Chapter 48
Chapter Forty-Eight
QUINN
Kade hands me a glass of wine as we sit and watch the flames. It’s soothing, despite the tumultuous night we’ve had. Being around them is good for my soul.
I break the silence, speaking softly. “I feel so bad for your friends in Ireland. It makes me more motivated to finish all this with Victor. But I won’t let them hurt Aleksei, Santiago. Especially now I know what it’s like to have you as a pack.”
I lean my head against Kade’s chest, the steady beat of his heart grounding me as much as the glass of wine relaxes me. I wish we could stay here forever.
I keep the conversation going. “I can’t even remember what issue we’re at, but when we talked about Victor, I skipped over the details of what proof I have.”
“We picked up on that, Quinny,” Kade says, looking down at me. “We were waiting for you to tell us more.”
I wiggle around on his lap to see him as he speaks. He dips down and kisses me softly, eyes open like always. And then I face Aleksei and Santiago.
“When I broke into the warehouse, it was on the spur of the moment. I wasn’t properly prepared.
But, subconsciously, maybe I was because I’d packed a bag with clothes, food, money and a handful of jewelry from the safe at home.
After I unlocked the rooms and helped some of those people escape, I came across a young boy and an Omega.
One look at the child, and I knew he wasn’t like the other kids there. ”
“How so?” Aleksei asks, impatient as always.
“He’s Victor’s son.” My voice softens with fondness. “Marco. The woman has no recollection of how she got to the warehouse or her life before, but she’s his mother. Victor thinks they’re dead, but they’re very much alive.”
Santiago’s expression is full of disgust, his scent flashing with anger. Aleksei and Kade react similarly.
“How the fuck did he do it?” Aleksei snaps, voicing the question we’re all wondering.
“I don’t know where he got the women from. It might have been through someone like Olga, or he had his own source.”
Santiago rubs his eyes and leans forward, covering his face for a few moments. Shaking his head, he looks like he’s got a good idea where the women came from. “What language did they speak?”
I sit up straighter. “Spanish, mostly. A couple of them spoke in broken English, except Deena, could speak both Spanish and English fluently.”
“Yeah, I figured that might be the case,” Santiago says forlornly before he stands and starts pacing.
“If I’m correct, Victor is more of an opportunistic fuck than we considered.
I’m starting to think this goes back to a time in Cartel history that was more violent and unstable than usual.
It was a time of loss and a time for change.
There was a push in the Cartel to set up a governing body, but before people had the chance to talk about it, they reacted.
Emotionally spurred disputes over territory or business rights meant people were being killed over stupid shit that could have been resolved if they stopped being egotistical, stupid fuckers.
One person died, and their death would be avenged twice or three times.
“Revenge killings nearly wiped out a whole generation of future criminals, and the infighting threatened the success of every Cartel family. Ironically, it showed that having something like a governing body would have saved everyone from so much suffering and loss. It was an awful time. A lot of families lost women and children, Omegas particularly. But clearly not all of those missing were dead.”
“Times of unrest always draw the cockroaches out their nests,” Aleksei adds.
Kade clears his throat. “I think we can all agree that we’re not leaving Victor to escape punishment by getting himself a good lawyer. This is a criminal matter, and he needs to be punished the way anyone in the underworld would.”
“You live by the sword, you die by the hands of a newly formed pack, probably slowly too, using lots of painful torture, if we can talk our wife into not poisoning.” Aleksei smiles, knowing he took the proverb and made it his own.
“Yes, yes, we agree he is punished by us, no police involved. Which means we just need to figure out our cover. But we need to do that quickly because my wife and I need to be there for dinner tomorrow night.”
I start to get out of Kade’s lap because, while we’re talking about a whole lot, I need to think about what the best way of approaching Victor is, now we’ve all agreed he's a dead man walking. I’m sure my pack has their own ideas, but I want to figure out my thoughts before I hear theirs.
“Is it okay if I have a shower?” I ask Aleksei.
“Maya, you don’t ask to shower at your house, do you?”
“No. But this is your place, Aleksei.”
“Don’t insult me,” he snarls, glaring at me. “Everything I own, you own. Speaking of, why did you want a lawyer?”
I can feel my cheeks pink with embarrassment as I fight not to laugh. “It’s pretty basic, actually. I asked Layne to review the marriage contract between Victor and the Petrovs because I was going to take you to the cleaners.”
