I wasn’t sure if she said it more to try and convince me or herself of that.
“Help is on the way.” I told her, hoping that I was right and that they were able to track me with the ring in my boot.
The sound of the door unlocking ended our conversation and Elisabet scurried over to her own mattress, planting her back against the wall and glaring at the door as it opened. One of the men who’d been holding my arms earlier stepped into the room, followed by a new man I’d never seen before. Both stood on either side of the doorway as Volkov entered.
“Look who is awake!” He crowed and I glared at him, “Oh don’t be like that my dear. It was nothing personal. You are just a very unlucky young woman.”
Be brave, I told myself and asked the question that I’d been wanting to ask since he’d spoken through the wire to Leon.
“You made a comment about Leon’s mother before you injected me with whatever the hell you injected me with. What did you mean by that?”
Volkov chuckled and held out a hand for me, “Join me for some tea and I will tell you all about it.”
I ignored his hand and rolled onto my feet, willing my numb legs to hold me as I stood. Luckily they did.
“Stubborn little thing aren’t you? No wonder that the Russo pack is so smitten with you. Come.” He turned and led the way out of the room, I shot one final glance over my shoulder at Elisabet who still sat with her back against the wall and followed him.
We headed out of the room and down the hallway into a modern looking living room that was devoid of furniture except for a small table pushed against the floor to ceiling glass window that looked out into the backyard. An eerily glowing pool was the only thing I could see in the blackness, it illuminated the living room and highlighted the dark marks all over Volkov’s face as he gestured for me to take a seat.
Porcelain tea cups and various finger foods were arranged on the table and under any other circumstances I would have marveled at everything. Unfortunately I was currently surrounded by a mobster and all of his flunkies, so it definitely wasn’t the time to do that.
“Drink.” Volkov poured a cup of light colored tea into the tea cup in front of me.
“No thank you. Tell me about Leon’s mom.” I didn’t trust that tea at all, not even a little bit. It was for sure dosed with something and I was still trying to function with whatever they injected inside of me to make me pass out.
“Drink, and I will tell you.” Volkov looked pointedly at the steaming cup and I shook my head again.
“Drink!” He roared, slamming his fists onto the table, sending a tray of brightly frosted cookies to the floor. The bark was clear in his voice and my body began to tremble as the order overtook me. Reluctantly I lifted the tea cup and took a sip. It tasted of chamomile and chemicals. Definitely dosed with something. Shit.
“All of it.” The previous anger was gone now and Volkov leaned back with a doting smile. I drank the rest of what was in the cup, hoping that Leon and the rest were on their way. I used my toes again to feel the ring and reassure myself that they knew where I was. They had to know where I was.
“Good girl.” The praise grated against my skin like sandpaper. I would rather chop off one of my hands than be praised by this man.
“What happened to Leon’s mother?” I asked again, flipping the teacup over so it sat on the saucer to show him that I’d finished it.
“Oh it’s a tale as old as time my dear, at least in my business it is. Forty years ago, believe it or not, I had a rather good relationship with the Russos. Santini Russo was a good man and we had a symbiotic relationship, if you will. The Russians and the Italians had never had a truce for so long—at least not stateside. I moved my wife to this beautiful city to take over for an uncle who passed. It was different from Russia but my wife loved it. The weather, the ocean. We had even decided to start trying for a baby.” Volkov’s blue eyes were far away as he told me the story and I had a sinking feeling that I already knew where this was going.
“A bad business deal between myself and the Russos, one mistake, and Santini Russo’s hell-spawn of a son broke into my home while my wife was alone, to do what I don’t know. But when I returned home, Ivana was laying at the bottom of the stairs, cold. She was four months pregnant at the time.” I pressed my hand to my mouth as the tea that I had just drunk threatened to make a reappearance.
“So you returned the favor.” I whispered, thinking of Leon’s mother who had appeared to have committed suicide and how Leon had grown up for thirty years thinking that she’d chosen to leave him.
Volkov seemed to come back from his memories as he gave me a doting smile, “A smart omega you are. It was so easy to do. She spent most nights drinking a glass of wine on the back patio by herself. We were in and out in less than ten minutes.”
Oh god. I looked out at the blue glowing pool, a realization coming to me, “This is the house where Leon grew up, isn’t it?” Suddenly I felt a cramp in my stomach that felt like someone had driven a knife into me and twisted it. I grunted and leaned over, sweat breaking out over my face and neck.
Volkov’s smile was the only answer I received from him. I could understand his desire for revenge to an extent, but there was something I couldn’t understand. “Why are you doing this to Leon? He never didanythingto your wife. He was a little kid at the time. Why are you haunting him even now after taking everything from him?” Hadn’t this man made Leon suffer enough over the years?
“Because,” Volkov slapped a meaty hand flat on the table making me jump as another cramp rippled through my body, “As long as a Russo is alive on this Earth I cannot join my Ivana in the afterlife. He was well protected by his grandfather and thought that he could take the Russo businesses into the light, ensuring it’s longevity and then you…”
His voice trailed off as I gasped through another cramp, something was very, very wrong. “What did you put in my tea?” I managed to gasp out the question, clutching at my stomach.
“You know, Eloise, I was very interested to read all about you.” He held up a hand and a folder was placed in it which he flipped open.
“Eloise Taylor, omega, refuses to mate with an alpha pack despite health concerns by school officials.” He read aloud, “This last heat lasted for more than two weeks, the first week we were unaware it was even happening until Tabitha Sinclair, Ms. Taylor’s roommate alerted us to her condition. Ms. Taylor was completely dehydrated and was exhibiting seizure-like symptoms. Add in a low blood pressure and dramatic weight loss and we were unsure if her body could survive the heat.
We kept her under twenty-four hour surveillance for seven days until we felt that her condition had stabilized.
The medical team is recommending that Ms. Taylor either finds a pack containing an alpha or the academy hires an alpha service for her next heat. We are unsure whether or not her body can hold up under the next heat if she chooses to go it alone.’”
