Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
CIRO
Dario and I both are taking Pablo’s demand that Rosalia and Verona not be left alone to heart. It’s been three hours since he and Nico holed up in their room, and the women before me haven’t woken up yet.
“The realtor office was very helpful,” Dario muses, getting up to remove the drained IV bags to hook up new ones.
It’s amazing what you can order off the internet. We have medical supplies now in the house, as well as enough groceries until we can move Rosalia and Verona.
“That’s good,” I say absently. I’ve been thinking so hard my brain cells hurt. “Where’s the new house, and how will they ensure the Don doesn’t find us?”
“I got the impression that Miranda Orson works with celebrities as often as she does criminals. She said on our call that she wouldn’t put our names on any of the paperwork, regardless of whether it's public or not. She just sent several properties to my phone to look at. I doubt Pablo or Nico care where we stay, but I’m suddenly concerned about whether or not the house should have two spaces for nests or not,” Dario says.
“Omegas don’t share well right? How the fuck is this even going to work? ”
My lips twitch because everyone thinks I’m the hot blooded Italian who will argue about if the sky really is blue or not. While that’s true, Dario is the one who will agonize about things until he can make what he believes is the correct decision.
He only seems calm and collected to the outside world. With me, he allows himself to fall apart, because Nico needs him to keep us from killing each other.
“How many rooms do these houses have, and what makes a nest appropriate for an omega? Also, remember we won’t be in Savannah for longer than necessary,” I remind him.
“Some have as many as eight, but I’m not sure we need that many bedrooms. What the fuck does ‘necessary’ even mean now that we’re talking about wiping a family off the face of the earth?
” he asks, moving on to change Verona’s IV bag and tubing.
Hopefully she’ll stay asleep for this. “Blade and fire are the first things that came into my mind when I mentioned it too. I just want to fucking scorch the earth.”
He felt the same way when he heard our father was pedaling children to his clients. Not only that, these clients are people we grew up around. It affected people I saw often.
Little Nova Taylor’s face fills my mind without an apology, and I shut my eyes against it. Last I heard, she was packed up, but that still doesn’t change the fact that my father fucking kidnapped her.
Sometimes infertility issues are solved in the mafia by stealing other people’s children. None of us like to color inside of the lines, and patience is not a virtue many of us have.
Not unless it falls in line with some type of murder plot. Then we are willing to play the long game.
“It means we all need to be healthy enough to travel and our loose ends are tied up,” I finally say. “Well, our loose ends here in Savannah.”
I have to amend my words because I’m fairly certain that I’m scent matched to two omegas, and I have no idea what to do with that information. Pablo has always belonged to Nico. ‘Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’ is very accurate for my brother.
Sometimes, I hear him pacing late at night, mumbling to himself once Pablo is asleep. When I can’t take it anymore, I get up and offer Nico a drink to either talk it out or sit and stew. Pablo doesn’t like the scent of stale alcohol on Nico’s breath, but I’m not sure why.
While Pablo is my stepbrother, we’re not as close as we could be, and it’s entirely my fault. We exist in the same spaces, we make small talk, but that’s it.
When Pablo was first introduced to us by my father, I thought he was attractive. I’ve never been attracted to men before, and my father had just given Dario and I a long, drawn out speech about how we should make our new brother-to-be comfortable but not too much so.
Nico, Dario, and I are all half brothers. We’re all legitimate for the most part because my father would marry and then murder our mothers. Pablo’s mother got off easy with her deportation. My stepbrother still calls her, but Dad somehow made it so she could never return to the United States.
Not even on a Visa.
The power Dad had with different government agencies was scary. I have a feeling some of these agencies are now hiding my cousin Emilia, because we can’t find her anywhere.
“Are we going to talk about your, ah, loose end as you called it?” Dario asks carefully, returning to his seat once he’s done to scroll through the rental listings Miranda sent to him.
“We can’t call scent matches ‘loose ends,’” I groan. “That’s so fucking wrong.”
“So you admit there are two. Interesting.”
“You’re supposed to be the nice brother,” I grumble.
“No, I’m the one who keeps you all from killing each other. I’m not necessarily ‘nice’,” Dario says, gagging at the very idea. “You’ve had a crush on Pablo for years. I noticed because I have fucking eyes. Isn’t this a good thing?”
