Page 178 of Knot To Be
Their teasing lulls me back to sleep, and I blow out a breath as I let it.
* * *
PABLO
Dr. Walsh is in the bedroom with Rosa and he kicked everyone out for a video consultation with a plastic surgeon. He let us staywhile he took her stitches out, and showed us why he’s leaving some of her cuts to heal without stitches.
Rosa let him poke and prod, and there’s no way it didn’t hurt, despite the pain medication. Outside of a pinching in the corner of her eyes, she didn’t make a sound.
My fingers twitch with anxiety as I wait, my patience quickly unraveling. Verona slides her hand into mine and squeezes while we wait in the hallway, which is as far as he could chase us out. Dario, Nico, and Ciro sit on the floor doing the Domino frown, which has been appearing more often since Rosa’s been recovering.
We all put up a great front for her, but we are all worried about her.
“This is good,” Nico mutters. “She’s taking steps to reclaim her life.”
“Rosa isn’t the type to waste away,” Verona admonishes. “She did everything to stay alive and keep our bonds alive. Even when she thought it was the end, her screams brought me to her. I hate knowing how much recovery it'll take after these bastards hurt her.”
Growls fill the hallway, and Dr. Walsh shuts the door firmly, as if to complain that we’re being too loud. Fuck, we probably were. It’s difficult for five people to keep the noise down.
“Oops,” Ciro whispers, making me roll my eyes at him. “Verona is right. Dr. Walsh also made therapy part of the condition for the surgery consultation.”
“I’ll give it to the good doctor. The man is sneaky,” Dario admits. “He pretty much moved in with us, but he knows how to get Rosa to do things we can’t. I don’t want to push her too much.”
“It didn’t go so well the last time I did,” Nico adds.
“She’s really bored,” Verona says. “Ultimately, that’s the fight we need to win, guys. Decorating the house isn’t going to last for long. She needs to do something.”
“Rise Up For Savannah needs help getting off the ground,” Nico muses. “Do you think that’s something she’d be interested in heading?”
“The issue will be convincing her she can, and even then, I don’t know that it’ll hold her attention completely once it’s up and running,” Verona sighs. “I know that may sound awful…”
“Rosalia likes a challenge,” Dario says. “I understand that completely. I’m constantly looking for new things to do. I think going back to school wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“It would help the non-profit organizations in both Savannah and Michigan if she wanted to pass the bar in both states,” Nico says. “Lyle also told me he thinks she’d make a great lawyer.”
“The girl can argue,” Ciro grins. “The future is ours, it’s just the present that’s a little rocky.”
“Speaking of that,” I say, taking a deep breath. “We’ve been discussing our security for the house, and Easton suggested that I reach out to Pack Alston about it.”
While we’ve seen them at meetings and they helped with Rosa’s search, they’re pretty quiet. As long as they can kill shit, they tend to be in from my limited experience.
“I didn’t know they ran a security company,” Verona says, laying her head on my shoulder. None of us have been sleeping well. At night, each of us sneak into Rosa's bedroom while she’s sleeping and find a corner of the floor. We all leave before she wakes up, not wanting her to know we’re completely lost without her.
It feels like too much responsibility to lay at her feet while she’s recovering. She doesn’t need this emotional bullshit on top of what she’s feeling. We all try to stay as positive as possible around her, but a part of me thinks that she can tell. Not tomention, everyone has bitten her but me, which means she can feel our emotions.
It’s difficult to hide that you’re falling apart when your omega has a direct line to your omega. I can feel my pack’s pain, which means she can as well as she becomes more and more aware.
“They don’t technically,” I reply, trying to figure out how to explain this. “Pack Alston runs illegal operations for whoever can afford it and aligns with their values. It’s why we don’t see much of them. They would like to start a security company to branch out their services. It would be for people with money who have high profiles, and would include home security as well as personal.”
“Okay,” Dario drawls. “Does this mean we need to reach out later once they’re ready to begin taking clients?”
“No, they want to hire me to set up security systems for them,” I explain. “I’d only be responsible for Savannah, and anything outside of that I could consult for. They want to call it Alston Security Services. This way, I can design what I want for the house, but I also know there’s someone to fall back on in case shit goes down.”
“Savannah is our home base, so I support this,” Nico says easily. “As long as you’re safe.”
“Most of it I can do from home,” I confirm. “I want to set up more cameras outside. I don’t think Avery will be back though. She may be curious about Rosa’s blood, but it’s a hell of a lot harder to get to her now. Add in the fact that travel isn’t exactly easy?”
“She wouldn’t be able to sell her again either,” Ciro mumbles. “Rosalia is perfect to me. That’s not what I’m saying?—”
