Page 16 of Vendetta

With my charge locked safely away, I flipped through the usual array of apps until I stumbled across one that said security. That was interesting. When I opened it, it displayed live camera feeds of the property. Pretty basic, but handy. I moved through the options to a list of more locations in the house. There were public places, like the kitchen, pool, living room, various hallways, but at the very end was something unusual. The words Secure Feed with a padlock icon over it caught my attention.

Well, now I had to try to get in. I selected the icon, and a password prompt popped up. I obviously didn't have the code, but I knew someone who could help.

Just as I was taking my phone out of my pocket, the door to the hall swung open, and a tiny dark-haired woman bustled in carrying a tray full of food.

Fuck, she was going to see the TV. I didn’t want to have to kill this kind-looking omega. I smashed the power button on the remote and dropped it on the bed, hoping she was too busy balancing her way through the door to have noticed what I was doing.

“Hello dear.” She beamed, seemingly oblivious to my momentary panic.

A lovely, muted scent of cinnamon and sugar followed her across the room. She must be bonded to have such a subtle perfume. The silvery crescent on her neck confirmed my suspicions.

“Um, hello. Can I, uh… help you?” I wasn’t sure why she was boldly entering my charge’s room unannounced and without knocking, but it was my first day. Maybe this was normal.

She toddled over to me and pushed the tray she was carrying into my chest. “Yes, that would be lovely. I’m Maria, the housekeeper. Hold this for me. It’s difficult getting that blasted door open while holding so many plates.”

Without giving me a chance to question it, she let go of the platter and walked straight to the security door. The dishes clattered, but I caught the wooden serving board before it fell. Her key card opened the outer door, and she motioned me over. “Hurry now. We can’t have my poor dear starving in there all alone. I know it seems dreadful, but it keeps the alphas away.”

Trying my best not to be rude, I carried the laden tray to her. She took it from me and brought it into the anteroom, laying it carefully on the table inside.

“Excuse me for asking, but what are you doing exactly?” I tried to keep the scowl from my face, but she seemed unfazed.

She bumped the outer door closed with an ample hip and patted my forearm. “Oh this? I always make sure Rosa is well-fed when it’s her time. I know how difficult it can be as a young, unbonded omega. She’s been sheltered from alphas since she revealed. I’m sure you’d agree that the precaution is for her own good.”

“Her time? I’m sorry, but I’m not sure that I understand.” I thought I might, but I was trying hard not to make assumptions.

“Yes, you know her time.” She leaned in and whispered. “Her heat time.”

“Ah, I see.” I cleared my throat. “That’s not actually why she’s in there.” This conversation was starting to get uncomfortable.

“Oh. Ohhhhhhh… I misunderstood when I was told that she was in her nest. Even so, she still shouldn’t go hungry, no matter who she’s upset.” She tapped the intercom I hadn’t noticed next to the lock. “Rosalina, my lamb, your lunch is waiting for you when you’re ready.” She gave me a big smile and turned to leave, but right before she ducked out the door, she whispered conspiratorially. “French toast is her favorite. She would eat it for every meal if we let her.”

“You don’t say,” I replied. Well, that certainly was interesting.

The way Maria reacted seemed to show that she knew exactly what was going on here. This wasn’t uncommon or unheard of if the staff knew, and worse than that, she was forced to endure heats in that cage alone, suffering with no reprieve. That pissed me off even more. My alpha instincts raged. There were better options. That shit didn’t need to happen. Her father probably deemed the risk too high, but the pain was unnecessary. No wonder she didn’t want to go in there.

As soon as the door shut behind Maria, I pulled out my phone. I debated texting, but decided a call would be faster and tapped the second number on my contact list.

After two rings, a sleepy growl answered, “What do you want? Aren’t you on a tropical island vacation?”

“Are you fucking sleeping, Ollie? It’s the middle of the fucking day.” I closed my eyes and counted to ten.

Shuffling came from the other end, followed by more sleep-thickened words. “I had a busy night last night. Not to mention your little escape artist this morning keeping me up. What do you want, Cruz?”

“There’s some sort of secure live feed on the cameras here, but it’s password-protected. Can you get me in?” I paced to the window and checked that no one was outside listening in on my conversation.

“Probably. Did you do what I told you to do?”

There was no one outside the window. I was being overly cautious, but I was behind enemy lines now, and this shit was serious. “Yeah. The flash drive is in the back of Rafael’s computer. He left me alone in his office to take a call. It was easier than expected.”

“Good. Good. Fine. Yep.” The clatter of a keyboard was soft behind Ollie’s muttering. “Dumb fuck. Sorry, him, not you. Okay, so he doesn’t have any security on his computer, and now that I’m on his network, I can do whatever you want.”

“I want to see what’s on the secure feed.” There were other questions, but that camera feed stood out as a place to start.

“Check your phone. And don’t call me this early again.” The phone call went silent. That fucker hung up on me.

It wasn’t even early; it was easily past noon by now. I looked down at my phone and saw a text from him with a link. I clicked it, and up popped a list of private spaces, all with cameras, including Rosa’s nest.

Chapter 11