7. Chapter 7
Rosalina
When I slid out of the rideshare, thanking my driver before stepping into the bright light of early morning, the first thing I noticed was the unusual number of blacked-out SUVs parked around Claudia’s fancy high-rise.
Goosebumps crawled across my skin, and the hairs on the back of my neck prickled with unease.
I hesitated. My SUV was in the garage under the building, and Claudia wasn’t returning any of my texts.The doorman would likely let me in to retrieve it, but would I even make it that far? The entrance was considerably further away than the menacing-looking trucks.
The warnings my father had given me about being in danger nagged in the back of my mind.
What if these SUVs weren’t here by random chance?
What if someone had sent them? Paranoia grew in my chest like a living thing as I picked my way across the sidewalk, heels in hand instead of on my sore feet where they might’ve done me some good.
I was stupid for not considering this. I should’ve been more careful.
All I needed to do was reach the entrance and get buzzed in. My hopes were dashed when I heard the distinctive sound of a car door opening behind me.
There wasn’t time to look or even think. I started running. I had to get inside. I’d be safe behind the bulletproof glass and industrial lock Claudia’s building was equipped with. But only if I could reach it before my pursuer got to me.
The thumping of boots closing the gap told me what I already knew. My goal was still too far away to outrun whoever was chasing me.
I wasn’t going to make it.
“Rosa, stop!” Diego’s voice halted my flight, and I spun around to see him running to catch up to me.
I held my hand over my heart to keep it from flying out of my rib cage. “Oh my God, Diego! You scared the shit out of me. Why didn’t you just call my phone?” I yelled between frantic breaths.
“I did, so did your papá. We were worried sick about you.” He gestured to the no less than ten other guards who were all standing uncomfortably around the cars parked along the street.
“Oh. Whoops…” I smiled sheepishly at the manpower that surrounded me.
“Whoops? Is that all you have to say for yourself?” His eyes burned into me with disappointment.
Then, more quietly, he continued, “We had to pull security off the house to come look for you, leaving the island vulnerable. You should be ashamed of yourself, putting Maria in a dangerous position just so you could, what?” He plucked the sleeve of my stolen hoodie.
“Run all over town drinking and doing drugs?”
“I’m sorry, okay?” I panted, still catching my breath. “I would have come home on my own. That’s where I was headed as soon as I picked up the car. I didn’t realize my father would send a flipping army after me.”
“The SUV was retrieved and will be taken to the island, but not by you. Come on, I’ll drive you.”
I didn’t want to go back, especially not with all these people witnessing my shame.
Again, I was a spectacle of smeared makeup, just been fucked hair, barefoot, and wearing what was obviously a man’s sweater to cover myself with.
No one would make eye contact with me, all of them turning to their trucks, ready to deliver the wayward child home to daddy.
The situation was humiliating, and I only had myself to blame.
Once I settled into the back seat of Diego’s car, the lingering scent of my alpha drifted to my nose.
This was bad, I was going to be punished, but in the dark part of my soul that I wouldn’t admit to in the light of day, it had been worth it, and if I had a choice to do it over, I would have done the same thing. Just to have that one night.
During the drive back, with the threat of the executioner’s ax over my head, I had the time to go through my missed calls and texts. I found all the vaguely threatening messages from my father that rapidly devolved into outright promises for the consequences of my actions.
The trip dragged on, feeling infinitely longer than the drive into town had last night. I pulled the collar of the hoodie up to my nose, breathing in his scent to settle my frantically fluttering pulse. The alpha whose name I didn’t know.
This was way worse than I thought. The only thing keeping me from devolving into a panic attack was the pheromone-infused fluff of deliriously soft cotton wrapped around me like an embrace.
As we crossed the long flat bridge back to the island, I finally got a text from Claudia letting me know she was fine, and that she’d spent the night hooking up with a hot pair of insatiable twin brothers.
I might’ve been jealous if my night hadn’t been equally unforgettable, and if the anticipation of my punishment didn’t weigh so heavily on my mind.
I quickly filled her in on my transgressions and the possible consequences.
My father probably wouldn’t take my phone—I was an adult, after all—but it wasn’t out of the question.
He conveniently forgot my age when it suited him.
So I warned Claudia that I might be unreachable for a while—I didn’t want her to worry—and turned it off.
It was time to face the executioner.