Page 39 of Vendetta

“Thank you so much.” I wanted to hug the woman, but there wasn’t time. I could do that once I was free of Cruz and his so-called boss.

She gave me a warm smile and walked out of the bathroom. Cruz peered in, and I gave him a wave while making a show of washing my hands. As soon as the door clicked shut, I jumped onto the sink and pushed the window open. It was going to be tight, but I hoisted myself through the dirty opening. Cobwebs and rat shit clung to my hair as I tumbled out onto the oil-stained pavement of the back parking lot. I heard Cruz curse from inside the bathroom just as headlights swung around the side of the building.

I rushed toward the van when the side door slid open. My eyes weren’t adjusted to the dark, so when a warm hand pulled me in, I went along with it. A sharp sting pricked my arm as my eyes came into focus, and a rancid plume of omega perfume billowed over me.

The woman from the bathroom was sitting in the front passenger seat, twisted around, staring at me with a cruel smile curling her lips. “It must be my lucky day.”

She was still holding onto my hand from when she’d pulled me inside, but right next to me, in the first row of seats, was a man waving a syringe and smiling.

The last thing I saw before everything went black was row upon row of dirty, emaciated, unconscious omegas draped over the seats behind him.

What had I gotten myself into now?

Fuck.

Chapter 27

Cruz

Fuck.

I knew I shouldn’t have left Rosa alone in that bathroom.

And I knew that unassuming lady looked familiar.

We should’ve put more distance between us and the city before stopping because this highway was the omega traffickers’ favorite route. By the time I realized that woman was Bruna Parisi, Rosa’s perfectly rounded ass was sliding right out of that filthy window. A window I had no hope of fitting through. I fucked up.

I’d never fucked up this bad before. Her pretty smile and addictive scent had me distracted, doing shit I’d never do. I knew better than to take her word at face value. Francisco was going to gut me like a fish and hang me with my own intestines.

I sprinted back to Nico’s Bentley and jumped inside. “Hurry, drive around back.”

“What the fuck, Cruz? Where’s Rosa?” Nico shifted into gear and hammered the throttle. The tires smoked and squealed around the turn, but all that was left were taillights.

I shoved my hands through my short hair, wishing it were longer, so I could rip it out. “Follow those tail lights. Bruna Parisi has Rosa.”

The engine roared as Nico pressed the accelerator, shooting us out of the parking lot and back onto the highway. “Say that again and make it make sense this time.”

“The clerk was watching me, probably because I was escorting a banged-up woman in a scrap of a dress. I couldn’t go into the bathroom with her without raising suspicions. So, I waited outside the door. A little old lady came out, but I didn’t think much of it until I remembered I'd seen her before. It was Bruna Parisi. As soon as I realized, I pushed open the bathroom door, but Rosa was already out the window.”

And so, here we were.

Nico dodged between traffic without much issue, keeping up with the taillights we’d been following. The car braked, and the tires smoked as we tried not to rear-end them. Nico was persistent, and after a few miles of following on their ass more closely than was safe, they finally took an exit and pulled off onto a deserted frontage road.

The driver’s side door opened and a decent sized bro looking dude jumped out. “Who the fuck do you think you are, tailgating me like…” The words died on the guy’s tongue, and all the color drained from his face.

I was out of my seat in a blink, with my Glock trained between the guy’s eyes. Nico had a slick silver revolver leading the way toward the car.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Guys, I didn’t mean anything by it. I swear, see, I’m getting back in my car. No harm, no foul.”

“Don’t fucking move.” Nico’s growl was deadly, stopping the man in his tracks.

Our headlights had him half-blinded, but Nico’s command froze him to the pavement. I took the opportunity to approach the silver sedan. Our headlights illuminated the interior well enough to see inside.

I holstered my gun and turned back to Nico. “She’s not fucking here. The car’s empty.”

“Where is she then?” Nico strode up to the man who was now shaking while staring down the barrel of a gun. “How do you know Bruna Parisi?”

“I don’t know anyone named that. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just got gas, and then you maniacs started following me.” The guy’s eyes were so big they were liable to pop right out of his pasty white skull.