25. Chapter 25
Cruz
Isaw red.
The door disintegrated in front of me as soon as I heard the crash, but nothing could have prepared me for the way my heart seized in my chest at seeing Lorenzo standing over Rosa.
His hand was still in motion from the vicious strike.
I had no idea what she’d done to elicit that response from him, but there was no excuse to justify what he’d done.
Nothing could’ve been bad enough for an alpha to strike an omega, period.
Fury roared in my ears as I rushed Lorenzo, smashing his throat between my forearm and the wall.
His gurgling breath was barely a whisper over the pounding of my adrenaline.
My only thought was keeping him away from her, but once the slapping of her feet receded down the hall, I stepped back.
Rosa was safe, but Lorenzo’s sweaty red face loomed in front of me.
“What the fuck, man?” He panted, trying to catch his breath.
Na, fuck him. I was done with this.
My knuckles slamming into his jaw and the resounding crunch of breaking bone was little consolation for Rosa’s absence.
The alpha staggered for the briefest second before collapsing in a heap on the ground.
It was too bad he’d passed out. There was so much worse I wanted to do to him.
If only he’d fought back. I waited, willing him to get back up and give me the excuse I needed to pound his skull into so much pulp and gray matter.
But he didn’t, and there was no more time to fantasize about the pain I wanted to inflict on him; I had a hellcat to catch.
I’d hunt him down and take him apart piece by piece another day.
I tapped my earbud. “It’s time.”
Everything was in place for the operation, but it was going to be a little different than I’d expected.
The rest of Lorenzo’s pack were partying in the honeymoon suite, blissfully unaware of what was going on.
That plan went perfectly. Sending them a case of champagne and a stash of the good shit kept them distracted and far from Rosa.
Unfortunately, Lorenzo hadn’t taken that bait.
But honestly, this was better. I’d wanted an excuse to beat the shit out of him for a long time.
The one question I didn’t have an answer to was where Rafael had holed up.
He’d never showed up, but that was a puzzle for another time.
There was nothing stopping me as I strode through the hall at a blistering pace. I had to get to Rosa before she did something stupid. With her, I wasn’t sure what that was. It could be almost anything.
At the far end of the hall, Rosa and her friend were hurrying in my direction, but when they saw me they stopped like little baby deer in the headlights of an oncoming semi. There was nowhere to run, and I watched that conclusion play out across their faces.
I wasn’t worried. I’d planned for this, too. “Ask me again.”
Rosa’s ruby-red lips popped open in the most kissable way, and that dress…that dress was probably illegal in some states.
I approached her, never taking my eyes from hers. “Ask me again, Rosa.”
Claudia looked ready to bolt, but Rosa’s chin tipped up. I wasn’t sure if she remembered what she’d said last night and what my reply had been, but I hoped she would.
“Cruz.” She paused, as if considering for the first time what she was about to do. “Take me away from this place.”
She didn’t know what she was asking for. But I did.
I felt a twinge of guilt as I took Rosa’s hand and led the two omegas out a fire exit that had already been disarmed.
If either of them thought that was strange, they didn’t say a word as I hurried them up a narrow path skirting alongside the resort.
Rosa looked at me with a relieved smile.
It was like a punch to the gut. She thought I was saving her, and part of me wished that were true, but the reality was, I was delivering her right into the hands of her mortal enemy.
She’d never forgive this, even if she lived long enough for me to make it up to her.
The shadows lengthened as we came out onto the twisting coastal sidestreet where a blacked-out Bentley Continental GT Speed and a Range Rover idled. No one had known for sure how this was going to go, so we prepared for everything. Good thing we did.
Claudia froze when she caught sight of the cars. “What’s going on, Rosa?”
I stepped behind Rosa as three burly masked alphas jumped out of the Range Rover and quickly slipped a set of handcuffs on her wrists, clicking them tight and locking them in place.
The masked men surrounded Claudia, circling like sharks. One of them scooped her up and hoisted her over his shoulder, fireman-carrying her to the open backseat of the SUV.
I gave them a nod, and they piled in.
Claudia screamed Rosa’s name as the door shut, closing her inside.
“Cruz? What is this?” Rosa’s voice broke, and it broke me a little, too.
One of the masked men must have heard her, because on his way to the driver’s seat of the SUV, he chuckled. “Insurance.”
“Be careful what you wish for, hellcat,” I breathed in her ear as she shrugged away from me.
The Bentley sat motionless. No one got out.
I didn’t really expect him to, but when the trunk latch popped, I was a little surprised.
I knew an order when I saw one, though, and hooked my arm through Rosa’s.
She didn’t even put up a fight as I pushed her toward the trunk.
I hated to see that defeated look in her eyes as the Range Rover pulled away with Claudia inside.
“You didn’t have to do this. I would’ve come with you.” Rosa bowed her head and curled on her side as I lowered her into the trunk.
“I know,” I replied and closed the lid.
I popped the door and slid into the front seat. Nico watched me in silence.
“You’re an asshole,” I said, sinking into the soft leather.
Nico put the car in gear and eased out onto the secluded street. “I’m the same person I’ve always been.”
He was, and I knew the plan all along, but I didn’t know I was going to end up liking the person we were ordered to kidnap.
I turned the music up and let it sink into my skin, trying to wash away the sick feeling that I couldn’t shake after seeing Rosa scrunched up in the trunk with tears glistening in her pretty blue eyes.