Page 26 of Vendetta

There they were.

I spun on my toes, brushed past Cruz, and back-tracked to the living room. The giant wall of folding glass doors stood open, letting in the late afternoon breeze. The cream and wood tones of the impeccably decorated room were meant to be soothing, and normally they were, but not today.

I stormed through the space and out into the golden sunshine.

As my heels clicked across the concrete, my father and fiancé turned to watch me approach. My father’s face pinched with annoyance, but my fiancé’s shifted to an eager smile when he saw what I was wearing.

I warred with the urge to flip them both off.

“That’s more like it,” Lorenzo said as I stopped a few feet back from the pair.

My father’s long-suffering sigh had me wondering if he was going to berate me for wearing such an indecent dress so early in the day, but he held his tongue once my fiancé stated his approval.

I pressed my lips together to keep from spewing insults, but rage was simmering on the tip of my tongue.

“It’s good to see that you can take direction. As much as I’d like to stay and find out just how obedient you are, I have to get back to the pack. We have a lot to do before the next shipment goes out. I’ll text you my number. Save it. If I call, I expect you to answer no matter what you’re doing. I’ll see you next week for the wedding. Your father and I have already finished going over the details. All you need to do is show up.” Lorenzo strode past me and swatted my ass, not giving me a chance to reply.

I stumbled forward, stunned, revulsion radiating across my skin from the impact. Cruz caught my arm to keep me from falling on my face, but my eyes whipped toward the door where Lorenzo disappeared into my house like he owned it.

I didn’t know what deal my father had made, but this house was an extravagance he wouldn’t need once he retired, so Lorenzo would likely end up with it. My heart hollowed at the thought. I didn’t want the few good memories I had left of this place tainted by Lorenzo’s pack.

My stomach sank further. My wedding was next week.

The buzzing anxiety in my chest quieted as Cruz helped me onto a lounge chair under the shade of a large patio umbrella. I blinked, unseeing, at the ocean view. Only a week until I was well and truly a prisoner. That wasn’t enough time. Enough time for what, I didn’t know. I was out of ideas. My only plan ended before it started.

Cruz offered me a glass of ice water from the nearby table, and I took it from him, doing my best to hide my trembling fingers.

The water was fresh with a squeeze of lemon. It helped pull me back to sanity. I gulped some more, staining the rim of the glass red with lipstick. There was still a week, and Lorenzo would be busy helping with a shipment. He wouldn’t be back. I didn’t have to see him until the wedding.

My father had the decency to look apologetic as he knelt down in front of me. “Rosa, dear. I’m sorry it has to be this way. This is the only way to make sure you’re safe. I know you’re angry, but I would do anything to protect you. You may grow to like the Vasco pack. They’re not so bad.”

There was no chance of that.

“What did he mean, you already went over the details?” I asked, now that I was more in control of my thoughts.

“Oh yes, that. Well, Lorenzo had some requests. Nothing for you to worry about. He’s had your dress sent directly to the venue, and we confirmed the date while you were changing. It’s a lovely resort with an ocean view.”

I didn’t even get to plan my own wedding or pick out my dress? Indignation spiraled up my spine. I wondered if I could throw myself off a cliff without anyone noticing. No, probably not. Cruz wouldn’t let me fall anyway, no matter how much I wanted to.

Was it stupid to want to participate in the planning of my own wedding? I didn’t think so. It may have seemed trivial to my father, but this was the last straw. Rage that had been simmering all day boiled over and slammed into me like a tsunami.

I opened my mouth and screamed.

My father stood up and took a step back. Cruz watched from a few yards away, stoic as always. I kicked my heels off and stood up, giving both men my most withering look. Only sparing them that moment’s glance, I took off toward the pathway that led through the jungle down to the soft white sand beach below the house. I needed space.

I didn’t care about the stupid wedding, but they didn’t even ask my opinion. Lorenzo gave me panties instead of a ring. My father would’ve wanted me to have the wedding of my dreams, but Lorenzo was pushing for speed. He wanted this done fast. That much was clear. Perhaps I should’ve considered myself lucky that I was getting a wedding at all, and not just signing some paperwork at a courthouse. Not that the people involved would want to be in the proximity of any kind of legal establishment.

Chapter 19

Cruz

The restraint I’d shown today was nothing short of a fucking miracle.

Lorenzo’s disrespect of Rosa had me seeing red. It was nearly impossible to stand by and witness the insanity without murdering someone. And her father stood by and let it happen. He must be backed into a serious corner to let this shit slide. Strange that he was feeling so pressed, because the shipments he said he lost, and the people who have died, had nothing to do with the Morenos. And if they did, Nico hadn’t been told about it. The revenge we were after was personal. It had never been about money.

I watched her disappear into the jungle, trying to put the puzzle pieces together. Something was wrong with this picture. As her bodyguard, I needed to follow her, but she looked like she was trying to get away from everyone and everything.

Before I had the chance to decide what to do about the barefoot beauty vanishing into the trees, her father’s voice broke through my thoughts.