Page 24 of Vendetta

Kneel? Of all the fucked up alpha male bullshit. Absolutely not.

“You’ve been stagnant for too long,” Lorenzo's muffled voice continued, bouncing off the walls. “You don’t have the power you once did. With my men and your assets, this empire can be great again. The sooner the wedding goes through, the sooner that’ll happen. You can retire, and my pack will start making heirs. You can’t afford to lose another shipment, and we both know it. Without our help, you’re screwed, old man.”

Old man? Who in the hell did this little asshole think he was? My father was a legend. He, on the other hand, was nothing but a common thug. I charged the door and threw it open, my whole body flushed with anger. The predatory grin that flashed across Lorenzo’s weaselly face was nauseating.

Calling him weaselly was an insult to weasels, really. Weasels had the capacity to be cute. Lorenzo did not.

My eyes narrowed slightly. “Oops, sorry for interrupting. I thought you might want to see me.”

Lorenzo’s spindly little fingers speared through his hair, coming away shiny with hair product. “Just who I was hoping to find.”

I shifted uncomfortably, realizing my temper had spurred my feet into action, landing me in the last place I wanted to be.

Cruz’s presence was like a warm, comfortable weight standing in the doorway I’d just barged through. I didn’t have to turn to know he was there, I just knew, and that gave me the strength to straighten my spine.

“Well, here I am.” I lifted my chin with a confidence I barely felt.

“So you are.” Lorenzo hesitated before unbuttoning his navy blazer and stuffing his hands into his trouser pockets. His murky eyes raked over my casual attire, and his scowl deepened. “What are you wearing?” Not waiting for an answer, his attention turned to my father. “Are you already too poor to clothe your daughter properly? Does she just run around in rags all day? I can’t be expected to accept this insolence.”

My eyes widened in disbelief. Was he actually kidding right now? These clothes were perfectly fine. And who was he to judge my clothes in the first place?

“No, of course not,” my father sputtered at the insult, but he grit his teeth. His cheeks flushed red with outrage, and I could only imagine the scathing rebuke he would unleash if we weren’t losing money and men to the Morenos at every turn. I’d never seen him tolerate this sort of disrespect from anyone, and that worried me.

I looked at him in disbelief. In the past, he’d flayed alphas alive with words alone. His restraint only emphasized how bad things must be. Normally, I’d expect him to rip Lorenzo to shreds and send him home crying and questioning his life choices.

Lorenzo dug something red out of his pocket and threw it at me. Out of instinct alone, I snatched it out of the air and looked down at the scrap of lace in my hand. Maybe it was my ring, and this is his way of proposing. I unfolded it carefully in case something was wrapped in it.

It took me a second to straighten the fabric out, and then another second to realize it was a pair of crotchless panties. I was stunned silent.

This couldn’t be real.

I might’ve been naive to assume he’d bother proposing with a ring, but red crotchless panties? Nothing could have prepared me for that.

“Go put those on, and a dress. I expect you to be available to me and my pack at all times. You’ll have to get into the gym, too. It’s clear your fitness is lacking.” The scowl was gone from his face, and he looked dead serious.

Did that asshole just call me fat? I felt my temper boil over, my hands clenched into fists, and my nails dug into my skin. Nothing was going to stop me from shoving these fucking panties down his throat until he choked to death on them. Nothing.

When I took a step forward to do just that, a brick wall of muscle blocked my view, and a steady hand on my bicep redirected my momentum until I was turned back toward the door.

Cruz’s throaty growl soothed my frayed nerves. “Good idea. I’ll escort Rosa back to her room to change so you can finish your conversation.”

I should have been just as pissed at him for interceding, but the sound of his voice paired with the briefest touch of his hand on my bare arm had me coming back to myself. Hurrying out the door and back down the hall, I dragged air into my lungs.

That was almost really bad.

He called me fat, told me to wear a dress and crotchless panties—panties he had stuffed in his pocket. Why did he have panties in his pocket? I looked down at the crumpled fabric. There was no tag, but I could tell they were very small. Probably too small for me, not that I was actually going to put them on. What if they belonged to his dead omega? Did he just give me used panties? I shuddered. Nausea roiled in my stomach.

Huh, maybe I'm not actually addicted to knots, then.

Lorenzo’s voice chased us down the hallway. “Keep your hands and eyes off my bride, bodyguard. She’s my property now.”

Cruz’s steps faltered, and I glanced over my shoulder. The muscle in his jaw ticked as if he were clenching his teeth. But his neutral expression replaced it so fast, I might’ve imagined it.

I almost turned around to show Lorenzo exactly what I thought of that, but Cruz’s calming presence kept me headed toward my room. Nothing could stop the words from replaying in my head, though.

Property! I’m no one’s fucking property! And fucking Lorenzo calling Cruz ‘bodyguard.’ That was my nickname for him. How dare he steal my nickname? In fact, it bothered me more than him calling me property. I’d expected that, but disrespecting my bodyguard. No, absolutely not. Just one more reason to make that shrimp-dick motherfucker pay. As soon as I could figure out a way to escape this insanity. Maybe I could still get Cruz to help me, even after the embarrassment of the broccoli incident.

Before I was out of earshot, I faintly picked up Lorenzo arguing with my father about putting an alpha in charge of protecting me, but everyone knew that a beta, even well-armed, was no match for an alpha on a mission.