Chapter 43
Chapter
Forty-Three
SIMONA
B eing at Unity without the girls is strange. I’ve always been friendly with other Omegas but at the same time I hadn’t focused any energy forging friendships outside of the Scorned Girls because there was no need.
Now though, I feel like the new girl starting on the first day. Previously that would have sent me spiralling down a self-conscious vortex, not anymore. Without trying, I can feel Ryder, Hendrix and Dominic everywhere I go, and it’s amazing.
I wish I had the chance to properly enjoy the ramifications of finding my scent-matched Alphas, and bonding with them, but the looming showdown with the founding family lawyers is starting to suck the joy out of everything.
My stress levels are rising by the hour. It’s gotten to the point where I keep misinterpreting the quietness in the Scorned Girls chat as something to be paranoid about. My last message in our chat was an overly sentimental reminder of how strong our friendship is even though it is changing, and I posted it nearly an hour ago but still haven’t gotten a response. Which makes me spiral again.
I know I look as frazzled as I feel, which is the reason I chose to shower in Raney’s bathroom then do my hair and makeup in Heidi’s before rifling through Tristan’s wardrobe to find something to wear to the emancipation hearing. I shamelessly lean into Heidi’s advice. When she needs to cope with her anxiety, she borrows something from each of us.
And because of the way our friendship works, the girls reappear in our chat right when I need them—leaving equally sappy messages about us being eternal besties before disappearing again. I needed the reminder; it’s like a kick in the butt.
Walking out of the gates at Unity dressed in Tristan’s emerald-green miniskirt, and a white wrap shirt, I adopt her confidence in each sway of my hips. It most certainly helps that I can pick up Hendrix’s appreciation as soon as I start walking towards the car—it sweeps through the carpark like a thunderstorm on a summer’s day.
Dominic watches me with an intensity that made my skin buzz, while Ryder’s smile from the backseat of the Range Rover could have turned me into a songwriter.
Before the gate has even shut behind me, Ryder’s climbing out of the back seat and within a handful of steps he’s in front of me. His honey-dipped scent makes my breathing get choppy and also acts like a boost of energy, chasing the remnants of my tension away.
“Sin, you look like a fucking dream.” His words are nearly lost under the rumbling purr spilling from his chest. “I missed you.”
I was going to say the same, but he kisses the absolute breath out of me, stopping mid-kiss when he remembers we’re aiming for discretion. With a wry smirk, he grabs both my hands and starts walking backwards until we arrive at the Range Rover.
“Despite how I just acted, I’d never put you in danger. Sorry, Sin.” Ryder’s seriousness isn’t fleeting, and he doesn’t relax until he has me safely encased in the truck. Once he has me belted in, he picks up my hand and kisses the top of it. “You okay?”
I nod. And I am. The danger has always been Brody trying to hurt me or doing something reckless like snatch me off the street, but my Alphas are with me. Dale and Nigel are near by; a kiss isn’t what is going to screw up everything now. Especially considering where we’re headed.
“No bag?” Hendrix’s voice is pure Alpha when he speaks. Low and deep, his words vibrate over my skin, making his question impossible to ignore. Although it wasn’t a question that needed any response anyway. If anything, it was Hendrix starting his sinful teasing.
He told me not to pack a thing because we were spending the weekend in bed, and I was more than fine with that.
My pack is making me brazen, more confident. I’m here for it, and so were they. I eventually answer Hen with the dirtiest smirk I can manage and the groans of appreciation I get from him, and Ryder, let me know I nailed it.
Dominic reaches his hand through the space between the driver and passenger seat as his form of greeting, but I push it gently away, deciding we need to kiss instead. And once I have left him with the taste of me in his mouth, I turn to do the same with Hendrix.
My lips are buzzing as I sit back on Ryder’s lap.
“I was wondering why you weren’t wearing lipstick,” Hendrix hisses, putting the car in drive and dropping his foot on the accelerator.
“All okay?” My question is aimed at everyone .
“As expected, honestly. They seem to think this is a negotiation and keep providing re-written sections or new clauses to be added.” Dominic isn’t happy, his cool detachment obvious.
His frustration isn’t directed at me, and I know it. We’ve spent our evenings this week reviewing the endless stream of correspondence the lawyer for the Family keeps sending. It’s a tactic, and nothing less. A disgusting strategy done intentionally, setting me up for failure by racking up a legal bill that could feed a small country.
