10. Chapter 10
Cruz
I’d done some fucked up shit in my life, but this job was climbing the ranks more quickly than I'd expected. There was plenty of blood on my hands—too much, maybe—but locking an omega in a sort of nest jail was new.
Rafael Reyes was brutal and uncaring, but to cage his own daughter over a tantrum was an unexpected low.
I looked around the tiny, closet-like anteroom before swinging the outer door shut behind me with a ding of the electronic lock.
The design was smart. It was set up like an airlock.
Now that the system was armed, the inner door was sealed until the outer was closed and locked.
It would keep alphas away from her when she was vulnerable.
But it was still pretty fucked up of her father to imprison his daughter like that.
No one could get to her, but she couldn’t get out, either.
There was shit going on here that I didn’t understand.
My job was supposed to be easy. Get in, get Rosa, and deliver her to the Morenos.
But the security was so tight, I’d be lucky to get myself off the island at this rate.
Rafael was a paranoid man, and as soon as Rosa took off last night, he called in all his favors.
The perimeter guards were at least double what we’d anticipated.
There were eyes everywhere, every shift.
How did we fuck that up so badly? We'd been planning for weeks. I had the rotations and shift changes memorized. It should’ve been a simple in and out.
But that had all gone to shit as soon as Rosa disappeared.
She must matter even more to him than we’d thought.
Our intel said he wasn’t overly protective of his daughter, but the amount of security on this island disagreed.
Ollie, our resident tech genius and omega, was going to be pissed.
All his satellite and drone surveillance was for nothing.
We’d figure it out. There had to be a hole somewhere.
That left me babysitting a bratty omega until then. A very hot, bratty omega that smelled like sex and sin drowned in suppressants.
Her curves felt just as good as Nico said, and the bulge in my pants from her squirming all over me was a painful reminder. The faint scent muddled with suppressants still clung to my suit, and it was driving me crazy.
Even in her disheveled state, she was beautiful, and the fire that burned behind her blue eyes was unmistakable. But no matter how pretty she was or how good she felt wiggling in my arms, I couldn’t let her distract me.
My goal was too important.
Revenge for the murder of Nico’s mother.
Rafael had killed her, and now Nico’s family wanted someone to answer for that in blood. Kidnapping Rosa was the first step, but that plan was already derailed, and I'd only just started.
I pulled my cell from my pocket and tapped out a message in the pack chat.
Cruz: We have a problem.
Nico: You mean you have a problem? How the fuck do you already have a problem? You haven’t even been there an hour.
Cruz: The guard detail doubled, and the shifts are staggered. There are no holes.
Nico: What’s your contingency?
Cruz: Not sure.
Nico: Fucking figure it out.
I could feel his frustration seething through the phone. Our carefully calculated plans were going up in smoke. I should tell him the rest.
Cruz: I’m looking into it. Rafael assigned me to bodyguard Rosalina until she’s married. The ceremony is soon. I don’t know when, but that might be the opening we need.
Nico: WTF Married? To who??
Nico: Nvm
The dots at the bottom of the text assured me Nico was typing, but he was taking his sweet ass time to send it through.
Nico: Stay there, keep an eye on things.
Find out where. We can scout the location for vulnerabilities ahead of time.
Once she’s off the island, it might be easier to take her.
Have you seen anything on Valentina? A mother wouldn’t miss her own daughter’s wedding.
Would be nice to get them both at the same time, but I don’t want any more surprises.
I didn’t want any more surprises, either.
This was supposed to take a day or two, but now it looked more like weeks or months.
That was not the plan. My fake references would only get me so far for so long.
All I could do now was hope no one recognized me and focus on not getting fired.
That meant doing whatever Rafael told me to do until we found a crack in his security.
Including locking up his daughter. I wasn’t holding out that his wife was going to show up either.
It sounded like she was long gone. Probably buried in an unmarked grave somewhere around here.
With Rosa secured in her metal-lined cage, there was nothing to do but look around. Knowing my surroundings would help me complete my task more efficiently.
The bedroom itself was large, with four adjoining doors.
One to the hall, one to the nest, one to a walk-in closet, and one to a huge bathroom where I found a freestanding tub, separate shower, and more storage than anyone could possibly need.
The drawers and linen closet were all full of girly shit, but next to her sink, I found something more interesting.
Her suppressants and scent-blockers. Something about those innocuous prescription bottles had me thinking.
What did she smell like under the blockers?
What would her nest smell like before all the caustic cleaners nuked the already diminished floral scent?
It wasn’t like me to wonder about that shit. I slammed the drawers closed and fled back into the quiet of her bedroom. My alpha instincts flared, and my need to protect the unmated omega surged, but I shoved it down. That shit was gonna make me soft. Not only was she the enemy, but our next target.
I should’ve fucked her out of my system with Nico last night, but she might’ve recognized me today.
I was lucky she hadn’t got a better look at me in the club as it was.
Regardless of what I would’ve liked to do last night, I’d been too busy looking after Nico’s brothers, anyway.
They were getting friendly with Rosa’s blonde friend.
Too friendly. We didn’t need that sort of high-profile attention right now.
The Morenos were reckless, and it was my job to watch their backs. But now, I was stuck here on a wild goose chase, and they’d be getting themselves into trouble before long. If I’d known this was going to be an extended assignment, I never would have agreed to it.
