Prologue
Vinny bounces his foot impatiently as he watches the screen in his hand. A woman is curled up on a bed in a dilapidated apartment. She is wrapped in several blankets, but even still, he can tell that she is crying.
His urges hit him all at once; he wants to go to her. To comfort her. To take her as his own. To cover her in his scent.
Setting down the tablet, he leans back in his chair, releasing an annoyed sigh. Undoing the top button of his shirt, he surveys the room, attempting to push down his instincts.
His office is empty, save for the desk before him and his second-in-command standing on the other side. Glancing out the window, he watches as the light slowly dims outside.
“How much longer is she going to be like this? It’s been a year.” He doesn’t turn to his second.
A year.
A year since his brother haddied. A year since his brother’s omega hadlearnedthe news. A year since Vinny hadofficiallymet the omega. A year since his plan had formed. A year since his obsession grew past the point of return. A year since he hadinstalled cameras in her apartment. A year since he realized this wouldn’t be as easy as he expected.
He looks down at his hands. For a single instant, he can almost see the blood on them.
His brother’s.
“She hasn’t gone into heat since his death.”
Vinny whips his attention up, meeting his second’s eyes. “Marco,I told you to swap her blockers out months ago. She should have started it by now. And then, when she is in her frenzy, I can claim her as my own.”
Marco’s charcoal eyes manage to darken even further. “I did as you requested.”
But there’s a thread to his tone that has Vinny questioning the truth. Vinny leans forward, leveling Marco with the full intensity of his aura. “Did you?” he barks.
Marco blanches but does not have a chance to react otherwise before the office door is slamming open.
“Boss!”
Vinny jumps to his feet, turning to his most trusted capo.
“What is it, Rocco?” Instinctively, Vinny picks up the tablet off the desk to check that nothing has happened to his omega, but she is exactly as he saw her last.
Relief washes over him, but it is short-lived.
Rocco marches into the room and heaves a few times before catching his breath enough to explain. “The investigation at the First Chapter Clinic went awry. One of the nurses who takes the shipments came out too soon and Leo got spooked. He shot the nurse.”
Vinny clenches his hands into tight fists. “Did you clean it up? Were the Stellars involved?”
“There was a witness. He was with the nurse, but doesn’t seem to actually be involved in the shipment.” Rocco rummages in hisback pocket. “He ran when he saw me coming, but he dropped this in his haste.”
Rocco throws the ID onto the desk.
Vinny picks it up, his thumb tracing across the face and name. He recognizes the name.
The Stellars are involved, just not in the way I suspected.
Fuck.
No one can know his ties to the First Chapter Clinic. Know that he is leading his own investigation of their corruption. Know that he’s been apprised of the shipments they receive of some unknown medicine that isn’t on the books. Know that he is aware that Omegas are going in with the promise of no-strings-attached and leavingpregnant.
If it were to come to light he was snooping, it would be more than just Leo going to jail. It would bring down their entire operation. It would end up with his entire family dead. They would even go afterhisomega.
I need to protect us all. Especially her. Anything for Xenia.
Mind made up, Vinny throws the ID down and directs his words to both men. “You need to make him disappear. FindCharles Bentleyand take care of him. No matter thecost.”
