23. Chapter 23
Rosalina
With barely concealed tears, I tracked down Maria in the kitchen and made a point of saying goodbye. It was time to leave for the wedding.
I hoped this wouldn’t be the last time I saw her, but nothing was certain anymore. My whole world was changing today, and my life would never be the same. It all felt so final, soul-crushingly final, and I was forced to face this farce alone.
Lorenzo dictated that the wedding was to be family-only. Maria hadn’t been invited, no one had. In his mind, family encompassed his pack and my father. There wasn’t even a whisper of my mother, not that she would’ve come, anyway.
I was graciously allowed to invite Claudia—after the fact and probably only to avoid another argument—but she had to meet me at the venue. And of course, Cruz followed on my heels like a sexy shadow to keep me from making a break for it before I was legally bound to Lorenzo’s bullshit of a pack.
Javier hurried me out the door and into the cool bite of morning. The whole day was running on a schedule I wasn’t aware of, and apparently we were already late.
I didn’t see my father anywhere. I didn’t want to, but even if I had, he was probably busy organizing shipments to make up for the ones we’d lost to the Morenos. He’d meet us there closer to the ceremony. All he had to do was witness this nightmare debacle anyway.
Bright sparks of sunlight reflected off the rippling ocean as we crossed the bridge, leaving my island home behind.
The dense tropical jungle engulfed the road, and verdant greenery flashed by the window of the SUV, but no one said a word.
In the silence, it felt more like we were on our way to a funeral rather than a wedding. For me, it very much was.
The lump in my throat grew as the heaviness of inevitability pressed down on my chest. The thought of Maria’s glassy eyes when she’d hugged me goodbye had me hiding tears in the shadows of Nico’s black hoodie.
I was grieving the loss of my dreams as much as the loss of my closest mother figure.
I was not okay. My father said he needed Lorenzo’s help, but I needed his help, too.
I needed him to hug me and protect me like a father should.
He cared about me, but clearly he cared about his money and empire more.
I wanted to plead my case one last time, but he’d made himself scarce. Was he afraid that if I explained how desperately I wanted a different life, he’d understand and give in? I’d tried it before, and it hadn’t worked, but I was grasping at straws now.
Even if I could, I had no reason to believe he wouldn’t shrug it off again, telling me that scent-matches were a liability, but I didn’t need a scent-match, just the possibility of love.
Was that so much to ask—to love the person you married or the pack you’d join?
I didn’t think it was, but maybe because my father hadn’t had that option, he didn’t see why it was important to me.
He’d never been this cruel before. I’d gone to college, and while he was overprotective, he’d been supportive, too.
Something that I didn’t understand must be forcing his hand.
If only he’d talked to me about it, we could’ve figured out an alternative.
But I couldn’t fucking do that, because I couldn’t find him.
Far too soon, Cruz was opening my door, and the sound of ocean waves and a tropical breeze rustling through palm fronds greeted me as I made my way across the sun-dappled driveway.
I was here. The idyllic tropical resort oasis where life as I knew it would end.
Claudia’s sky-blue Aston Martin was parked in the shade a little ways down the driveway, which meant she was already here somewhere. My one reprieve.
While Diego and Javier were busy unloading my suitcase and whatever else they’d brought along for the wedding, I made my way to the reception area. I could’ve stayed to help them, but fuck them for going along with this bullshit.
In the sun-washed distance, thatch-roofed bungalows clung to the steep mountainside leading down to a turquoise bay, shimmering like an aquamarine gemstone in the morning light, all of it blissfully ignorant to the atrocity it was about to witness.
When I shuffled into the lobby in flip-flops, sweats, and messy hair, the attendant gave me a questioning look. Claudia noticed and waved him off. “Rosie, you look like shit, girl.”
“Yeah, I know,” I grumbled, my voice still rough from tears.
She marched toward me as I took in the high-end furnishings.
Everything was polished to a glossy shine, unlike me.
Tropical plants were situated tastefully next to classy bamboo furniture.
It was shocking that the dirty laundry thugs could’ve picked this place themselves.
What if this was where their last omega had wanted to get married?
I shuddered, trying to shake off the crawling feeling under my skin.
Claudia slid her arm through mine and tugged me toward a huge, sweeping balcony. “Don’t worry, I booked everything at the spa. We’ll have you looking perfect before long. It’s okay, Rosie, I’ll be with you the whole time.”
I leaned my head on her shoulder as she guided me across a breezy balcony, through a maze of well-lit halls, and over a beautiful open-air walkway to the spa.
The white building was situated perilously, clinging to the edge of the mountainside with grand verandas propped up by spindly stilts above the tree cover.
Claudia dragged open the heavy wooden door, and I walked through, but she turned and stopped.
Cruz, who’d been trailing behind, was eyeing my five-foot nothing friend like she was a dragon guarding treasure.
She had a way of looking down her nose at people who bothered her, even when they were over a foot taller than she was.
“You stay out here. No boys allowed,” she pointed to the ground next to the door.
Cruz’s dark brows rose in surprise, but he shrugged and took up his position. I let out a chuckled snort of amusement. Cruz seemed content to wait. I doubted he had any interest in the workings of the spa, but I certainly did.
When the door closed behind us, Claudia leaned in and whispered, “You just have to survive the night, that’s all.” She said it as if it were easy. “We will save you.”
The wedding wasn’t until sunset, so we had the entire day for pampering. It probably still wasn’t enough, but I fucking needed it.
Cruz
After fucking Rosa to sleep last night, I was surprised to hear her half-muttered request to take her away from this.
All things considered, with Lorenzo’s pack waiting for her, I could understand it, but she didn’t know anything about me.
Not really, even if she thought she did.
I hated keeping things from her. I wanted nothing more than to let her in, so she could see the real me and how my feelings for her were growing, despite my better judgment.
She should’ve been more careful about what she wished for because it was looking more and more like she was going to get it. There was still no sign of Valentina, and no indication Rafael had even tried to contact her. If she didn’t show, I knew what had to be done.
As much as I didn’t want this, it was my job. I owed Nico and his father everything. They’d saved me from the fighting pits and a slow but inevitable death. I couldn’t let her distract me from my loyalty.
This morning, after we caught him up on the situation, Francisco gave the order to snatch Rosalina. I still clung to the hope that her mother would show up to replace her. The Vascos were bad, but they might not be a death sentence. Whoever I took with me today was not long for this world.
I’d give the girls their spa day and watch how this played out. While they were getting their massages and makeup done, I’d be tapping into the cameras and getting the pieces in place for tonight.
Now that I knew Rosa better, there was a part of me that was hoping her mother wouldn’t show up.
I’d rather have Rosa alone, tied up in our safe house, anyway.
I just prayed there’d be some other option to settle this dispute, because if Francisco got his way, I might have to put a bullet between her pretty blue eyes.