Page 87 of Vendetta

Oliver’s hands went up. “Don’t look at me.I ain’t birthing shit.”

The scowl that my father turned on Oliver would kill a lesser man, but Oliver just grinned back at him.

“As I was saying, producing heirs, if even that, and better to be seen and not heard. Scent-match or not, she will be brought here. If you need an omega, I’ll have Lorenzo bring a spare along with him.”

What in the fuck did he know about Lorenzo? Why would I need another omega?

I didn’t like where this was going, and my guts tied in a knot. “Lorenzo? Lorenzo who? There are a few.” I asked, doing my best to maintain a blasé facade while my heart was having a fit behind my ribs, like it was trying to break free from its bony prison.

There was no chance my father was talking about the same Lorenzo that was supposed to marry Rosa. He didn’t even know the man, as far as I knew. My father had been secretive of late, but there was no way.

“Oh, don’t play stupid. I raised you better than that.” Francisco put his fork down and dabbed his greasy lips with a napkin. “Lorenzo Vasco. You murdered Marcel and his pack for whatever reason. Which clears the way for Lorenzo to take his place as my right-hand. Good thing for you, though, because I was strongly considering letting the Vasco pack take your place. For now, you can stay. But stop fucking up.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and tapped out a text before tucking it away. “Lorenzo has become invaluable of late. He’s infiltrated the Reyes compound and has been passing intel to me for quite some time now, no one the wiser.”

There wasn’t even time to process what he had just said because my head began to pound, like a migraine coming on fast, but it didn’t feel like any normal headache. I grit my teeth as the pain rolled over me. Fuck. Rosa. Something was wrong with her. I stood from the table, casting Oliver a look. Unfortunately the bond didn’t come with telepathy, but he could tell that something was up from the look on my face.

“Excuse me a moment.” I motioned for Oliver to follow me, regretting leaving Cruz there alone, but he could handle himself.

I strode out the door, turning down the hall leading deeper into the house toward where our rooms were whenever we needed to stay. Oliver’s steps followed behind me. Halfway to the guest wing, in an open courtyard, I stopped. Sight lines were clear in every direction, no one should be able to overhear our conversation.

“Something’s wrong. I can’t trust the bond in this one-sided state, but… there’s a feeling. And with all this shit about Lorenzo.” I squeezed the bridge of my nose, trying to ease the pounding. “Do you still have…”

Before I had even finished my thought, Oliver held up his phone with a live feed of the Reyes estate. Everything was turned on its head. Gone was the tasteful classic furniture, replaced with random bullshit. Garbage was thrown everywhere. Scantily clad women were running through the halls. I swiped the screen, not sure what I was looking for. A glimpse of Rosa, maybe.

A crushing pain exploded in my chest, knocking the air from my lungs, and I toppled to my knees with a groan. Something that resembled the word fuck wheezed from my lips. “Oliver, figure it out.”

I was no use to anyone like this. The best I could do was try to breathe while Oliver frantically swiped through the camera feeds until he stopped cold, all the color draining from his face.

“Oh shit,” he mumbled and swiped a couple more times.

“What, Oliver? What is oh shit?” I managed to groan between labored breaths, my need to know overriding the pain as it engulfed me again.

“Lorenzo’s pack has control of the island. Rafael is in the cellar… dungeon… the dungeon in the cellar. And so is Rosa. They have her strapped to a table. Lorenzo is doing something to her.”

Pain slammed into me again, and I clenched my teeth, slumping to the ground, croaking, “I noticed.”

“Lorenzo got a text. He’s leaving.”

I rolled onto my hands and knees, spitting out a wad of blood and phlegm. “What can we do from here?”

“Watch?” Oliver chuckled morosely.

I shook my head and dragged myself to my feet. “Give me your phone.” She was over an hour away, but I still had to see this for myself.

He did, but his hand slipped into my pocket, fishing out my phone. He unlocked it and opened the camera feed on it, too.

“Brat.” I took my phone from him and handed his back. Too fucking clever for his own good. With the phone juggling done, I flipped from room to room. Looking, searching. There was an omega in a dog cage in Rafael’s redecorated bedroom, and a large pack of alphas roaming the halls. Lorenzo was arguing with a smaller, dark-haired alpha in the kitchen near the cellar door.

I wasn’t interested in that, though. Even in my haste, I found her. Rosa was naked, bruised, and bloody, half-strapped to a table. All I could do was watch helplessly as she struggled with her bonds. One hand tugged free, then she unbuckled the other. I held my breath, watching the cellar door. If they caught her trying to escape, this would turn ugly fast. She unfastened the straps securing her ankles to the table. I breathed out, tension leaking from my chest. “Good girl,” I whispered into the silent courtyard.

When she slid off the table, her wince of pain was obvious, and it echoed through the bond, but when she picked up the gun and a can from the table, I felt her hope and adrenaline rise.

“Did you see that?” Oliver asked in hushed tones.

I nodded but couldn’t tear my eyes away. She positioned herself in the shadows of the door with the handgun primed.

“Nico!” someone called my name from down the corridor, and my head whipped up.

I stuffed my phone into my pocket, seeing one of my father’s many guards approaching from the way we’d come. What was his name…? Roberto? I couldn’t remember.