“Security is tight,” I countered. “If they were going to go for the Alfieri mansion directly, they would have already.”
He didn’t look convinced. Maybe I wasn’t fully convinced either, but if Pops brought the club here for an all-out attack, we had bigger problems. He would only do that if his benefactors told him to.
We needed to find Benjamin before the O’Connors made their big move, or Talia would be at even greater risk.
Not only because she likely factored into Benjamin’s plan, but because if things got much more heated, there was a chance he would die in the crossfire. His death would mean a broken bond, and omegas were too fragile to survive the fracturing alone.
Even if we managed to follow through Talia’s plan, get him to join a pack with us so we could claim her, there were no guarantees she would survive his death.
“What else am I supposed to do, West?” I let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s not like I can sit around doing nothing.”
He tossed me the burner phone. “Fine. Let’s hope this doesn’t mess anything up.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I muttered.
Staring down at the simple phone, I took an extra second to consider it. Should I leave this to Talia’s fathers?
No. Pops could have information we wanted. He was probably the weakest link in the chain, because he was an idiot—and an idiot who thought I was dumb.
I tapped in his phone number and hit the call button, leaving it resting on my leg on speaker.
It rang three times, and I wasn’t sure if he was going to answer, but then his familiar, gruff tone came down the line. “What the fuck do you want?”
Despite how many times he’d yelled at me with that voice, it still brought a sense of… home, almost. His was the voice of the club I loved, even though I had no fuzzy feelings for the man himself.
Now, it was a reminder of what I’d lost. A group of people who’d paid far less attention to my character than I thought.
“Pops. Heard you’re looking for me.”
“Mercy? You’ve got some fucking balls, calling me. Get your ass back here now, and maybe you’ll get a clean death.”
“I don’t intend to die when you’re the one who messed everything up.”
Pops scoffed. “I’ve only made us stronger.”
“You’ve made yourself money,” I snapped, clenching my fists. “Everyone else from the club might end up dead because of you.”
West seethed across from me, his jaw tight. He hated the man almost as much as I did—maybe more, because he didn’t have any lingering sentimental ties. Not that I’d ever really loved Pops, but there was a time when I was little when I wanted to. I wanted him to love me too.
Pops laughed, the sound full of spite. How did the club not see that he was only out for himself? It was so fucking obvious.
“Collateral damage is a necessary part of growing stronger. I always knew you were too soft, even before the club gave you your pathetic road name.”
We were all his collateral damage. Every single one of us, but especially me.
I’d never been the son he wanted, so he’d used me like he used everyone else.
I kept my breathing steady, doing my best to stay calm. This wasn’t the time to spiral, to shout at him or let my resentment and betrayal overwhelm me. I’d called him for Talia’s sake, and I needed to press him for information. Nothing else.
“Was jumping ship to the O’Connors really that fucking lucrative?” I demanded.
“What’s more lucrative than helping someone fulfill a vendetta?”
West’s anger pulsed in the pack bond, impossible to block out completely. He stayed silent, but was liable to burst out into a string of curses at any moment.
“People are dying on the streets, Pops. More than just Alfieri associates. If they wanted revenge, Benji O’Connor could have found a better way than bullets that turn alphas feral.”
“Maybe so, but the O’Connors are done with Banfield being ruled by alphas, without any opening for betas to move in. The Alfieris are the greatest threat, with all those omega daughters. Feral alphas were an ingenious strategy to strike fear into their little omega hearts. Intoyourlittle omega’s heart, from what I hear.”
