Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
THREE DAYS LATER
VERONA
My heels click along the marble floor as I walk down the hallway.
Cassidy and I are attending a luncheon today at the Savannah Women’s Club to network and discuss the charity event we’re putting on.
The venue for the luncheon this month is at The Desoto, which is a decent sized hotel.
I almost got lost looking for the restroom, but finally found it so I could relieve my bladder.
The last few days have been a whirlwind of events similar to this.
Cassidy and I have been making the rounds, and we are seeing great results.
Tickets are almost sold out for the charity event, and I need to go shopping for a dress.
Somehow, time slipped away from me, and I didn’t realize it.
Thankfully, Cassidy mentioned that she owns a boutique with dresses to fit the occasion, and suggested Rosa and I arrange to go at closing so we won’t run into anyone.
The boutique has amassed a following with the elite of Savannah. I appreciate her concern because even attending events during the day like this spikes my anxiety…
A large hand wraps around my wrist as I think this, his fingers pinching my skin as he yanks me into a side room.
Gasping in a breath, I release a blood curdling scream, though I’m a bit more confident I can handle myself than previously.
Still, Ciro’s reminder to make a scene when in a predicament like this rings in my ears.
“Shut up, you stupid, fucking bitch!” Renzo slams my body into the wall with each word, redness mottling his face with anger. “Why couldn’t you die—”
“I might ask you the same thing.”
My hand slaps him without thinking, and I dig my heel into his shoe to create enough space between us so I can slip free.
The sparring sessions I’ve been having with the Domino brothers haven’t changed how I would usually react in a situation like this.
Muscle memory now has a chokehold over me, and I hold the skirt of my dress away from him so there’s nothing he can grab on to.
Glaring at him, my hand fists at my side as I think about the gun Rosa and Nico insisted I have strapped to my thigh now that I know how to use it.
My outfit planning now includes checking to see if I can cleanly draw my weapon or not, which shows how much my life has changed. I’m not the same alpha Renzo remembers.
“What the fuck do you want?” I growl. “Are things getting so bad that beating on a woman became acceptable? Oh wait… of course it is!”
“Today, you die,” he growls.
“Promises, promises, you big, fucking bully,” I taunt him, despite the blood rushing in my ears.
Renzo scares the fuck out of me, and always has. The reasons are plentiful, and not one of them is silly.
“I don’t believe I’m the one running scared.
Your family members are dropping dead all around you.
They’re on the way to the grocery store or walking down out of a parking lot to a titty bar, and they’re the ones who get their necks snapped.
It’s like a pandemic. Bad luck has a way of following you, Renzo.
Throwing your daughter to the wolves definitely equates to being the epitome of bad! ”
I make the last word sound like a sheep’s bleating, and heat from his anger comes off him in waves. Pablo and Shiloh have teamed up to become our eyes in the city, and the Domino made men are showing Savannah that it’s a health risk for the Accetta family members to leave their homes.
The bodies are tossed, broken into dumpsters, and Silas told us over breakfast this morning that the police commissioner is concerned about vigilantes moving into the city. Little does he realize this is a mafia war, and it’ll be over soon.
“Fuck off,” Renzo snarls, pulling a wicked knife from his pocket.
I see he’s doing his own dirty work today.
I wonder if the wolves are circling him now that he’s proving that he can’t control Rosa anymore.
“I should have gutted you myself. I can’t fucking trust anyone to do things.
You’re a pussy licking cunt that destroyed my daughter. ”
“We are scent matches, old man,” I reply, stepping farther away from him. He’s blocking the exit currently, and the number of windows in this room are nil. “I hope you eat shit and die. You were too late with those blockers when she turned eighteen. We’ve always known we were fated to each other.”
He screams in anger, rushing me, and I lift my skirt up to pull my gun.
“Your temper is showing,” I coo as he stumbles to a stop as his eyes move to my weapon.
The safety is off, and I will not hesitate to shoot his ass if I need to.
My omega would much rather I come home to her than worry about her revenge.
Hopefully, I won’t be forced to choose between the two.
“Rosa wants to be the one to kill you. I don’t want to take that opportunity from her. Do behave, will you?”
“Bah!” he laughs, his knife waving in the air as he speaks. “Rosalia will know untold horrors for refusing to do as I wish. She’ll never be able to get away from me!”
“You can’t touch her,” I growl, wondering how bad it would be if I did shoot him.
Just one, tiny bullet. Not enough to kill him though.