Their expectation of costs being awarded when the judge rules in their favour is another form of intimidation. It’s also a good indication they’ve already greased the palm of the judge because their case is weak at best.
“No other problems?” I press.
Hendrix laughs. It’s cold and malicious, matching Dominic’s mood perfectly. He turns and his eyes are full of secrets that spill from his beautiful lips a second later. “We may have thrown a spanner in the works last night.”
“In what way?”
He turns back to face the road, but it’s impossible not to see the way his lips curl up dangerously. “The judge who’s deciding may have had a change of heart.”
“Not may have,” Dominic snaps.
“Really?”
Ryder’s breath tickles my ear. “He pissed himself. Well, that’s what our sources told us. Either way, the founding family aren’t going to be happy with today’s outcome. Just saying.”
“What did you do?”
Dominic stays out of the conversation, perhaps to protect the vows he took when he became a lawyer. I can feel his relief—and amusement—trickling through our bond.
Hendrix tuts, getting animated in his cockiness. “We never would do something like that. Not us per se, that’s too risky. We do, however, have friends who paid the judge a quick visit last night as he was about to nod off to sleep. The message, I understand, was delivered loud and clear.”
I gasp. “You/they paid off a judge?”
“Once you sell your soul to the devil, Sin, it doesn’t matter what the devil looks like. When he comes to collect, you have no choice but to pay up. And we may have arranged some ugly fuckers to remind him of the fact.”
His hand rests on my shoulder, and he hums quietly while I digest that little titbit. I’m not surprised, or horrified. From the start my pack said they’d do everything, and anything, needed to ensure I won.
Turning to face Ryder, I brush a lock of hair off his forehead before my finger touches over his eyebrow piercing and then traces his small anchor tattoo. “Can we get matching tattoos? Or maybe I should get my eyebrow pierced like yours.”
He smirks his answer, Of course we can do whatever you want . And hums a little louder, more intentionally.
My eyes fly open when I realise I haven’t heard it before. “Is that something you’re working on?”
“I finished a demo last night. Parts of it work, others I need to redo but yeah. Do you like it?” He teases with a brush of his lips on mine.
“I’m your biggest fan. I’d pay money to hear you sing a shopping list.”
“Strange, I’d give you all my money to hear you moan my name like you do when I’m stretching your pussy.”
My eyes slam shut while I work through the tsunami he caused. Ryder keeps humming under his breath, winding me up while waiting for me to look back at him.
“Ryder, you can’t…”
He cuts me off by pressing his finger against my lips. “ Today of all days, we remind each other why we’re heading into the city for a meeting with lawyers instead of going home. So, Sin, I hope you realise how much I fucking love the way you’ve ripped a path into my soul, making a place inside me forever. Side note, equally important, you turn me on. I want you knowing how consuming you are, and how far we will go to keep you as our Omega.”
We chat about nothing consequential for the rest of the drive—fun and normal things—but it’s needed after all the drama that has been consuming our focus.
Walking through the security checkpoint, the guards inspect our bags while we get scanned for weapons. And that was part of the reason we arrived early: to get Nigel in the best place so he can make sure the other side is similarly screened. I wouldn’t put it past the family to simply resolve the issue by resorting to violence. I mean, it is Brody’s go-to.
Another strategy we discussed was keeping our pack status off the table, but I vetoed that as soon as it was mentioned. Today is about me, and my freedom. Dominic, Hendrix and Ryder are a part of that.
Walking inside the courtroom, Dominic’s hand in mine, Ryder to the other side, and Hendrix at my back, is when I get a dose of reality.
“This is really happening,” I whisper. Dominic had sensed a shift in my mood and was already turning to see why I was suddenly getting apprehensive.
“Too fucking right it is,” Dominic says gently. His sincerity and determination hit like a sledgehammer, and the smile he gives me is the kind only your forever person can give. My tummy rolls, happiness heats our bond, and my nerves settle in an instant.
The four of us have to split near the front. Hendrix and Ryder both give me a quick kiss and then Dominic guides me to our seats. I hold onto my calm, happy place while Dominic sets up all his papers then hands me a fresh bottle of water—we’re not taking any chances today, bringing our own supply to avoid the risk of someone slipping drugs or poison into ours. Apparently, it’s happened previously.
The door behind us opens, and Dominic stands and helps me to my feet.
“It’s Giuseppe, Simona,” Dominic lets me know, turning to speak to the latest arrival, his business partner from his legal office.
