Chapter 16
Maverick
It’s only been a day since Wren woke up, but our work waits for no one. I’m mildly impressed with the taste of the guy who owns this cabin. As I sit at the solid mahogany desk, I can’t help but feel like the damn president or something.
Though the president never did work as important as this.
“You need to look at this, Mav.” Ethan turns my laptop towards him, opening a new tab and typing into the address bar. My eyes narrow when I see the headline on the video stream. “Messina Family—Owners of Alessandro Fashion House—Begging for Safe Return of Their Daughter”.
Fucking snakes.
Ethan hits play.
“All we want is our daughter’s safe return,” Francesco states as a picture of my omega pops up on the screen next to him, a phone number below it.
It’s not a picture taken of smiling woman, but a fucking modeling shot with “Nest Luxe” stamped across the bottom.
Damn opportunists. It doesn’t even look like her anymore.
The woman in the picture is nothing like the omega we played cards with last night.
This woman looks nearly gaunt, and like she’s trying to disassociate from her reality.
The dipshits on the screen keep talking. “She was kidnapped by a pack that was trying to court her, and now we don’t know what they’ve done with her. We think she may have been stolen from them by one of their many enemies.”
“Please,” Camilla sniffles, “if you’ve seen her, call the hotline.” She turns her face so she’s looking into the camera. “Wren, sweetie, if you’re out there, please just hang on. Mama and Papa are coming for you.”
“Turn that shit off,” I mutter, pushing my screen closed. Really, I should have seen this coming. There’s no way a family as affluent as the Messinas would let their daughter go without getting something in return.
I still don’t think Wren has told us the entire story of how her parents treated her, but just knowing she was hardly fed, and then sold off to a damn pack of scumbags…well, she’s never going back to her parents again. Not if I can help it.
“We should have expected this.” He pushes his glasses up his nose. “If they’re trying to use her as a spokesperson or whatever, of course they’re still going to need her for shoots and interviews and stuff. She solidifies their credibility as a nest supply chain owner.”
Fuck. He’s right.
“I want you to start training Teddy.” I rub my hand over my face, leaning back in my desk chair.
He may not be the same kind of whiz as Ethan is when it comes to computers, but he’s close.
Or, he could be, if he took two hours to learn it.
His natural aptitude for engineering and his photographic memory make him an exceptional candidate for the position.
Plus, he’s the only candidate.
“Two sets of eyes are better than one,” I add, looking at Ethan, who nods once.
“Once you do that, you can focus on getting what we need on the Messina family, and Teddy can go through the footage from the Caruso house.” We’re limited on what we can nab them for, since they apparently didn’t install the camera in the room they kept Wren in until shortly before they bought her.
We’ll still make sure any omegas that were hurt by them before face justice, though.
Ethan nods again. “Got it. We’ll get started right away.” He turns to leave the room, and then we both spot Wren in the doorway, wearing nothing but a little pair of shorts and a big t-shirt. Seeing so much skin on display at once makes me hard as a damn rock.
“Little bird,” he greets, bending down and pressing a kiss to her cheek on the way past. The sight reminds me too much of how they looked last night, when he tackled her to the ground. My first instinct was to lay into him, but then her burst of laughter took a sledgehammer to my damn heart.
She’s getting more confident, that’s for damn sure. If this is how she is after twenty-four hours with us, I can’t wait to see when she’s fully out of her shell.
Her cheeks flush at his affection even as she smiles, and she bites her lip as her head turns to watch Ethan disappear out of the room.
The corner of my lip tilts up as she turns to me, her cheeks flushing deeper at having been caught checking out the alpha. “What…what are you going to do?”
Now that I know she doesn’t think I’m some creepy old man, there’s no hesitation from me as I hold an arm out. My shriveled up heart beats a little faster when she comes to me without a word of question, crawling into my lap.
My Baby Girl is like a flower that’s been hidden in the shadows for too long, and now that she’s in the sunshine, she can’t get enough warmth.
My hand rests on her bare thigh. “How much did you hear?” She was probably listening at the door, not that I blame her.
I would too, if I were in her position.
“Um…all of it,” she admits, looking down. “I’m sorry, I—”
“Baby Girl,” I admonish, gripping her chin and tilting her face up.
“This all has to do with you. I will never hide anything.
If you want to know something, ask. If you want to be more involved in the planning, ask.
If you want your parents' head on a damn silver platter, served to you al dente with a side of steamed vegetables and a bread roll…ask.”
Her mouth gapes slightly at my graphic visual, but her scent swirls around us, a hint of lust in the signature.
So my girl has a vicious streak.
“You…you would really do that for me?” Her eyes are wide, the amber oceans tinged with doubt, and it hits me then, just how verbal we’re all going to have to be to convince her that we all think she’s worth it.
“I would do anything for you.” Then, before I can talk myself out of it, I lean down, pressing the softest of kisses against her lips.
The smallest sigh of contentment leaves her, and I pull back, looking into her eyes again.
“You are strong, and clever. I’ve gathered that just from knowing you the last twenty-four hours, and hearing how you’ve lived up until now.
Believe me when I say, Wren Messina, I will never let you be locked up in a tower again. ”
She blinks a few times before biting her lip and nodding, her cheeks turning even more pink. It’s my new favorite color. “I believe you.”
I smile. “Good girl. Now, you want to know what we’re going to do about your parents?”
She nods again. “Yes please.”
I reach over, flipping my laptop back open, where her parents’ faces are frozen on the screen. Her eyes are locked on the headline, her face flashing with rage for exactly one second before it disappears again. “I don’t understand.”
