Chapter 62
Chapter Sixty-Two
Weeks later
SANTIAGO
From my vantage point, standing at the window in the hotel’s boardroom, I can see her. The restaurant we booked for her was for this very reason, and at Quinn’s suggestion because she knew both Aleksei and I would struggle with the distance being forced upon us.
At least Roshka is with them. I still want her next to me, though. I need her there.
Initially, the restaurant refused our request to allow dogs that size into their establishment, but like everywhere, money talks.
Nalla sits near the front door, waiting for Aleksei.
And the fucking Russian knows I’m watching.
He turns to check, and even though they are on one side of the marina, and I’m on the other, he finds exactly where I am and waves before he grabs her pretty throat and arches her neck while he kisses her.
It’s not a kiss suitable for the lunch crowd dining at Genoa’s only Michelin-star restaurant, but Aleksei is a world unto himself. He stands up abruptly, checking his watch, then dips back down to plunder her mouth again.
I rage. I seethe with jealousy. And wish I was there with them, instead of listening to Valentine run over his expansion proposal for Prostasia.
“Agreed.” I interrupt his reasoning of buying a property that’s just hit the market in Sydney. It overlooks a harbor, apparently, like that’s what I should be impressed by.
Ronin’s mood shifts. I can sense the gathering storm.
It’s been getting more and more pronounced during the last hour of our meeting.
He and Valentine sit around the large boardroom table behind me.
The room large enough to provide the necessary space for our ego, and temperament.
It took us a while to find a suitable place where we could hold Alliance meetings, but as soon as we found this hotel, we purchased it, securing this room as ours for as long as we need.
The stunning one-eighty degree view of the busy fishing harbour along the Italian coastline was a bonus.
“I get it’s a pretty view, Santiago,” he drawls, his Irish as pronounced as his shitty mood.
“But I wouldn’t mind a little more input from you than agreed.
You'd be better sitting down with us again so I can read you because, for some fecking reason, friend, you’re cagey as fuck today.
And I got less fucking tolerance than usual. ”
“Give me a minute.” I shut him down, focusing on Aleksei as he and Nalla start their walk here.
He takes the same path we took with Quinn the first night we arrived. I watch until he disappears from view, my gaze going back to Quinn and Kade. They’re up paying the bill, which is not what we agreed on.
I pull my phone out. “What’s going on?”
Kade turns to face my direction. “You try telling Quinny to sit still. She just wants to be closer so we can start celebrating as soon as you finish. She also said, watch your back.”
I’m instantly dragged from the Trinity meeting, back to moment earlier when our beautiful wife shared her vision of opening a special clinic up for survivors of trafficking.
She’d already made a list of people she wanted working with her, and who she wanted as clinical director.
She’d also found a relatively neutral location, along with the ideal property, which she’d purchased.
Of course we supported her plans. But of course our wife is also an overachiever, and decided to capitalise on the unique situation she’s in since our pack is tied to this world.
For the right price, she is selling her services as a trauma specialist to powerful people in our world, offering the best medical attention money can buy to people who need to stay off the radar.
Like with her passion project of helping survivors, her second venture, will see her personally taking on cases, but she will not be the only one on the books offering confidential care to those in need.
She’s going to succeed in both ventures, our pack will do everything we can to ensure she does. We will also ensure she doesn’t overwork herself and gets to see and enjoy plenty of sunrises from all around the globe.
“Santiago, are you focused? I’m not explaining to Quinny, you got injured in a Trinity meeting. You both assured her you’d be fine, and promised not to get hurt. She’s already worried enough.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, swallowing the snarl of frustration at being here instead of being with her. “I’m good. Please look after her.”
Kade says something before he disconnects our call, and at the same time, Valentine appears next to me. “We deserve some answers, Santiago. You’re acting nervous, and considering you’re not a nervous person, it has Ronin and me worried.”
“Does anyone have a weapon?”
Behind me, Ronin starts cursing as he surges to his feet. “Feck me, Santiago. You know we don’t do fucking weapons at these meetings. Are we about to be attacked or something?”
In the reflection of the glass, I see him pulling his phone out. No doubt Keegan is close by. Valentine has his in his hand, too, and I see Dante’s name on the screen.
“Let’s wait on making those calls. At least for a few minutes.”
They both make a similar noise, and the air fogs with their frustration.
I wait until the countdown I started as soon as Aleksei walked out of the restaurant is down to the last couple of minutes.
The exact time it takes for him to get in the lift, then up to this floor before I start speaking again.
“I’m married. And packed. I’m sure you both understand why I’ve kept that secret very close to my chest. And admittedly, being married and packed opens up a new world of uneasiness. Everything is a threat, and while I don’t see either of you as a threat, you still are.”
“Fecking rude we didn’t get an invite to the wedding, Santiago.” Ronin laughs, because it is funny. None of us would have attended each other’s weddings. We’re too Alpha, too protective of our Omegas.
The thought of them at my wedding, being that close to Quinn, has my hackles raising. I focus on why I’m here as a way of calming down. “There’s a reason for that.”
