Chapter 4 #3
“One last fuck you,” I grunt. “He’s using an auction house to buy children, so I want to ruin Roberto’s reputation. I also don’t want his sons to search for revenge. He was a piece of shit and I took out the trash. I’m a hero, so they should let sleeping dogs lie.”
“That’s a leap,” he says mildly. “What if they’re just as bad?”
“Working from my gut,” I rasp, shuddering as Caleb moves one of my broken fingers.
“Fuck it, that’s good enough,” he says. “I refuse to hurt you, and I know I am.”
“My body is a little fucked up,” I admit.
“I want you out of this goddamned shirt, though,” he says. Popping his head out the door he yells, “Tell Hollis’ pack that I need one of their shirts!”
He refuses to be polite about it, and I wince at the thoughts that could be going through their heads when they’re told that.
I’m okay, just need a new shirt, I push through the bond.
If you’re okay, then I’m a Prince of Egypt, Brice growls. Do…not…lie to us.
I’m alive, which means I’m okay enough, I reply.
About a minute later, a shirt is shoved at Caleb, and he shuts the door.
“Where’s the phone?” he asks, gazing warily at me.
“There’s a pocket,” I laugh. “The vagina is not a pocket, Caleb.”
“Ugh, never say that again,” he says, plucking the phone from the pocket. “Arms up.”
Caleb helps me out of the bloody shirt and into the clean one, and my body relaxes slightly as I smell Brice. It figures that he would insist that I use his shirt.
Caleb picks up a wash cloth and runs warm water over it before rubbing it over my face to clean as much blood as possible from it. I know that’s mostly a lost cause, but I do appreciate that I’ll scare a few less people.
“There’s not a password on the phone. Can you find out Roberto’s oldest son’s name for me? I’m starting to crash, Caleb.”
“Fuck. Hold on,” he says, reopening the bathroom door as he tosses the dirty wash cloth. A glance at the mirror shows that there’s still streaks of blood, but I appear less of a walking nightmare than before. “Adira, you out there?”
“Yes,” she says, walking as quickly as she can toward me. “What does Hollis need?”
“Information,” I reply. “I need Domino’s oldest son’s name please.”
“Nico,” she says immediately. “Ooh. Are you going to make sure he has a really bad day?”
“Absolutely. His father’s dead in the third room upstairs on the left in case someone would like to do me a solid and take a photo for proof,” I say.
“On it. Any chance I can get you to sit?” she asks.
“I won’t get this done if I do,” I admit.
Her eyes widen with understanding before she nods and walks away.
“Jed, go take a photo of the dead guy upstairs for me please or I will,” Adira says, telling him where. “Hollis needs it.”
“Got it,” he says, jogging up the stairs.
Caleb and I step out of the bathroom, and I reach out to steady myself by grabbing his arm. There’s so much happening, it’s starting to make me feel dizzy.
“Quiet, everyone! Start throwing gasoline over everything while Hollis makes this call. Adira, you can’t stay here for this because of the fumes,” he says.
She makes a face at Caleb, but allows Morris to walk her out. Caleb pulls up the contact name and connects the call as I remain standing beside him, despite how my thigh muscles are beginning to tremble with exhaustion.
“Dad?” someone answers. The phone is on speaker since I can’t hold it, and the volume is turned all the way up. It’s a good thing I don’t need this to be a private call. “Does this mean you’re done with whatever errand you left to do?”
“Is this Nico?” I ask instead of responding. “Your father isn’t able to come to the phone now or ever. I killed him.”
“You what?” he gasps. “A woman never could have killed my father. That’s impossible. Where is he? Give him back the phone.”
“These are the consequences of life,” I warn.
“He bought me from Louisa and Turbis Franco with the intent to rape me and possibly snuff out my life. The problem is that he bought Nova Taylor, but he got her twin sister. That’s me by the way.
This means that you’re about to inherit a war with the Irish Minneapolis mafia. Is that what you want?”
Cian moves closer to me, but allows me to speak. There are people all around me dosing the house with gasoline, the stench making me want to sneeze. I’m glad Adira left.
“I suggest you think carefully about this,” I say, interrupting Nico when he begins to speak.
“Your father has been supplying Turbis with children from an auction house to rape, allowing him to fully enjoy his time with his little habit. Do you want the world to know that your father did this? Can you also imagine how many women he’s killed with his rough sex practices? ”
My voice is rough from being choked by Domino, and I clear my throat as Jed walks downstairs with the photo.
“I’m sending you an image of what your dear, departed father looks like now that I’ve punished him for beating me before he tried to rape me.