“They’re spinning the narrative that you were kidnapped.”
Her jaw drops, and the indignation sets in. “What? No, I watched as Victor passed Father stacks of cash—”
“I know,” I soothe, my hand rubbing her thigh.
Goosebumps pebble on her flesh. “But nobody but you knows that—they can tell the public whatever they want. Unfortunately for them, Ethan is going to do a deep dive into their activities. E-mails, meetings, your piece-of-shit dad won’t be able to sneeze without us knowing about it. ”
She stiffens at my words, her face going pale for exactly one second before she bursts out laughing.
I’m confused.
“I’m sorry,” she laughs, wiping her eye as a tear escapes. “I’m sorry, no, I just…you called my father a piece of shit. And I…”
Well, she’s laughing, not angry, so…this is a win?
“He is a piece of shit,” I double down, because what kind of fucking scum bag sells their own daughter?
She laughs louder, clutching her stomach.
“Oh my gods. You’re right. He is! I’m gonna say it.
” She tries to keep a straight face. “My father…” She giggles.
“My father is a piece of shit!” The end comes out nearly a shout, and then she covers her mouth, her eyes wide as she glances at the laptop screen, like she thinks he might jump out of the screen and punish her for the slight against him.
Over my dead body.
“And your mom…?” I hedge, jiggling her a little with my knee and making her giggle again.
“And my mother…” her face screws up in anger before she loudly proclaims, “is a raggedy old bitch!”
She gasps at her words, and then she’s giggling again. “I can’t believe I just said that! And they can’t do anything about it!” She addresses the laptop screen directly. “Take that, and fuck you!”
“Damn right, they can’t do anything about it.” I grip her tighter. “You don’t have to be afraid of anyone ever again, Baby Girl. Least of all your piece-of-shit dad and raggedy-old-bitch mom.”
“I can’t believe it,” she murmurs, her eyes still on my screen. “All these years…all this time plotting my getaway, and now…I’m finally away from them.”
Before I can answer, she’s shaking her head, all traces of the giggling girl gone. “What are you going to do with the information I gave you yesterday?”
I frown. “Take it to the police. They’ll be arrested for selling you at the very least—”
She cuts me off with a shake of her head. “That’s not good enough. If they go to jail…let’s just say, my parents have enough connections that even if they’re behind bars, they can still be very dangerous to us. Mother and Father won’t like that they’ve been outplayed.”
Could it be that the little bird knows more about her parent’s business dealings than they realize?
“Then what do you suggest?” Brennan’s voice is the one that answers, and my brows shoot up. Is there something about this doorway that makes people want to eavesdrop?
His gaze locks on my hand covering her bare thigh, and my alpha, the insufferable dick he is, puffs up with pride.
“Well,” Wren starts, sounding a little unsure, “in my opinion…” she frowns, looking between the two of us. “Are you sure you want my opinion?”
“You know them better than we do.” I give a firm nod. “Your input would be very valuable in this situation.”
The way her eyes light up at my words has my damn alpha puffing with pride again.
Asshole.
“First,” she starts again, nodding between the two of us, “having Ethan monitor them is a good move. But also, you should really look deep into the past. Especially in their dealings with the Rossi and Bianchi families. Father has told his men he doesn’t want them meeting in the same place, and there has to be a reason why.
” Then she takes a deep breath, a fresh wave of determination shining in her eyes.
“Though…I think we need to hit them where it hurts.”
Yep. She’s definitely got a vicious streak. At least when it comes to her parents.
“And where would that be?” I inquire.
“Well, I’m sure you know my family owns Alessandro Fashion House,” she looks between the two of us, and we both nod, “but father hasn’t ever been very careful when talking around me.
So I know for a fact that a selection of winter coats—which should not be sold in March—has found their way into a shipment of spring fashions being moved from our warehouses to the retailers. ”
I frown. “And…?”
“Winter coats are already thick,” she explains, “so nobody would think twice about a box of them being heavy—but the coats are a decoy. Instead of the lining that keeps people warm—they’ve lined them with drugs.
The retailer will need to ship it back, and my father will give them a location to send it to. ”
“Which is whoever the intended recipient of the drugs is,” Brennan says thoughtfully.
“That’s right,” she nods, “If we tip off the DEA, we can get a leg up on them. The only thing is we won’t know who they’re being sent to, since the address will depend on who Father wants to distribute them.”
“Ethan can figure that out,” I muse, “but why wouldn’t we just have it intercepted when it leaves the warehouse? Before it reaches the retailer?”
“I don’t want them in jail,” she says again.
“They can just send one of the other families after us if they’ve lost everything.
If the drugs are intercepted after it reaches the retailer, it’ll be enough to investigate, but not enough to flat out arrest them.
We make them nervous, and then…we make a deal. ”
“A deal?” Brennan’s brows shoot up. “What kind of deal?”
She grins. “We can come to an agreement—if they leave me alone, and call off this…missing persons schtick they’re doing, then we don’t send all of their files to the police. We’ll have already proven that we can mess with their shit if we want.”
I frown. “But you just said you don’t want them in jail—”
“I don’t, but if they call us out, we have no choice.
Them in jail and trying to get people to come after us is preferable to them running around unchecked, trying to convince the public that I’ve been kidnapped and held against my will.
” She shrugs like it's a no-brainer. “But believe me, jail is the last thing they want, and if we give them an option to avoid that, they’ll take it.”