GIORGIO
“I can’t believe this!” I look into the void as Riccardo paces up and down in front of me. “Has the Blackwood contacted you already?”
I shake my head, massaging my temples. “No, I didn’t hear anything from him.”
Shifting in my seat, I stretch as I add, “But they are back in their pack, so it will be more difficult for him to reach out.”
“Damn it!” he growls, picking up his glass from my desk to shatter it against the wall.
What an idiot.
I really don’t like the idea of working with him after what he pulled with my sister, but my father would be furious if I were to break the bonds we have with the Savianos only because of a stupid sentiment.
Also, I would never manage to get my sister out of that awful pack alive if it wasn’t for him.
The Blackwood had been honest enough to me to tell me what they were doing to her, and it made me livid. But unfortunately, I’m not strong enough to get her out of there and I couldn’t tell the judge about those things as it would have blown his cover and certainly caused my mother to have a heart attack.
At least she is still convinced that Artemisia is living happily in her new pack without being sodomised.
All I have to do is play cool another bit, making him believe that he actually will get her as his mistress once she gets to return home safely before I can smash his face like I should have done years ago.
But my sister isn’t safe over there, and the bastard reaching out to us just proves it in the most gut-churning way.
The worst thing is that they now know what she is capable of and that she has a strong wolf, so it will be much more difficult to get her out in one piece if we don’t wrap it up as soon as possible.
At least I can be thankful that he wants her out and didn’t simply kill her to take over the pack with his chosen mate.
And I don’t care what happens to his brothers as long as my sister is safe.
That was the deal.
“Well, we should call it a day,” I say with a sigh as I stand up. “Until the Blackwood reaches out to us again, we can’t do much anyway.”
He growls, throwing around more insults, but I keep quiet as I feel exhausted.
I just want him out of my house and cuddle into my wife’s embrace.
“Did the poisoning of the men succeed at least?” he stops to look at me, sneering.
I counter his arrogant gaze with an annoyed one of mine. “As far as I know, he was successful with everyone. He said that it would be more difficult with the Vampire, but he assured me that he would find a way for him as well.”
He throws his hands into the air, scoffing. “I don’t care about the Vampire. Worst case, we will lure him with Artemisia’s blood and kill him while he feeds from her.”
My stomach turns and I ball my hands into fists as I try to keep my poker face up. “Whatever…”
Gesturing to the door, he finally gets the clue and moves automatically, leaving the pack house after pointing his finger into my face. “Get him to call you! Or we go on as planned by ourselves. We don’t need the idiot, anyway. If the judges won’t give her to us, we will make them hand her over to us voluntarily.”
I watch the closed door for another minute before I throw my head back and push out an exhausted breath.
As I climb up the stairs to reach my floor, I notice a warm light streaming out of the library. Taking a few slow steps, I walk into it, finding my mother knitting in an armchair.
“Oh, Giorgio,” she greets me with a smile, holding the little baby shoes she is knitting to her stomach.
“Hey, Ma. Don’t you want to go to bed? It’s already late,” I say, pulling out a footstool to sit onto it.
She shakes her head, lifting her work into the air. “Diana was so happy about getting some for your son. She said they were really cute. So, I thought about making my Artemisia a pair as well. Maybe we can send them to her?”
I flash her a sad smile, touching the soft yarn. “I’m sure that she will be over the moon when she gets those. But you will need to make another pair on top of that, I’m afraid.”
“What?” She gasps, holding the knitting needles to her chest as her eyes turn glassy.
“Oh, please, Ma. Don’t…” I divert my look as she leans forward.
“Is she having twins?”
I nod, and she squeals lowly, putting everything to the side. “I have to tell your father.”
“No, Mom. No, wait.” I say, taking her hands into mine and making her sit back down. “You know that we should wait to tell him. At least until we have things settled, okay?”
She nods, looking at me with big eyes. “Don’t you think you can call this Alpha Cayden once more? I’m sure Artemisia wants me by her side. They have to be really stupid to think that I would harm her. I know that they want to protect her, but he surely won’t think I will be a threat.”
Unfortunately, it’s my fault they would exactly think that.
“I’m so sorry, Mom. But you know how an Alpha can be. And they are really scared about her getting hurt again, so they don’t let anyone into the territory.”
She reaches out to tap my arm soothingly. “I know. But maybe I will talk to him. I’m sure I will be able to convince him. He can’t keep a mother from her child. She needs me. Imagine if Diana would have to give birth all alone here without her mother present! What kind of monster would you think I would be?”
“You know that we can’t reach them! They had a massive problem with their signal, don’t you remember?” I push out a tired sigh while she slaps my cheek gently.
“Yes, yes. Of course, I remember.” She stands up, waving at me dismissively as she walks out of the room. “I’ll find a way to contact him. Don’t worry. They can’t be cut from the planet just because there is no signal.”
Well…
Fuck!
This will be harder that I have imagined.