“Giuseppe, just in the nick of time.” Dominic’s voice is both warm and abrupt.
“Blame Petrov Nikalini.”
Dominic laughs and picks up his phone, already shooting off a text.
I look at Hendrix for an explanation. He’s already leaning over the small dividing barrier so I can hear him. “Another of Dominic’s clients. I’d prefer to have drinks with Siderno than Nikalini, but he’s a good guy.” He winks quickly adding, “Although he’d shoot me in the kneecaps if he heard me say that. Petrov is the head of the Bravata here. Dom’s been one of his lawyers for years.”
Dominic returns his phone to his pocket while stepping aside so I can meet Giuseppe. We’d spoken on the phone earlier this week, but meeting people in person is always different.
Giuseppe goes to shake my hand, but Dominic cuts him off with a look. Which works for me, I’m having trouble myself dealing with the thought of touching an Alpha outside of my pack. Even in a situation like this.
“Lovely to meet you properly, Simona. I owe you,” he says, as he pulls his briefcase up on the other side of Dominic and starts unpacking.
“Why do you owe my Omega?” Dominic hisses, and my hand massages his shoulders in comfort .
“She’s tempered your moods. Hopefully though you still have it in you as a lawyer.”
Hendrix and Ryder start laughing, but our conversation ends abruptly when the doors behind us open.
The past few days I have been preparing myself to come face to face with my and Brody’s parents and all their supporters. They would have enlisted a cast of thousands to attend today, a form of intimidation, a threatening reminder of what I was going up against. When one very junior looking lawyer is the only person to walk through the doors, I’m stunned until I remind myself of the endless games the founding families like to play.
“The message is in the delivery,” I whisper, repeating the words Dominic used a few times as we ourselves got ready this week. And the message is I’m not worthy of anyone but this newly graduated lawyer’s time. It’s meant to hurt, but all I feel is relieved.
I take my seat next to Dominic, and our side of the room stills. Their lawyer might be young, but if he’s here, he’s obviously a practising lawyer. I don’t remember seeing or ever meeting him, but the Families don’t venture outside of their own. His smug, cocky look when he stares me down, confirms he is a product of the world I grew up in, proud of it even.
I lean into Dominic’s space. “Baby, destroy him for me?”
Dominic’s hearty laughter echoes through the courtroom. And it’s not over the top, but it is power laden and intentionally aimed at knocking the lawyer down a peg or two.
From the corner of my eye, I watch Hendrix rise to his feet. And where Dominic was subtle in his threat, my other Alpha is not. Unperturbed by the cameras dotted around the room, Hendrix slides into the seat directly behind the lawyer.
The judge comes in to take his seat. For someone in such an authoritative position, the way he cowers and refuses to look directly at anyone confirms what a weak person he is. The nervousness of his movements, and the way he hurries things along, acts as confirmation that all this is almost for nothing. He has already made his decision.
Regardless, watching Dominic own the courtroom is inspiring. He is so dominant, his presence impossible to ignore. I get lost in the cadence, the rise and fall of his voice as he outlines our case.
The other lawyer tries at every turn to do his job, but the judge waves him on. The first time the lawyer got overruled, his expression was comical. Clearly the other side believed they had this judge in their pocket, and they did until last night, apparently. But listening to Dominic, there’s this point in the proceedings where I know even if the system wasn’t dodgy as hell, and if the judge was bipartisan like he was supposed to be, I would have won the case.
But the process continues.
The young lawyer outlines the case against my emancipation, but each time he gets into a rhythm, Dominic interrupts and objects. The judge not only supports Dominic’s counter claims but starts offering his own. It’s almost farcical the way he works through the entire list of allowable objections—speculation, relevance, assumption all feature high in his tirade. He even brings proceedings to a halt and formally warns the young lawyer for improper questioning, which makes Dominic chuckle under his breath.
The hearing is finished within forty minutes. And when the judge finishes his ruling and the gavel falls, Dominic is the first to pull me close.
“Congratulations, Amore Mio. Officially free,” he whispers between his sweet kisses.
Behind us the bailiff follows the judge out. The lawyer for the founding family makes to leave but Hendrix flies out of his seat and levels him with a punch that sends the young Alpha to his knees. Hendrix isn’t done humiliating him, though. He leaps the barrier and holds him down by pressing his finger right in the centre of his forehead, hard enough to bruise. “Come for my Omega, and I will hunt you down for sport.”