the front door.
“I can’t just leave the bodies here.”
“We’ll make sure the parlor gets their due.”
“Fat chance of that,” the man muttered, but he turned and left.
“I’m sorry, Jamie. I just…” Elena pulled in a shaky breath.
“Take all the time you need, Miss Costanzo.” He closed the study doors behind him, leaving Elena alone with her ghosts.
Elena wasn’t certain if this was grief that she was feeling.
It was hard to feel anything besides the pain.
She’d lost everything, not just these five men.
The women who had been a forever constant in her life since she’d first drawn breath were gone.
Their children, her playmates and rivals over the years, had disappeared along with them.
No one had said a word to her. She’d come home from the hospital, shaken by the news, to find they’d all vanished.
Even the guards were deserting their posts. First one by one, and now in groups. Only Jamie and a handful of others remained.
Elena was vulnerable. Valente hadn’t died before doling out his punishment, beating her to within an inch of her life.
A concussion, compound fractures, bruised and broken ribs.
Bruises decorated every inch of her in varying shades of purple and blue, edged with sickly green and spotted with crimson.
He’d almost crushed her eye socket, the eye still swollen shut.
It'd be weeks of healing, maybe months. She didn’t have that sort of time.
Gripping the back of one of the folding chairs as the room tipped sideways, Elena lowered herself onto the seat. Counted the caskets one more time.
“Jamie,” she called as the floor surged towards her, spinning out of control.
“I’ve got you, kid.” Jamie pulled her into his arms, carrying Elena up the stairs to her room.
Settling her on the bed, he slipped the painkillers past slack lips, holding the glass of water for her to swallow them down. Pulling a soft wool blanket over her, he tucked it tight to her chin.
“Just rest, Miss Costanzo. I’ll handle things.”
“The lawyer…”
“He can wait.”
“Jamie.” Elena held out her hand, letting it drop back to the bed as he paused and faced her. “I want them burned.”
“Miss Costanzo, I don’t think—”
“I need them burned.” The nightmares edged closer, darkening her vision to shades of gray and black.
“I’ll see to it.”
“Thank you.”
Perhaps the ghosts would leave her alone and the nightmares would be held at bay. With the ashes of her father and brothers scattered to the wind, she might be able to sleep.
Closing her eyes against the bright noonday sun streaming through her windows, Elena very much doubted that.
“What do you mean exactly,” Elena asked for what felt like the hundredth time. As if the lawyer would give her a different answer if she repeated it just once more.
“This is hardly complicated, Miss Costanzo,” Mr. Lamberti said, the nasal whine of his voice rising with his impatience.
“Your father’s holdings have been diverted to his challenger, as is custom.
They are now the property of someone else.
Whatever funds remained in his personal accounts was given over to his family.
His wife, Linda, has received her portion of this, and a generous stipend handed out to the Omegas.
However, he wrote in his will that whatever remained would go to you, provided of course that you had been mated. ”
“But I’m not mated.”
“No, you are not. Therefore, you will not be receiving any of it until you are.”
“I don’t understand,” Elena whispered, crumpling the ragged piece of paper in her hand. Her father’s will. A copy, anyways, that bore the brunt of her distress. Dragging her eyes from the creased folds to Mr. Lamberti, her brow furrowed. “How am I supposed to live?”
“There are no clauses for anything else, I’m afraid. Either you find a mate, or you go without.”
“We’re not talking about whether or not my clothing has designer labels, Mr. Lamberti. There are bills to pay on the house, and—”
“The house is no longer your concern, actually. You’ll need to vacate the premises within the week.” Mr. Lamberti shuffled papers, not even bothering to look at her anymore.
“A week? Where am I supposed to go?”
“As I’ve already told you, Miss Costanzo, if you’d come earlier, I might have been of more assistance.”
“I couldn’t come sooner. In case you haven’t noticed, I was just a tad indisposed,” Elena snapped, holding up her cast.
Mr. Lamberti grunted, nodding his head to the side, though he made no further effort to continue the conversation.
“So, I have a week to pack everything and leave the only home I’ve ever known. With no money and nowhere to go. And find myself a mate. Do I have that right?”
“Within the week. That is in three days’ time.”
“Oh, for Gods’ sakes!” Elena lurched from the oversized chair with a growl, her storming exit hindered by the stilted gait of her still healing wounds.
Jamie was at her side as soon as she came out of the office, hand ready to steady her as Elena limped along towards the big brass doors of the elevator.
“Stupid. Arrogant. Prick,” Elena ground out between panting breaths as she waited for the panels to open.
“How bad is it,” Jamie asked as the doors closed behind them.
Giving up on her act of bravery, Elena turned red rimmed eyes up to her sole protector and only friend. “I have three days to get out of the house. No money unless I’m taken as someone’s mate.”
Jamie’s eyebrows lowered, shadowing the soft brown of his eyes as he studied the panel of buttons.
“We can sell whatever they didn’t take. Mostly clothes, but there’s a few pieces of jewelry they overlooked.
It will net you enough to get a hotel room for a few days at least. I have a rainy day fund I can dip into. ”
“I can’t let you do that, Jamie. For Gods’ sakes, I can’t even pay you now! What are you even to live on?”
“Don’t worry about me. There will always be jobs for me out there. Now head up, kid.” Jamie straightened as the bell pealed, announcing their arrival in the lobby of the huge building. A smooth step forward taken as the door rumbled open.
In an attempt to salvage what little of her pride remained, Elena stiffened her spine and kept her chin high as she followed Jamie into the murmuring din.
Alphas flowed through the space, their growling conversation battering her from every side.
Their hard stares scorched her skin. Taking in the livid bruises, the ugly cast, and her utter lack of proper security.
“Elena?”
Her feet tried to stumble. She saved it at the last second, sliding the sole of her shoe around to face the voice. No one should be calling to her in such a familiar way, yet once again her humiliation knew no bounds.
Anthony Marchetti stood amid a group of Alphas, their midnight dark suits a stark contrast to the pale blue shirt and casual jeans he wore.
Leon’s younger brother, he was a pale copy of his sibling.
He wasn’t powerful, not in the ways that mattered to this brutal society they walked in, and whatever wealth he had was tied tightly in his father’s name.
They’d attended the same school for two years, though they’d never run in the same circles.
That was before Leon’s betrayal, before Elena was sent off to the private school for Omegas only.
She didn’t remember much about him, other than he’d been mean-spirited back then, quick to throw a punch in the cafeteria.
She’d borne the brunt of his particular version of cruel humor more than once.
“Good day, Mr. Marchetti,” she said, already turning to the doors, ready to make a hasty retreat before he could compound the damage his brother had already wreaked.
“Hey, wait up!” Anthony brushed off the restraining hands of his people, jogging to catch up to Elena. He snorted as Jamie moved to stand between them. “Am I not allowed to make polite conversation with you anymore?”
“You’ve never made polite conversation with me, Mr. Marchetti.”