“To the cleaners, maya? What the fuck!” Aleksei explodes.
“It means, she was going to take everything she could. Money, assets, property, anything of value,” Santiago explains, trying to talk over the top of Aleksei.
Aleksei is still glaring at me, but a smirk tugs his lips when I start laughing. “Is that true?”
“I wasn’t going to kill Sergey for nothing. Same with Victor. My lawyer issued a Deed of Variation ex post facto. She was covering my bases in case I was killed too.”
“Such a sneaky Omega. Put some fucking clothes on before I bend you over and fuck that cute popka for trying to steal what is already yours!”
I shake my booty at him. Roshka hops up and follows me into the bathroom, and unsurprisingly, I decide what I think is the best course without them distracting me in the shower.
Kade comes in as I’m turning the taps off, leaving one of my bags next to me. “Santiago and Aleksei grabbed some of your belongings from the big house. We couldn’t bring it all, but also there’s no point because we’ll be back.”
“Sounds fair,” I say, wrapping myself up in a towel and kneeling by my bag to see what my options are.
He leaves, no doubt recognizing I need time on my own.
I blow my hair out, then add some makeup.
I’m putting lip gloss on when I realize I’m still wearing Sergey’s engagement ring.
It really is fucking gaudy. If I was a character in a book, I’d flush it down the toilet or something similar, but the fact is, the monstrosity is a very valuable monstrosity.
And there’s always people that could use the money.
“Okay, Roshka, let’s go.” I stop where he’s been sleeping. He does a few doggy stretches. Despite his size, he’s fluid and nimble. He really is a different dog when he’s here. Nalla is still distant, but I think that’s just her.
We walk out together, and in the time I’ve been getting ready, the house has been getting shut down. Everything is put away; the fire is out and the back door open.
Roshka goes out with Nalla, the two of them doing a final inspection and getting a chance to do their business. The little Audi is packed, Kade in the driver's seat this time, while Aleksei is in a black SUV.
Santiago holds my hand, lucky too, because the icy ground is slippery under the tall heels I decided on. And the pale blue Chanel skirt is too restrictive for any fancy footwork.
It was an easy decision dressing like I first did when I arrived in Russia. We’re too close to the end.
Santiago helps me into the SUV, pulling my seat belt over and locking me in. Kade is close enough he can hear. I know because he and Aleksei were talking when I first got in, and I didn’t miss a word. Roshka jumps into the back next to Nalla, Aleksei securing them in for the drive.
“Okay, so we need to get in to see Victor with minimal fuss, which means I think Aleksei and I walk in as man and wife, and you both are our guards. The only thing is, you don’t look Russian.
” I look at Santiago. It’s not his blond hair; it's his tan. Mostly, though, it’s his elite disposition that’s going to make him stand out.
“If they don’t talk and don’t react to anything Victor says, then a good suit and slick-backed hair will hide their other faults,” Aleksei adds.
Santiago dismisses Aleksei's diss and drills his focus on me. “I met him very briefly with my father a few years ago. He paid me no attention.”
My mind starts racing in a dozen different, toxic, ways. “You met him?”
Santiago grabs my hand. “Quinn, first and foremost, I am your Alpha. That privilege negates everything else. I couldn’t double-cross you, even for the last piece of chocolate, so please don’t look at me like that again.” There’s challenge in his stare, a hint of susceptibility too.
I go to explain how much baggage I carry, but Santiago presses his finger against my open mouth, silencing me.
“You don’t ever need to defend your reactions or responses to something I do or say.
Maybe”—he looks boyishly coy—“just wait until you’ve got all the information before you let your mind jump. Trust this.”
He points at the place on his chest where I pressed his hand on my body when I was trying to explain our new bond.
That’s the thing about past anguish; it rises and strikes whenever it wants, regardless of the time, space, or the vicinity of your scent-matched pack.
My scent is noticeably tinged with the smell of rue and apology.
The tension lining his face disappears as he breathes it in before his own scent rushes out in comfort.
“It wasn’t a sit-down friendly meeting, bebe.
Victor was trying to move something through Cartel territory; he was detained by our men and reminded he is nothing in our world. ”
“How?” I ask, intrigued, a little surprised at Victor’s audacity, although it’s very fitting to his character too.