Chapter 31 #3
“I think you need to rethink bad mouthing my best fucking friend,” Lars growls.
Okay, that was sexy. Lars snorts, and I hold back my blush because he heard my thoughts. Oh well, it doesn’t make it any less true.
“This is so incestual,” Nico mutters, making me roll my eyes.
“Yes, let’s harp on the dynamics of my pack and not the fact that your father paid to rape me,” I say, tired of his shit.
“Let’s also ignore the fact that you watched me play the piano or cello with broken fingers multiple times and didn’t say boo about it.
I was abused for years right in front of your eyes. Some fucking alpha you are.”
Nico bristles, but I’m tired of not pushing back. I don’t want an apology, I want to see actionable evidence that he’s willing to change things. I guess therapy is helping me after all.
“And another thing,” I growl, taking a step forward. My pack makes a sound of discomfort since it puts me closer to Nico, but they don’t attempt to pull me back.
Not yet anyway.
“Yes, Little Omega?” Nico asks, almost amused.
“She has a name,” Tyde says. “Fucking use it.”
“What are you going by these days? Nova or Maree?” Nico asks less than innocently.
“Did you know that your father had me kidnapped?” I ask.
“I didn’t as a child, no. I found out as I began to take up the reins of the family business with my father’s death.
Your sister ripped away the wool I’ve had over my eyes about my father as well.
I’ve also managed to uncover things over the last few weeks that have made me physically ill.
I wouldn’t say that I have a weak stomach, but knowing that my father actively ran an auction and sold our people’s children to Turbis pisses me off,” he says.
Nico hasn’t bothered to draw a gun, his arms now crossed in front of his expansive chest. His dark hair is well maintained, as is his facial hair. I’m surprised by the scruff he has since his father was against it. Maybe we all have moments of rebellion and this is his.
I don’t care enough to ask though.
“If it’s any consolation, I did notice that you always had a pinched expression on your face when you didn’t believe anyone was looking. I thought that it was because you thought you were too good for us,” Nico adds.
“Why would I think I was too good for you?” I ask. “I was scared of my own damn shadow for most of my childhood.”
“You always seemed out of place to me,” he shrugs. “As for my father, my brothers and I told him multiple times to wrap it up because we were tired of him bringing home stray children. Pablo is our step-brother but he’s managed to grow on us.”
Nico’s private smile makes me wonder about their relationship, but it’s none of my business. I remember when Mr. Domino briefly remarried, but his wife was killed by a drunk driver two years into their marriage. I wonder now if it was done on purpose.
“And the auction house?” Caleb asks, pushing for information. I’m grateful for his intervention because it really is freezing.
“Closing down the Remano Auction has hit a snag,” Nico grunts, making a face. “I wanted to ease you into this information, maybe apologize for everything that happened due to my father’s actions first.”
“I don’t need those,” I say, shaking my head. “You have no idea how bad my life was or what it’s taken for me to be able to stand here today. I hope that you’re a better alpha than your father is one day.”
“In case you missed what my omega is trying to say, you’re a pretty weak impersonator of what an alpha should be,” Caleb says. “I’m going to need to agree with her.”
Nico takes a cleansing breath before accepting the verbal abuse with an incline of his head.
“I deserve that,” he murmurs. “The death of my father has left a lot to be desired. I’ve been trying to tie off loose ends with my brothers, and it took longer than I expected.
There’s also a clause in my father’s will that says I need to get married or the business will go to someone else.
Therefore, I’ve also been trying to figure that out. ”
“Maybe you should talk a little faster, because telling us you may be entering into an arranged marriage isn’t going to ingratiate us to you,” Lars says. “This is everything that Hollis fights against.”
“Fuck me, you’re a tough crowd,” Nico sighs.
“Why should this be easy?” I ask. “Your father is responsible in some way for most of the nightmares I have.”
“ Merde,” he curses. “You’re fucking killing me, you know that? The auction house was a ghost town when I got there. There wasn’t a single person there, and all the cages were taken as well.”
I feel faint at the thought that someone just picked up where Domino left off.
“Could this be Emilia?” I gasp. “She attacked my sister after her organization came under FBI investigation. They found so much evidence of her guilt that I wouldn’t be surprised if she skipped town.”
“I didn’t immediately believe Hollis when she said that my cousin was involved in this. Emilia almost seemed meek and quiet whenever I saw her,” Nico admits.
“Then you’ve been duped, because Hollis had to stab her when Emilia had her dragged into that alley recently,” Lars says. “Emilia knows how to play people like a fiddle.”
“I had no idea. I believe you now because my father had written correspondence with her that spanned years, and while his email was encrypted, it was just as damning,” Nico explains, his hand raking through his dark hair.
“She had a large controlling interest in the Remano Auction. We found four dead people at the warehouse, one of them being the owner. I think Emilia stole the business from Taylia Rose.”
“I won’t say that I feel sorry for a sex trafficker’s death,” I say, shrugging. “I am deeply disappointed that that auction is simply going to pop up somewhere else. Floating auctions are picking up in popularity.”
“What does a little omega like you know about auctions?!” Nico yells.