“What’s going on? Sir, you can’t be here with a weapon.” My eyes glance for a second at the woman wearing a sharp navy suit, and I realize she works here. Shit. Thankfully, her eyes are on Renzo and not me at the moment. “I’ll call security!”
A size ten loafer kicks me in the chest, and my body flies back as Renzo shoves the woman speaking to him out of the way to escape. Groaning, I hide the gun in the folds of my dress, fairly sure she didn’t see it. Working by touch, I put the weapon back in my holster and carefully stand up.
Walking gingerly, I see that the woman is calling for security to remove Renzo from the hotel, and I wince as I see that there’s dirt on the front of my dress. I’ll never be able to get it out of the silk. Bastard.
Returning to the luncheon, I hold my head high and return to my table, prepared to lean into being the victim in this scenario if necessary.
“Verona!” Cassidy hisses, coming quickly to my side. “Where were you? Did you fall in the bathroom?”
“No, but a certain fire breathing mafia don found me,” I sigh. “He kicked me and ran out of the room.”
“I suddenly have a headache,” she lies. “I’ll find the organizer and let her know. Can you walk?”
“Yeah. I’m just a little out of breath. He kicks like a mule.”
Cassidy shakes her head as I follow her, his words spiraling in my mind. He can’t hurt Rosa, I know this. Once he’s dead, that’s it. Ghosts can’t come back from the grave, even when they’re crotchety megalomaniacs like Renzo Accetta.
I’ll still warn Rosa. Renzo is desperate, and those men are even more dangerous than they usually are.
* * *
Two days later
“Vero, you’re making me twitchy,” Rosa complains, wrinkling her nose. “Papa can’t hurt me. He knows the best way to scare you is to threaten me. I’m perfectly fine.”
“I don’t care. I have a bad feeling, and I can’t shake it,” I admit.
“Why don’t we do something to help,” Nico suggests. “Tomorrow is the event, and the pressure is on. It makes sense it would start to affect us all.”
Even Pablo has been jumpy lately, and Rosa is still having heat spikes. All of this is definitely affecting me, and thoughts of doom follow me into my dreams.
“There’s a street festival downtown,” I mention. “It’s probably not safe, though.”
“It is,” Ciro says. “Everyone will need to bring their weapons and we’ll stay close. Is there food there?”
“There is,” I chuckle. “I saw it when I was scrolling online this morning.”
We all finally have phones, though I’ve been enjoying not needing it. It’s a new number, allowing me to cut off my family members. My grandmother is a psychopath, and I’ll be happy to never see her again.
“Are these our dinner plans?” Pablo asks, amused when Ciro’s stomach rumbles. “I suppose they are.”
“Meet at the front door in five?” Dario suggests. “We should shore up some good moments with how busy things have been lately.”
“I’m glad we picked up our dresses earlier today,” Rosa says, changing her clothes for jeans and a deep v-necked shirt.
Now that we can embrace more casual clothing, we both decided to try it out.
I don’t know how I feel about jeans yet, as dresses really are the toddler equivalent of women’s clothing.
It’s so easy to throw it over your head and look as if you made an effort.
Everyone else grabs what they need, and we all agree to dress casually while hiding our weapons before walking out the door. Rosa entwines her fingers with mine, sighing as we walk across the back yard.
“We need a break,” she sighs.
“Maybe that’s it… I have all of this weird energy inside of me telling me something is wrong,” I groan.
“I didn’t want to say anything, but I think my heat is coming soon,” Pablo confesses. “I’m okay, I just feel crampy.”
“Shit,” Dario breathes. I can see that he’s walking through different scenarios, trying to find a solution. “We’ll get the keys to the house tomorrow morning. I can work on getting supplies delivered to the house so we have the essentials. There’s not enough room for a heat in the guest house.”
“We may also ruin the mattress if we both go into heat at the same time,” Rosa says with a deep blush.
Well no wonder I’m freaking out.
“Shit, you too?” Pablo chuckles under his breath. “The heat spikes are getting you ready for things.”
“While I’m glad it’s staying away for now, the hints of it are making me insane,” Rosa admits. “I don’t have time for a heat.”
“There’s no way to schedule this,” Ciro teases me. “All we can do is figure out who you want there and prepare for it.”
“I want you all there,” Rosa pouts. “Despite everything, I like knowing we’re all together.”
“Me too,” I wince. There are too many eyes on me as the words leave my mouth. “You Domino brothers are like a fungus, though you’re prettier to look at.”