“She’s okay,” he told his Alpha.
“Romano—”
“I wouldn’t lie to you. I can feel her. More on it later. Let’s get out of here first. I’m rubbing in your face what I just found out. You’re dead, man. Dead, I tell you.”
Outside, the carefully manicured rose bushes around the mansion were twisted and grotesque like a sideshow, massive thorns protruding into the air. The group slipped through, finding air pockets where they could.
“Fuck,” Giuliana growled.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. Thorn caught me. This growing shit is out of control.”
“Well, couldn’t exactly control it, but it worked.”
“It got my ass, Romano.”
Yeah, he’d totally laugh about that later.
Another thorn, wicked sharp, took a chunk out of his shoulder on the way past it. He growled his displeasure, pulling Zoey tighter to him. As much as he wanted to hold on to Kalinda, he couldn’t risk letting go of Zoey’s hand.
Giuliana huffed. “Think we can get to the car?”
“Yeah, about that …”
Dominic was going to fucking kill him. There was the car they’d driven to the Council meeting, up in the air, with a huge sunflower blooming through it.
I mean, it is pretty … I guess.
Zoey snorted. “I think the car looks better as a flowerpot.”
Giuliana growled. “This is all your fault. Who thinks of shit like this?”
It freaking worked, and that’s all they could hope for. It was ugly, and running through the thorns was not easy, but it was better than being trapped inside with the Council. There was no telling how long before they came after them.
So they ran … and they didn’t look back.
“You made a garden grow? Someone explain in a way that makes sense.”
Though he may no longer be their Alpha, Arturo commanded respect and power. His dark hair with a silver streak was styled to immaculate perfection, and his golden gaze traced over Zoey.
“Is the Alpha’s mate harmed?”
Zoey, who obviously had a death wish but didn’t give a shit, went straight to the Capo di tutti Capi of the Moretti Pack and wrapped her arms around his waist. He looked awkward for a moment before he tapped her back soothingly.
“I’m fine, and your future grandchild is too.”
Arturo raised his brows. “Grandchild?”
Zoey stepped back and rolled her eyes. “Who else? You’ve been a father to my husband, and he respects you as such. Of course, you’d be nonno.”
Arturo didn’t say anything for a moment and just watched Zoey. She took his stare head-on, holding her head high and her shoulders back. Dominic, Romano, and Giuliana were exhausted from running nearly ten miles before they thought it safe enough to call for backup, and then they continued to run to meet their ride. Zoey and Kalinda had rides the whole time, and Kalinda, thankfully, was back in Romano’s bed. They all stood in his living room.
After a minute, Arturo nodded. “Does she know what this means, Dominic?”
“She didn’t care, and neither did I. It is as Zoey says.”
And there goes the neighborhood.