“Enough,” I bite out. “I’m really not little either. You’re breaking my sister’s agreement with you. Are you coming to me because you think I’ll go easier on you?”
“I thought you would,” he says. “At the very least I didn’t think you’d carve me up for my words.”
“Once my sister draws a weapon, you’re unlikely to live through it,” I say simply, enjoying the way Nico’s tan begins to look sallow and pale. “This is going to piss her off.”
“I need some time to find her,” he says. “There’s not a hint of where Emilia or the auction has gone.”
Caleb has the phone ringing on speaker not even seconds later, and Nico swallows hard but steels his spine.
“ Is everyone okay?” Hollis answers. It’s sad that our lives have her asking this.
“Hello, Hollis,” Nico says.
“ I’m going to be very pissed off if I have to put on clothes to kill you,” she says. “ Though, Lars and Caleb can do that just fine on their own. So why are you still alive?”
“I’m beginning to question that as well,” he says.
“My family has acted in bad faith towards yours. It doesn’t matter that I was a child when Nova was kidnapped, nor that I didn’t know anything about it until you told me.
I promise to continue to look for my cousin, but Emilia and the Remano Auction are both lost in the wind. ”
“You figured that my sister was the lesser evil, didn’t you?
” Hollis asks. “God, you’re an idiot. You’re standing in front of a retired enforcer for the Finnegan family and someone who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty.
Nova is well taken care of. I’m sure Tyde could tell them the best ways to handle the disposal of your body if necessary. ”
“The hospital has a furnace at the morgue,” Tyde says innocently.
I grin at Nico, knowing how unhinged it probably looks.
“I apparently miscalculated. However, I am truly sorry for everything that my father has done,” Nico says. “Smearing our name wouldn’t help my current situation, but I understand if that’s what you need to do. My father wasn’t the man I thought he was.”
“He won’t have a burial, especially because the house went up in flames, and I know your family is fairly religious.
I think it’s a bit ironic, but that’s just me,” Hollis says.
“I hope his ghost roams the earth and he never finds peace. In the meantime, you will continue to look for Emilia and this auction. I don’t trust you to handle this, which means you’ll call me immediately when you do and I’ll do it. ”
“Yes ma’am,” he says, unable to say anything else. “Is there anything else?”
“Boys, is there?” Hollis asks of my alphas.
“Apparently,” Caleb drawls, “there’s some talk of an arranged marriage being necessary to be able to keep his inheritance.”
Smirking, I enjoy how annoyed Nico is right now. The alpha will not catch a break from us. This is a very different experience than I typically have when dealing with him and his family. Nico hasn’t ever gone out of his way to help me.
Why should I pull him out of this?
“That’s adorable,” my sister says snidely. “You will not marry someone against their own will. If I find out that you did, I will cut off your knot so not only will you not be able to procreate, I’ll make you watch as I kill your brothers as well.”
Damn. Just. Fuck.
“They are all innocent,” Nico snarls.
“Then don’t give me a reason to come for them,” she says simply. “Now, go away.”
The call disconnects as Nico fumes, and I shiver as I watch him. An alpha trapped against a wall is always dangerous. The air even feels heavier, making me deeply uncomfortable.
“Rein it in, Nico. You’re fucking with my girl’s zen,” Caleb growls. “Angry alphas don’t have a place around her.”
Nico stares at him before he takes a deep breath to pull back his anger. It almost feels as if I’m standing too close to a flamethrower instead of a single candle.
“It was a mistake to attempt to derail your evening,” he says formally. “After suffering so much, you deserve to heal in peace. I apologize for the misstep again. I won’t intrude on your life again, and I’ll do my best to clean up both my father’s and my organization’s mess.”
“No one should have their innocence taken from them,” I whisper. “All I ask is that you take care of those who had that happen to them. Who knows how old they may be now…”
Nico turns green, struggling to keep himself from puking. “God, I’m so sorry. It just gets worse every time you open your mouth, doesn’t it?”
“Nova is censoring herself for your benefit, fuck nugget,” Tyde says. “I know Hollis had to have given you the rundown of what a piece of shit the man your father employed was. Does hearing it from a survivor make it worse?”
“So much worse,” he rasps. “I have a face to haunt my dreams now.”
“Good,” Tyde says. “We need to be getting home, and it looks like you have a long drive back.”
“What he’s surprisingly too polite to say is that you need to get the fuck out of my city before I have to report this to the Senior Mafia Families,” Caleb adds. “Unless you’re looking for a war?”
“No. I’ll be shedding more than enough blood as I clean up my father’s mess,” Nico sighs. “Goodbye, Nova. I’m glad you have a pack to protect you from how dangerous the world is.”
I watch as he turns and walks away, and Caleb and Lars hustles us into the SUV as soon as they deem it safe. The firearms return to wherever they were before, and I lean against Tyde in the backseat because I need something solid to hold onto.
Having glimpses of my past popping back up isn’t going to be great for my dreams tonight.
“Are you staying the night?” I ask, my voice cracking.
“Yes,” Caleb and Lars say at the same time.
“We got you, baby,” Tyde promises.
This time, I believe them.