I had a feeling this shit was going to get worse before it got better.
I took up my search again, opening the drawers of the nightstand nearest me. It was basically empty, but there was a TV remote. My boredom and curiosity got the better of me, and I pressed the power button. The huge flat-screen on the far wall lit up.
With my charge locked safely away, I flipped through the usual array of apps until I stumbled across one that said security.
That was interesting. When I opened it, it displayed live camera feeds of the property.
Pretty basic, but handy. I moved through the options to a list of more locations in the house.
There were public places, like the kitchen, pool, living room, various hallways, but at the very end was something unusual.
The words Secure Feed with a padlock icon over it caught my attention.
Well, now I had to try to get in. I selected the icon, and a password prompt popped up. I obviously didn't have the code, but I knew someone who could help.
Just as I was taking my phone out of my pocket, the door to the hall swung open, and a tiny dark-haired woman bustled in carrying a tray full of food.
Fuck, she was going to see the TV. I didn’t want to have to kill this kind-looking omega. I smashed the power button on the remote and dropped it on the bed, hoping she was too busy balancing her way through the door to have noticed what I was doing.
“Hello dear.” She beamed, seemingly oblivious to my momentary panic.
A lovely, muted scent of cinnamon and sugar followed her across the room. She must be bonded to have such a subtle perfume. The silvery crescent on her neck confirmed my suspicions.
“Um, hello. Can I, uh… help you?” I wasn’t sure why she was boldly entering my charge’s room unannounced and without knocking, but it was my first day. Maybe this was normal.
She toddled over to me and pushed the tray she was carrying into my chest. “Yes, that would be lovely. I’m Maria, the housekeeper. Hold this for me. It’s difficult getting that blasted door open while holding so many plates.”
Without giving me a chance to question it, she let go of the platter and walked straight to the security door.
The dishes clattered, but I caught the wooden serving board before it fell.
Her key card opened the outer door, and she motioned me over.
“Hurry now. We can’t have my poor dear starving in there all alone.
I know it seems dreadful, but it keeps the alphas away. ”
Trying my best not to be rude, I carried the laden tray to her. She took it from me and brought it into the anteroom, laying it carefully on the table inside.
“Excuse me for asking, but what are you doing exactly?” I tried to keep the scowl from my face, but she seemed unfazed.
She bumped the outer door closed with an ample hip and patted my forearm.
“Oh this? I always make sure Rosa is well-fed when it’s her time.
I know how difficult it can be as a young, unbonded omega.
She’s been sheltered from alphas since she revealed.
I’m sure you’d agree that the precaution is for her own good. ”
“Her time? I’m sorry, but I’m not sure that I understand.” I thought I might, but I was trying hard not to make assumptions.
“Yes, you know her time.” She leaned in and whispered. “Her heat time.”
“Ah, I see.” I cleared my throat. “That’s not actually why she’s in there.” This conversation was starting to get uncomfortable.
“Oh. Ohhhhhhh… I misunderstood when I was told that she was in her nest. Even so, she still shouldn’t go hungry, no matter who she’s upset.
” She tapped the intercom I hadn’t noticed next to the lock.
“Rosalina, my lamb, your lunch is waiting for you when you’re ready.
” She gave me a big smile and turned to leave, but right before she ducked out the door, she whispered conspiratorially.
“French toast is her favorite. She would eat it for every meal if we let her.”
“You don’t say,” I replied. Well, that certainly was interesting.
The way Maria reacted seemed to show that she knew exactly what was going on here.
This wasn’t uncommon or unheard of if the staff knew, and worse than that, she was forced to endure heats in that cage alone, suffering with no reprieve.
That pissed me off even more. My alpha instincts raged.
There were better options. That shit didn’t need to happen.
Her father probably deemed the risk too high, but the pain was unnecessary.
No wonder she didn’t want to go in there.
As soon as the door shut behind Maria, I pulled out my phone. I debated texting, but decided a call would be faster and tapped the second number on my contact list.
After two rings, a sleepy growl answered, “What do you want? Aren’t you on a tropical island vacation?”
“Are you fucking sleeping, Ollie? It’s the middle of the fucking day.” I closed my eyes and counted to ten.
Shuffling came from the other end, followed by more sleep-thickened words. “I had a busy night last night. Not to mention your little escape artist this morning keeping me up. What do you want, Cruz?”
“There’s some sort of secure live feed on the cameras here, but it’s password-protected. Can you get me in?” I paced to the window and checked that no one was outside listening in on my conversation.
“Probably. Did you do what I told you to do?”
There was no one outside the window. I was being overly cautious, but I was behind enemy lines now, and this shit was serious. “Yeah. The flash drive is in the back of Rafael’s computer. He left me alone in his office to take a call. It was easier than expected.”
“Good. Good. Fine. Yep.” The clatter of a keyboard was soft behind Ollie’s muttering. “Dumb fuck. Sorry, him, not you. Okay, so he doesn’t have any security on his computer, and now that I’m on his network, I can do whatever you want.”
“I want to see what’s on the secure feed.” There were other questions, but that camera feed stood out as a place to start.
“Check your phone. And don’t call me this early again.” The phone call went silent. That fucker hung up on me.
It wasn’t even early; it was easily past noon by now. I looked down at my phone and saw a text from him with a link. I clicked it, and up popped a list of private spaces, all with cameras, including Rosa’s nest.