Behind us, there’s a knock on the door. They both spin around to face the intruder. And that’s exactly how they’d read the knock because the security at this hotel is on par with that at Prostasia. To get access to this floor, you need to be a carded guest, and there’s only ever been three cards.
“Am I wrong to assume you arranged this, Santiago?” Valentine’s tone is as empty as the look in his eyes. This is his lethal side.
He’s angry and feels set up. And that’s fine, relatable, even. He’s about to lose his fucking mind.
Aleksei knocks on the door again. Louder, more insistent, and very, very Russian. “Come on, Santiago, open the yeblya door. Let me meet your besties and join your soyuz, your alliance.”
Ronin walks closer to where Valentine and I stand, the glare in his eyes screaming more than growing suspicion. He knows.
“Valentine, you’d be hearing that same fucking accent I did, right?”
And while Ronin is talking to Valentine, his eyes don’t move off mine. There’s rage and retribution, promises of annihilation in every blink of them.
I take a steadying exhale and ignore their warring emotions.
“We have all been victims of circumstance and forced to do shit we wouldn’t otherwise have done.
It wasn’t about personal choice; it was doing what you needed to do to survive.
We’ve all been caught in a game where sometimes your enemies are not your enemies—they are your allies, and they’ve been fighting as hard, spending their time trying to fix all the wrongs in the world too. Just on a different side of the world.”
“And that is cryptically fecked up. Whatever you’re trying to say isn’t working. I’m stressed as fuck. I should be in Turin right now, so, please, for the sake of our long-standing alliance and sometimes friendship, rip the fucking Band-Aid off, Santiago.”
The door behind us flies open, and Aleksei walks in. “And that’s the last you call me a Band-Aid. You must be Ronin. Sorry about shooting your family. I’ll do it again, though, if you so much as look at mine.”
“Fuck’s sake, Aleksei,” I spit, wiping a hand down my face.
Ronin’s rage is a living and breathing beast that he turns and unleashes on me. He shoves me so hard up against the windowpane, it rattles. His fists are in my face before I get my hands up.
Aleksei steps in, after I’ve taken a couple of hits, and catches his fist before Ronin lands another hit.
“I will get upset, droog, if you hurt my packmate. You have every right to be upset, but violence is not the answer.”
I laugh at the absurdity of his comment, spraying a mouthful of blood over Ronin’s shocked, unamused face.
Valentine steps into view, looking like a disappointed father. “Is that who I think it is?”
“Who do you think I am? Your fourth? Then, yes, that is correct. You must be Valentine De Luca. Congratulations on your recent ascension to the head of the Italians. The last godfather they had running the show was a fucking zver’.
Same with my brother. He, too, was a cunt.
Killing him was a freedom I have wanted for a long time.
I’m Aleksei Petrov, Bratva, and as soon as I kill the Pakhan, I will be the Pakhan of Russia.
Like Santiago with the Cartel, Ronin with the Irish, and you with your lot, together we will have the globe covered. ”
Aleksei doesn’t wait for Valentine’s hand; he just grabs it and forces him to shake his.
And then he turns to Ronin again. He’s not being a smart-ass, anymore; he is actually sincere.
“I did shoot your family, but I didn’t kill them.
And I apologize. My brother Sergey forced the job on me because of Black, that shitty cop Santiago told you about.
And unfortunately, it was do the job, or my brother would harm my wife, who, incidentally, is also Santiago’s wife. Although she was mine first.”
Ronin is locked up in his rage but listening as Aleksei continues to dominate the meeting.
“Do you believe in fate?” He directs his question to both Valentine and Ronin but doesn’t give them time to answer.
“I do. My and Santiago’s wife—you might not ever get to meet her—burned down a warehouse a long time ago.
The fire stopped her father from being in Croatia.
Her father is Ambassador Victor Hernandez.
Or was. The dirty cunt just died a very painful death at her hands. ”
The revelations reverberate through Valentine and Ronin. Aleksei keeps explaining.
“Our wife was on her own until her father and mine forced her marriage to my brother. I stumbled onto Sergey and Victor’s plans of setting up the trafficking again.
And as a result, I have spent many years smuggling children and Omegas out of Russia and the nearby countries.
I even used your Trinity Alliance helpline more times than I can remember.
Anyway, Santiago and I are sorry for springing this on you. ”
I think he’s done and go to add my own version of events, but he starts up again. The twinkle in his eye spells trouble.
“I promise you can trust me, Ronin. I understand it will take time to earn that, and I will. I swear on Santiago’s honor and the Trinity Alliance that I will never hurt your loved ones.
In fact, my first gesture of recompense is a team of security experts who will show you how to protect your pack and family from attack. ”
Valentine throws his hands up as he walks off for a drink. I follow after him, knowing Aleksei can hold his own, and also knowing what a loose cannon Ronin is.
Honestly, we just need to survive the next five minutes. And then we can sit down and discuss, as a collective, how we keep those who need help the most safe. Because Aleksei is right—together, we have the world covered.