“You may have noticed, but I’ve put in a lot of work to make Pablo believe we will always just be brothers. Nico and he had an instant connection. I didn’t want to mess with that. I never thought I’d be someone capable of sharing. Now…”
Verona chooses this moment to open her eyes and screams when she sees me. Damn. I’m going to end up with a complex.
It would figure that I’m the one closest to her.
“You’re safe,” I reassure her. “Look beside you. Rosalia is right there. We had a doctor come by and treat your wound. We are the Domino brothers. I can get Nico if you’d like.”
Verona makes a fake spitting sound, and it occurs to me that she’s ridiculously Italian. It’s either that, or she’s picked up a thing or two while she’s been living with the Accetta’s.
“Why am I hooked up to this?” she asks weakly, her eyes narrowing as she sees the IV. “Renzo wanted me to die alone in the church while everyone celebrated Rosalia’s wedding day. How close was he to getting his wish?”
“Very,” Dario says, standing. “The IV is to keep away infection and rehydrate you. Your life is tied to Rosalia’s. Don’t be a fool and drink the water I’m getting you.”
Verona drops her head back with a thump, making me wince.
“Let’s also try not to get any more bruises,” I grumble. “How did you allow yourself to get caught by the Don?”
She slowly raises her middle finger to flick me off, and I can’t help but grin. Arguing is the equivalent of foreplay for me most of the time. I doubt my stepbrother really understands this as when I’m not avoiding him, I’m teasing him. Sometimes, I allow myself to poke the bear.
“It didn’t…fuck.” Coughing wracks her body, and I wince as I lean forward to help her sit.
Verona flaps her free hand at me to force me away from her, and all I can do is chuckle under my breath. Dario pops me over the back of my head before handing the glass to Verona. He makes sure she can hold it, and then quickly takes it back once she’s had her fill.
I can see how shaky her hand is, and I watch her carefully as she pulls her legs closer to herself.
“The table is not comfortable, but it’s better than a crawl space under the stairs,” she mutters under her breath.
“Excuse me?” I ask, raising my brow. Okay, I’m not going to tease her anymore. This girl has obviously been through some shit. “Care to explain?”
“My grandmother wanted to protect me. It didn’t work, because I’m too hardheaded,” she shrugs. “Where is Rosalia’s husband to be?”
“I’m just the husband now,” Nico says, leaning against the wall. He usually sounds like an elephant when he walks, and today he decides to be a fucking ninja. Wonderful. “I’m Nico. Lovely to meet you, Verona.”
Fear slides through her eyes, and I frown. My brother is a lot of things, but he’s not dangerous unless there’s a reason for it.
“I think we need to have a big girl and boy conversation,” I murmur. “It’s a pity that Rosalia is still asleep, but that might be for the best since you’ve only just opened up your eyes and screamed in my face after we saved your life.”
“You make me sound ungrateful,” Verona sighs. “Thank—”
“Don’t thank us,” Nico says. “It’s not necessary, and we don’t need it. What I do need to do is to discuss a few things with you. There have been some interesting developments since the wedding.”
“How very vague of you,” she drawls, twitching the blanket Pablo pulled over her before he left. It doesn’t escape my notice that he didn’t follow Nico into the room.
I wonder if he realizes yet that he’s scent matched to one other Domino brother. My money is on him not knowing.
“The marriage will stand,” my brother continues.
Shit, he means business. Sprawling out lazily in my chair, I ignore the scathing look Verona gives me for the disrespect I seem to be showing this conversation.
“I need to be married in order to receive my inheritance, keep my connections in business, and because I strongly suspect that Rosalia is my scent match.”
“I beg your finest pardon?” Verona asks. “How would you not immediately know? The second Rosalia and I presented, I knew she was my scent match.”
“Verona. I swear I’m not the enemy,” Nico says gently. “Did I fuck up during this marriage arrangement? Yes. However, I’ve always been the one standing between Renzo murdering Rosa or her killing herself.”
Verona’s blue eyes shutter as she thinks about losing Rosalia, and I have to hold back a wince.
“Rosa is always sad,” she whispers. “Her father pushes and pushes, forcing her to do heinous things in the name of survival. That man is fucking evil.”
“I’m going to ask for a crash course on things. I don’t deserve the knowledge, but I need it. We are going to have the Accetta’s on our asses very soon, which means we will be moving rentals. I need a small bit of trust while we ensure everyone is safe,” Nico explains.
“You could have let me die,” Verona snorts.
“No. I couldn’t have,” Nico growls. “Your life is too closely tied to Rosa’s—”