That was the twenty-million-dollar question, and Giuliana wasn’t so sure Lorenzo wanted to hear the answer.
“If it comes to it.”
No filter. No remorse. It was that simple for Dominic.
Giuliana also knew there was only one option for who could go. Dominic may be Alpha of the Lombardi Pack, whose numbers weren’t as small as they led Encantado to believe, but he still kept those he trusted with internal shit close to the vest.
Before he even opened his mouth to say what she knew was coming, she sighed. “Think Arturo will let me borrow Ciro so I don’t have to shut down my shop?”
Ciro was the best scenter for the Moretti Pack. The Lombardi and Moretti had joined in allegiance when Zoey’s child was revealed to be a future female Alpha. Because of that, the packs had been helping each other with business the last few months. Ciro’s nose also helped her get some prime products for her store, and she trusted him with the inner workings. At least with Ciro around to help her while she was working on this mission, she wouldn’t have to stress about it.
Touch of Old—her vintage shop—wasn’t about money for her. It was a place she could be herself without the regulations of rules and the walls of protection the men in her life were determined to build around her. Dominic gave her more freedom than her uncle Arturo ever had, but he still kept her close.
Being his Enforcer only meant she could fight for the pack when the time called for it, but he still looked to Romano for the most dangerous work. Mating had only shifted the way Dominic and Romano faced danger.
Or allowed Giuliana to be regarded as more than a healer when shit hit the fan.
“Ciro has already been called in and will be at your store within the hour.”
A knock at the door stopped her retort. Probably a good thing because she would have made a scene. They could have at least acted like she had a fucking choice.
Hello, right here. Grown-ass woman.
She swore sometimes they were still in the 1600s when women couldn’t make their own choices and live like they wanted. But whoever knocked was coming in, and her world shifted.
Mine.
Oh, hell no. You sit your ass down somewhere.
His scent hit her first—deep and cool, woods with a touch of snow, fresh game hiding in their dens. Nobody she’d ever met smelled like him, and her wolf wanted to roll around in it. Giuliana pressed her fingernails into her palm to clear her head.
Mine.
I said no, you slut.
Talking to her wolf like it was a person was a bad habit. She blamed it on a lifetime of having to befriend herself in a world where anyone could hurt her or betray the pack. Of course, that also made her wolf a hard-headed asshole.
And a repetitive one, apparently.
Mine!
Grrrr.
Everyone disappeared as Pasquale Bianchi came into the room. He stood tall, his head thrown back and shoulders broad enough to take on the world. His dark hair fell over his forehead and covered one eye before he pushed it away.
His body is a wet dream.
In solid black, the t-shirt stretched across his built chest, and his waist tapered into narrow lines where his shirt was tucked into his cargo pants.
“Alpha.”
A single word. One that should have been in subjugation when addressing one higher than him. But somehow, Pasquale’s call was on equal ground with Dominic. He didn’t bend, and he didn’t expose his throat.
Power.
She couldn’t argue with her wolf on that point. The Bianchi Pack may have been no more, but it was alive within him. Her wolf did that annoying yip! of appreciation inside her head, and Giuliana wished she could strangle the beast. She was not in the mood for a chance to jump Pasquale’s bones. Besides, the man had been driving her wolf fucking batty since he’d arrived on the scene, and Giuliana had been trying hard enough to ignore the rude animal.
I bet his cock is rude too.
