Chapter 2
Chapter Two
LARS
“What the fuck, Cian,” I yell, striding over to lift Nova into my arms.
I don’t know how to talk to her. Do I coddle her, tell her the truth, find a happy medium? Clearly, overloading her with information is going to lead to her doing more of this unconscious shit.
“I don’t think she let herself think about her parents yet,” he says contritely with a wince. “There’s too much coming at her, and it’s very difficult to be gentle, Lars.”
Shoving her chair back, I sit in it with her in my lap now that there’s more space.
“There’s such a thing as too much support,” I mutter.
“Amen to that,” Adira grunts, her eyes on Nova. “I don’t know Hollis as well, so I didn’t see the similarities that you all do. I sure as fuck didn’t know that she had a kidnapped twin.”
“It’s not spoken about,” Callum says. “We’ve all lost a lot growing up as mafia kids, Adira. Quinn was sold by people who should have protected her, Lars and Caleb have a sister that’s missing as well. It’s a perpetual cycle that needs to stop.”
Adira puts her hand on her stomach with a pained expression and nods. “It will,” she promises. “It’s what we’re all working toward.”
“Aye,” Cian sighs. “Hollis hasn’t been gone for long. Let’s allow Nova to rest before we go into anything else. One thing I know is that these people who have masqueraded as her parents will not live for long. I want to know if they kidnapped Nova or bought her. Then I expect them all to die.”
“Fuck yes,” Damon growls. “Can we help? Nova is special. If people hurt her, then they should die. Point blank.”
Gazing down at the blonde omega in my arms with the multicolored streaks in her hair, I nod. She may not have realized it when she chose Minneapolis as her new home, but she found people willing to fight for her. An army of them in fact, that go beyond her mafia ties.
It’s her soul that has bound her to them. It’s clear that Pack Dresmond and Kelly don’t give a fuck about the rest, the way that she’s cared for their omegas has shown them her soul.
You can’t fake that. Welcome home, Princess. As fucked up as it may be for awhile.
FELIX
“John Taylor doesn’t officially exist on paper,” Callum Kelly grunts. We became acquainted through his work, because no actual introductions have been made. The living room, while huge, is incredibly cramped.
“Cameras lost him as he left town,” Caelin adds. “I need you to wake Nova up please to get her address. I need to find out what name that property is under.”
Lars is gentle as he rubs his thumbs over her cheeks, and pulls her back to consciousness. I really didn’t think he had that in him. However, that’s unfair because I’ve seen how he and Caleb are with Hollis. They’re an immovable protective force.
“Mmm,” she whimpers, pushing her hair out of her face as she sits up. “What am I sitting on?”
“Me,” Lars growls. And he’s back ladies and gentlemen. “Don’t squirm so much.”
My lips twitch as Nova looks around and sighs, slouching against her new human chair. Yeah, I’d be displeased with the fact that this wasn’t a dream too.
“Can I help with anything?” she asks tiredly.
“What address did you grow up at, Nova?” Caelin asks, repeating himself for her.
“4569 Winterbourgh Way,” she recites. “Triumph, Michigan.”
“That’s still the Midwest,” I murmur. “Would he take her that far?”
“I don’t think so,” Nova says. “My…John hates to drive, and I don’t think he wants to perpetuate the idea for long that he just wants to be one big, happy family. I kept running because I knew I wouldn’t survive if he caught me.”
Her face falls as she remembers that Hollis is in her place, and I push off the wall to walk over to her. While she told us some of her past, there are still gaping holes.
“What does that mean, Nova?” I ask.
Her eyes move around at all of the people, and my heart clenches. Fuck, if she doesn’t want to say, then it’s got to be bad.
“Nova, I need to know if we need to be looking at the auction and skin trade,” Cian says, leaning forward. “Is that what you were afraid of?”
“He was the only one who liked to hurt me that way,” she whispers.
I can hear the clenching of hands, the creak of electronics threatening to break, and the intakes of breath. I don’t know the stories of the people in this room, but it’s difficult not to imagine what Nova is speaking about.
“The last time he called me, he said it would be different and that I was too old for him now,” she adds softly.
Growls and the sound of walls being punched is loud and Nova flinches.
“Get it together,” Adira growls. “Whatever you feel about this, stuff it away. You can’t crash out over her story if we’re going to get anywhere. Nova, you’re safe here, and nothing you say will go beyond this space. I swear it.”
