The captive’s breathing was quick and shallow, his pupils blown wide as he stared at Nico. You’d have thought he would know how the mafia boss would react after all this time in his employment, but sometimes you couldn’t teach idiots anything.
They had to learn by doing.
Unluckily, what this idiot had done was going to get him killed.
“No, go back to my daughter. Keep her by your side at all times. We don’t know who the other traitors could be. Jurah will probably dismiss all nonessential staff, but we can’t get rid of the guards.”
Nico glared at the captive guard with enough intensity that I would have felt sorry for the man if he’d done anything other than wrong my omega.
“And take this.” He tossed a small black flip phone at me. “Secure burner. All our numbers are pre-programmed. Use it if you run into trouble.”
I flipped it open, checked the contacts, and nodded. “Got it.”
Leaving the basement room, I walked past two more of Nico’s guys upstairs and out into the afternoon air. It was cloudy, bordering on gloomy, with a breeze blowing through.
I followed a path back in the direction of the main house, walking at a brisk pace to shake off the cold. I couldn’t wait to get back to Talia and warm myself up with a hot shower and her body wrapped around mine in the nest.
Something caught my eye, though, as I walked past Audrey Alfieri’s personal garden. A curtain of silver hair, a woman rushing between the flower beds.
“Violet?” I called out.
Violet startled at my voice, spinning around. She stared at me with wide eyes, her phone clutched in her hand. I kept on toward her.
“West. Um… I was just coming to find you,” she said tentatively.
I glanced around, but there was no one else in this area of the garden. It was only my sister, rattled and anxious. Approaching her, I put my hand on the small of her back and began to lead her back to the house.
“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” I said. “It isn’t safe right now.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” She stopped short, and I stopped with her.
“What is it?”
“I either fucked up really bad, or found information that we desperately needed,” she blurted out. “Unless it’s a trap, I know where Benji O’Connor is right now.”
Chapter
Forty
VIOLET
Audrey Alfieri’s garden was unmatched, even in the burgeoning winter, and I was desperate to see it in the glory of spring. The winding pathways, fountains, and lightly landscaped foliage gave it a look almost as natural as a walk through the forest, but with the charm of the English countryside.
She cared for it like she cared for her children: wholeheartedly.
I’d only spent a few days here, and she cared for me the same. It was overwhelming when I’d grown up with a mother who may not have even had a heart.
Escaping out here was a necessity, and possibly an opportunity. I wouldn’t dare make this call in the mansion with the ever-present security teams and cameras. I’d been told that out here the camera footage was only accessed if there was an incident, and never watched live.
Sheltered from the cold breeze in a gazebo surrounded by trees and bushes, I stared at my phone, finger hovering over the call button.
“West always told me not to trust them too much,” I said. “Only for small favours, and only for emergencies. They could have any kind of motivation for what they do; they could be allied with anyone.”
But I trusted them.
When I’d revealed at sixteen, a woman had found me crying in an alley. She’d given me a business card with a Cal’s Diner order written on the back.
There was nowhere else for me to go, so I’d called.
