Chapter 35
Thirty-Five
KAELEN
My knuckles cracked. Aidan looked up at me from his phone. An uncomfortable silence settled over us, only interrupted by the steady popping of logs in the fireplace.
From what I knew about Massimo Rossi, he was calculating, loyal, intelligent, and above all, ruthless. That night at the restaurant, I sensed tension between Massimo and his father.
Perhaps he always knew what Vittorio planned to do.
Perhaps he disagreed with it.
“What does he want?” I asked.
Aidan’s lips thinned, eyes scrolling over some unseen message on his phone. “He’s saying he has information about Willow.”
Without thinking, my fist collided with the drywall, pieces of it splintering onto the floor. Both men eyed me but stayed quiet. My chest heaved, blood dripping from my knuckles as a dust cloud hovered nearby.
Nothing good could come from this, but it confirmed my suspicions—that Vittorio Rossi took my wife. My omega. Staring into the distance, I ignored the pointed stare from my brother while I tried to compose myself.
I was no good to Willow unless I got my shite together. Having Massimo Rossi on my doorstep didn’t bode well. The Rossis knew the rage I’d be in trying to find her. Vittorio likely sent his son to feast on that, luring me into a trap.
Regardless, I couldn’t send him away until I heard what he had to say. I might regret it otherwise.
“How many men are with him?” I mumbled, grabbing a cloth from my desk and wrapping it around my knuckles.
“None,” Aidan said.
“None?” I asked.
“None. He came alone. He told the guard he is willing to come in unarmed to prove his motives are purely to talk.”
“Have them remove his weapons and then bring him up.”
Aidan nodded. I moved behind my desk, yanking open the top drawer and removing my gun. After securing a fresh clip, I tucked the pistol into my waistband. A knock sounded on the door. Aidan and Torin stood off to the side, and I leaned into the edge of my desk.
“Come in,” I barked.
The door opened, revealing Seamus with Massimo Rossi at his side. I dismissed Seamus, and Massimo took two careful steps inside before meeting my glacial gaze.
An impeccably tailored suit clung to his broad frame, his dark hair styled cleanly atop his head. A flicker of something I couldn’t quite decipher slid over his usually indifferent features. He inclined his head, and a feral snarl tore from me.
To the man’s credit, he didn’t flinch.
Shadows shifted behind me, Aidan and Torin’s hands resting on their weapons. My muscles tensed as I struggled to contain the rage burning a hole in my chest.
“What do you want?” I spat.
“I’ve come to talk,” Massimo said, his accented voice quiet and serious.
I eyed him, my alpha screaming at me to tear him apart for daring to touch our omega.
“Then talk. You’d be wise to choose your next words carefully.”
A twisted part of me debated holding Massimo as ransom in exchange for Willow. The heir to the Italian crown sat a few feet from me, unarmed.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t confident Vittorio would surrender her in return for his son.
As fucked up as that was.
I schooled my features, refusing to give anything away, even as aching pain clawed at my ribs. Ignoring the burning sensation in my chest, I glared at Massimo. For a second, the facade on his face fell and he ran a hand through his hair, looking much older than he was.
“My father took your wife.”
A roar worked its way up my throat as I took a prowling step into Massimo’s space. The other alpha didn’t retreat, despite the subtle flare of his nostrils that he quickly stifled.
“She is being kept in one of the older safe houses, beneath the industrial district. It’s decommissioned, but still functional. He intends to force-bond her, claim her. He has procured something that is said to induce heat in an omega when ingested.”
Black spots blurred my vision. The veins on my hands bulge under my tattoos. The metallic tang of blood coated my tongue as I licked away the dripping spot on my lip from where my teeth had pierced the flesh.
Unlike his father, Massimo Rossi had always shown himself to be loyal. Something didn’t sit right. It felt like a trap. I didn’t trust it, and I would never trust him.
“Why?” I started, glaring at him. “Why should I trust anything you say? Why would I trust a man so quick to betray his family?”
That elicited the first genuine reaction I had seen from Massimo since he had arrived. His eyes narrowed into thin slits as a quiet growl slid past his lips. I tilted my head, finding the reaction curious.
I offended him.
Under normal circumstances, I would have expected him to lash out when anyone questioned his loyalty to his family. But given the information he offered, I found the pinched expression on his face out of place.
The brief glimpse of emotion in his eyes was quickly hidden behind something cold and unyielding.
“Not my family,” Massimo seethed. “My father.”
Interesting.
“I am loyal to my blood, my sister. I promised my mother I would protect her with my last breath as she took hers.”
My gaze slid to Aidan’s, whose expression was as impassive as always. I knew Massimo had a younger sister, but like most daughters in our world, she had been sheltered. That night at the restaurant was my first glimpse of her.
“My father is the one who has betrayed us by stealing your wife and bringing war to our doorstep. In his madness, he has also promised my sister to an alpha in Rome who is almost sixty. I will not allow it. I vowed to keep her safe. And that is the oath I am keeping.”
In the years I had known him, I had always held more respect for Massimo than for his father. His words only proved it. With Vittorio gone, Massimo would step in as the head of the Italian family in Boston.
Business between us would be less hostile if we dealt with him instead of his reactive father.
“What are you suggesting, Massimo?” I asked, the room quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
A dimple appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he covered his chest with his hand.
“I know the location he’s keeping your wife in. I will share it with you, along with all pertinent information about security in exchange for you agreeing to kill my father. With this, I can protect my sister and you get your wife and omega back.”
Hold on. I’m coming, mo chroí.