I can see her face from here, and how intense her presence is. There’s a tiny baby bump appearing in her dress, but it would be lethal to think that she’s at all soft. She means what she says and I incline my head in thanks.
“Adira is right,” Cian says. “The people in this room are trustworthy. No one has been invited that I don’t explicitly know can keep a secret.”
Nova nods, swallowing hard, lost in memories.
“I hung up on him because I didn’t believe him.
It’s not just broken fingers and bones. I’ve been dealing with those since before I can remember.
It’s also the constant pressure to be the best reflection of him while still knowing that it’ll never be enough. ”
Nova rubs the inside of her arm and my eyes narrow. I’ve never seen her not wearing something over her arms. Now, there are two bangles over her wrists. What secrets is she hiding?
“What do you mean?” Cian asks, his voice velvety and soft. Her body sways in his direction, and it’s almost as if her body is hypnotized by his voice.
“I can’t be perfect enough for them,” she rasps. “There’s always pain, and Louise refused to stop the way that he’d hurt me…I can’t say it.”
Warmth burns behind my eyes as I gaze down at the girl that was lost, but not forgotten, by those that mattered. Hollis almost refused to give us a chance because it meant that she might forget to be focused on finding her twin.
God, this is so fucked up.
“You don’t have to say it,” Cian murmurs. “Do you think that he was lying to you about your being too old?”
“I think that there are people out there that wouldn’t care about how old I am,” she whispers.
“My father…I mean John, works for dangerous people, and his coworkers always stared for too long. He used to laugh and say that he didn’t share, especially around the time that I turned fifteen.
I remember the way they’d pinch my ass when I walked past to play the piano for them, and how they’d tell him that they were willing to wait. So I ran instead.”
“You can stop running now,” Quinn says, her fingers moving over the keyboard. Her skin glows with health, her eyes intense and focused. “Cian, this is going to get a little messy. John’s real name is Turbis Franco, and he works for Pack Domino.”
“All of his assets are under an umbrella company,” Callum grunts. “Damn, baby. I didn’t find any of that yet.”
Quinn simpers at him, and I have to keep myself from chuckling. There’s definitely some healthy competition in their pack.
“Roberto Domino?” Nova asks. “He’s John’s employer. I think he’s worked for Mr. Domino for my entire life. Why would that be messy?”
“They allow the sex trafficking auctions to run rampant in Minnesota, and his niece is a cunt,” Cian grunts.
“Emilia Richardson runs an organization that forces omegas to believe that they should only work in certain jobs and have a pack to take care of them. Domino is the reason I can’t kill her and it pisses me off. ”
“She also is the reason Hollis was in that hospital bed,” I murmur.
“We’re still going after Hollis,” Cian says. “Messy or not, I’ll deal with the fallout.”
“What’s the fallout?” Nova asks.
“Possible war,” Quinn mutters, going back to her work.
“So many lies,” Nova sighs, shifting in Lars’ lap.
“Mr. Domino has been a staple at my home since before I can remember. He ignored my broken bones, laughed when my father slapped me in front of him, and insisted on having a front row seat to whatever new hobby my father said I was doing. It’s how I was forced to learn how to play the piano and how to paint.
Trial by fire and lessons that were very painful.
What did you say was Mr. Domino’s niece’s name? ”
“Emilia,” Cian bites out, his eyes trained on Nova. She says these things so matter of factly, while we all want to burn the world down for the things that she suffered.
“He calls her Emili,” she murmurs, her gaze unfocused as she thinks. “I’ve actually met her a couple of times. I remember not liking her. If he’s planning on staying nearby, then I don’t know where he’d have Hollis.”
“I’m going through properties,” Quinn says, brows pinched. “It’s going to take a little time.”
“Then we’ll wait,” Cian murmurs. “Hollis is strong enough to fight and hold on until we can get there. Without a straight path to her, we won’t be able to find her. Keep working.”
Those on the couch bob their heads, their eyes never shifting from the screen. As my eyes close for a moment to breathe and find my own patience, I feel the tug of the bond.
“I feel her,” I say, my pack murmuring that they do as well. “She’s alive, and that’ll have to be enough for now.”
HOLLIS
My eyes open to find that I’m tied to a chair, and a man with wide shoulders and intense, dark eyes is pacing in front of me.
I’m supposed to be Nova . I don’t know what my sister sounds like, which will make it tricky to impersonate her. I don’t want him to know that I’m not the girl they stole away.
I’m stronger, darker, and more evil than Nova.