“Why three?”
“Dante, don't take this the wrong way, but I thought you were smarter than that. You can’t figure it out for yourself why I would need three guns?”
I hop up, taking my plate from last night and passing it over to him without asking. When he takes it without arguing, I’m just annoyed. Well, more annoyed.
I nearly close the door on him before I swing it open. “I mean, there’s no issue, is there? Since we’re married and all, I figured you’d trust me, like I got tricked into trusting you.” The sarcasm in my voice is wicked sharp, making his eyes go wide.
“You-you trust me, baby girl?” Dante stammers.
Of course, he gets caught up on the wrong sentiment of what I just said.
“Not at all,” I say, smiling brighter, faker.
The doorbell sounds, and I scuttle under the space where he is holding the door open, waiting in the foyer for Matteo to finish accepting the delivery.
He starts arguing, getting pretty fired up when one of the guards tells him a man is also here, needing time with Mrs. De Luca.
“Let him in, sweetie,” I sing out, my forced happiness crystal clear.
Perhaps he feels super guilty for being the main facilitator of my situation, or maybe he just isn’t expecting how far I’ll go to protect myself while I stay here, but either way, the door opens and a dog handler from K-9 stands with two stunning Dobermans.
“Come in, Ronnie. Thanks again for fitting me in so quickly, and letting me borrow your dogs. We can use my room, my husbands won’t interrupt us,” I say, stepping back, waiting for Ronnie to talk quietly to the dogs. The three of them take a step in coordinated procession, and I start to lead them down to myroom but swing around. “Ronnie, he’s one of the men I want the dogs to protect me from. They should familiarize his scent.”
Matteo’s usually subtle vanilla scent becomes as obvious as Ronnie programming the dogs to be on high alert. And while his vanilla bean scent is so fucking perfect, nearly making me cry again, I lock that feeling up. Instead I focus on protecting myself from a good-looking Beta with a propensity to wed unsuspecting Omegas.
The way this pack keeps changing their tune has me questioning what is real and what isn’t. They’ve manipulated the situation to suit them and their needs. They've made me feel like nothing more than a piece in their puzzle. I’m starting to wonder if they even remember I am an actual person, instead of a means to an end.
Irrespective of their intentions and promises of protection, I can’t and won’t be helpless in the situation. While they’re playing bullshit Mafia games, my face is about to potentially land back on the radar of every law enforcement officer around the country. My anonymity has been an important factor in my survival, and if this pack takes that away, I will take necessary steps—like what I have been buying and arranging—to protect myself even more.
Ronnie does his thing while Matteo keeps staring at me with his pretty brown eyes currently swirling with shock and something that looks a lot like admiration. The minutes stretch out, but my resolve doesn’t crack, no matter how much I wouldn’t mind one of Matteo’s warming hugs. After a series of hand gestures and weird commands, Ronnie looks at me. “Next one.”
It takes me no time at all to find Valentine. His delectable coffee scent guides me right to him, making me feel like a homing pigeon. I nearly fall to my knees at the impact of his scent when I open the door to his office, but his cold silencestops me when he realizes what is going on. Without waiting, Ronnie strides into the room and does the same thing with the dogs as he did with Matteo in the foyer. This time, it doesn’t take as long.
Dante is where I left him, my plate in his hand still, but his eyes are on the dogs. “Hey, baby.” I emphasize the pet name he’s decided to bestow—and overuse—on me. “Ronnie just needs a couple of minutes of your time.”
Dante freezes up like a statue, and there’s a look of painful horror in his eyes that he doesn’t hide. For a man all about protection, this must be like a stab in his black heart. I have to look away from him, instead watching Ronnie and the dogs do their thing.
But all is fair in love and fake marriage.
When Ronnie steps inside to give me further instruction on handling the dogs, Dante loses his shit. “This is a onetime thing.”
“What is?” I ask, intrigued as to what he’s most upset about. The reality is, it could be anything I have done or bought in the last few hours.
“Other men in your room, baby girl. The door stays open, or I kill the bastard before I skin the doggies. Yes?”
Blowing out a slow breath, I wave Ronnie in and push the door, planning to close it. Dante’s foot stops it from properly shutting, but I’m not wasting energy, or Ronnie’s time, arguing with Dante about him being a dick.
No matter how pissed I am at this pack, I never would have engaged Ronnie and his dogs if I didn’t have experience with service animals. Despite how majestic they look, Dobermans are a weapon. Since I clearly can’t trust myself right now, I will lean on the instincts of Edward and Bella.
Did I book these two dogs intentionally because I’m a Twi-hard? You bet your glittery vampire ass I did, because to me, Edward never wavered, same as Bella. I mean, I’m not countingthe end of book two. That was some bullshit, so we would all buy book three—like we weren’t going to, anyway.
Sitting next to Ronnie with my back against the wall, I listen to him go over the instructions. The small commands and gestures quickly come back from my childhood. It doesn’t take long for a calmness to resettle inside me. And that was the aim of all my crazy, frantic shopping—to regain that sense of belief in myself. I think, in my subconscious, I’ve always known I would end up trapped, just like my father threatened.
Ronnie puts the dogs and me to the test once he’s finished the training and handover procedures. And the three of us pass with flying colors, all the while being supervised by Dante.
Edward settles into guard duty as Bella and I walk Ronnie to the door. It makes me blaze with pride that Ronnie doesn’t start a long-winded lecture on the dos and don’ts of working with service animals. He simply shakes my hand, and without saying goodbye to Bella or me, he leaves.
I turn to face Valentine, Dante, and Matteo, meeting their stares head-on. Valentine takes a small step forward, making Bella do the same, but hers is way more intimidating. She fills the space between us.