Be very careful with your next words. I heard him tell his assistant that you wouldn’t appreciate his predilection for trafficked and sold omegas,” I say, watching the photo appear on the phone as Jed airdrops it to me.
Nodding my thanks, I send it to Nico and let it sink in.
“Nova Taylor was kidnapped from my home at two weeks old. Your father has been working the long game for years, putting people in place for his own amusement and gain. Now, you’re inheriting his mistakes. How do you choose to proceed?” I ask.
“Who are you again?” he asks.
“Hollis Edwards,” I state. “As a reminder, I’m the omega who killed your father because he wanted to rape me, oh and he couldn’t decide if he wanted to breed me and sell my child or kill me.”
Every alpha in the room’s eyes snap toward me and they growl.
“Fuck,” Nico sighs, clearly hearing the communal growl.
What can I say? The options his dear old dad gave me sucked.
“Hollis,” Nico says, swallowing hard. “On behalf of Pack Domino, I send you our deepest regret. Our family has harmed you in innumerable ways. How can we help make reparations?”
He sounds sincere, and I sigh heavily. I’m so fucking tired.
“Destroying the Remano Auction would be a good first step,” I reply.
“Louisa and Turbis are dead by my hand already as well. I would like permission to remove Emilia Richardson from her position in her non-profit without any sort of repercussion. Your father has been shielding her, and allowing her to sell omegas into the sex trade. I need that to stop immediately.”
“My cousin Emilia? I never would have imagined that,” he says, sounding as if he’s aging during our conversation. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is. I don’t know what his relationship was with his father, and I’m not about to ask.
“One and the same,” I say. “We’ve had multiple run-ins with her, and she had me badly beaten for getting in her way.”
“I feel as if that may happen often,” he mutters, but I still hear him.
“It doesn’t,” Cian says. “I would have more gray hair if it did. This is Cian Sullivan by the way. Your father pushed for Nova to be kidnapped because he had to get his dick wet and caused a great amount of distress. We would have thrown the same amount of effort into this if it had actually been Nova that had been taken. We don’t take kindly to our people disappearing. ”
My heart warms that the sister I have yet to meet officially isn’t being forgotten. I’ve never once stopped thinking about her either.
“That was in bad taste, I apologize,” Nico says. “Your knife skills are impressive, Hollis.”
“Thanks, it would be better if I didn’t have most of my fingers and toes broken,” I snark.
“This is so bad,” Nico groans.
“Do you agree with my first demand?” I ask.
“Yes, yes. Of course I do. I am just having a hard time keeping up. We won’t declare war, and this makes me the head of my family. I didn’t think this would happen for a long time,” he says.
“I would give you my condolences, but I don’t have any,” I say. “I want you to look at your ranks. Their children will need therapy. Your father has been borrowing them so that Turbis could molest and rape them.”
Nico pukes, and I decide I might have a bit more respect for him. If he can have this strong of a reaction, then maybe he isn’t a trash panda of an alpha.
“Give a man a little notice,” he wheezes.
“Life comes at you fast. Get used to it. Nova is a free omega. She will have nothing to do with your pack or mafia organization unless it’s her decision. She’s a midwife, and her path may cross with yours. The universe is unpredictable,” I say.
“Yes, yes. I agree,” he says.
I offer several other stipulations just to see how invested he is in peace before I nod.
“I expect a detailed report of how you shut that auction house down,” I insist. “There are bonus points for photos with the bloodshed.”
“Just how badly did you fuck up Turbis and his wife?” Nico asks. “You speak like a mafia boss.”
“That’s exactly what she’d be if she wanted it,” Cian says. “She can make your life a living hell, and I’ll support it. There will be no one to leash her if she chooses to destroy you because you couldn’t follow directions.”
Jed walks over to the living room to take a photo, and I lean heavily on Caleb. He wraps his arm around my waist to help me stand better, watching as Jed returns and shares the photo of the ill fated couple to my phone.
“The answer to your question is being sent in a text to you,” I say, sending the photo to him.
There is about a minute of silence before several men inhale sharply, and I smirk as I realize that it’s now a party. I guess the brothers are together.
“It’ll be done,” Nico says. “I swear it. Give me some time to arrange it all.”
“I appreciate it,” I say as if he offered to do me a favor. “We’ll be in touch.”
Caleb hangs up the phone, fumbling it as I fall forward. He manages to catch both me and the damn phone, hoisting me into his arms.
“It’s time to go,” he mutters as the darkness falls over my vision.
It’s been a very busy day of kidnapping, killing, and blackmail. I’m so done with today. I’ll try again tomorrow.