“Nah, but they’ve been watching the building, from the apartment across the street. You’re in the clear today, though, they left about an hour ago because there was some report of ghouls in the northwest. They made it into a subdivision and ate a mailman.”
“Oh. Yay? I better hurry and get my stuff, then.” Zoey raced upstairs and packed some clean clothing. When she came back down, she knocked on Danielle’s door again so she could say goodbye. “So you’re just going to go back to sleeping in a squat, for like the next two weeks?” Danielle said.
Before she could answer, Andrea’s apartment door opened, and Lorenzo stepped out. His face lit up when he saw Zoey.
“You’re back!” he cried out.
“Well, that’s a surprising change in attitude,” Zoey said suspiciously. “Do I owe you money or something?”
“You’re in with the Blood Oath pack!” He hurried over to her, aglow with eagerness.
“No, I’m not.” She shook her head decisively. “That’s over. It’s not happening.”
“It’s not?” He looked dismayed. “Can you call them back? Did you do something wrong? You can apologize, can’t you? This could be my ticket in!”
Andrea burst out of her door, wearing an apron, with flour on her hands. Stewart was right behind her. “Ticket in to what?” she demanded of her son.
“Nothing.” His face flushed and he glowered at the ground.
Andrea turned to Zoey. “So now you’re here recruiting children into gangs?” she said accusingly.
“Of course not!” Zoey said, appalled.
Andrea’s face flushed with anger. “My son was just about to go back to school again, and then that meeting happened, with those horrible criminals bursting in and taking over. And he has been talking about that pack of animals nonstop ever since. Bad enough that we had to pay protection money for nothing, but my son will not become a mobster.”
“In fairness to them, it was Jordan who was ripping us off,” Zoey protested. “The minute they found out about it, they addressed the problem.”
“So now you’re on their side?” Andrea screeched.
“Mom! Cut it out!” Lorenzo protested woefully. “Now she’ll never introduce me to the Capo!”
Andrea gave Zoey a look so harsh that it could have scorched her skin off, grabbed Lorenzo’s arm and marched him off. She paused long enough to flash a despairing look at Stewart. “Today’s not good for a coffee date, Stewart.”
His face fell. “Well, that takes the cake, doesn’t it?” He peered at her anxiously. “Get it, because you were making cake, but now you’re not?”
Andrea just looked at him blankly, and dragged Lorenzo back into his apartment. Stewart’s face fell.
“She always laughs at my jokes,” he muttered, and wandered off, shoulders hunched.
“I did that,” Zoey said, stricken. “That was all me. I ruined everything. I turned Lorenzo into a wanna-be thug, and I made Andrea hate me, and I ruined her and Stewart, and…” she trailed off, blinking back sudden tears. She loved to look on the bright side, but it was hard to see a bright side to ruining her friends’ lives.
She waited for Danielle to deliver the coup de grace, to say something crushing and sarcastic.
“It’s okay,” Danielle said weakly. “You didn’t screw up too badly. Everything will be fine.”
Wow. Things were pretty bad if Danielle was the optimistic one.
“Thanks. You’re not the worst friend ever, no matter what anyone says,” Zoey said, which earned her a laugh.
“You pretty much are, but you’re my only friend who’s not super old like Andrea and Stewart, so I guess I’m stuck with you.” Danielle made a face. “Try not to die or anything, okay? I have a hard time making new friends. Lots of people say I’m bitchy and whiney.”
“I don’t believe that for a second. Because it implies that some people actually don’t think that you’re bitchy and whiney. All right, I gotta run. I’ll see you around,” Zoey said, and she left the apartment, hopped on her bike and headed back towards the east side.
And right away, she sensed an obstacle. Something was blocking her. Her map magic wanted her to take a different route.
Frustration welled up inside her. Obviously the obstacles were specific to her, and she was getting fed up with it. And then, she was struck by sudden inspiration. She pictured the obstacle as her destination instead, so she could locate it. And then she circled around and dodged through back streets until she was able to sneak up behind it – or rather, her.
Giuliana. Sitting in a van that was idling on a narrow side street, watching the road that Zoey would have taken.
Zoey hopped off her bike, stormed over to the van and banged on the window. “Hey!” She bellowed at her. “You want me? Come and get me!”
Giuliana, startled, scrambled out of the van, slamming the door.
“You do know I’m a wolf, right?” She marched up to Zoey. “I can literally make you into sushi and eat you.”
“I promise you that you’ll suffer fatal indigestion.” Zoey smiled at her unpleasantly. “And I’ll rip off parts of your face that you won’t be able to grow back.”
Giuliana looked rattled. Apparently she’d expected Zoey to be easy to intimidate. She wouldn’t be the first to assume that the cheerful, funny, chubby girl would be easy to run right over. Zoey had been bullied a lot in grade school, until her parents took her to self defense classes.
After that, her bullies started suffering a lot of bloody noses and loose teeth. Zoey had to spend plenty of afternoons in detention, but her parents had no problem with that whatsoever. And, while she couldn’t win a fight against a wolf, she had been taught ways to leave permanent marks on them.
“How did you spot me?” Giuliana demanded.
“Magic in the blood. I have skills.” Zoey folded her arms across her chest. “You wanted to talk to me, you keep blocking me, and now I’m here. Say your piece.”
Giuliana drew herself up to her full height. “Fine. Stay the hell away from Dominic. Tell him you’re not interested. Make him want to end it.”
“I have told him that we’re not mating. He’s not listening. Something about his wolf choosing me on a full moon. I mean, you’re a wolf, you should know what he’s talking about.” She shrugged. “Not much I can do about that.”
“You don’t seem to get it.” Giuliana’s eyes glowed a creepy-yellow orange. “Do whatever it takes to end it. You’re not going to mate with him.”
“That’s not up to you, Giuliana.”
“Isn’t it?” Giuliana wrinkled her lips back and bared her fangs. “You’re not good for him. End it, or I’ll end you.”
“You’ll try.” Before Giuliana could say another word, Zoey lashed out with a quick foot sweep and knocked her on her butt. Then she hopped on her bike and shot off through traffic, dodging expertly. Giuliana shifted and tried to chase her, but she was no match for the map witch. Zoey headed for the eastern territory; surely Giuliana wouldn’t be stupid enough to chase her there?
Except she was.
After about twenty blocks, Zoey heard a screech of tires and then slamming brakes. Then she heard a yelp of pain.
Giuliana had been hit by a car, which was now speeding away. She was crawling painfully over to the sidewalk, still in wolf form, her back leg bent at a horrifying angle.
Zoey pulled up beside her, and scrambled off her bike.
“Giuliana, oh my God! Are you all right?”
In response, Giuliana lunged at her and snapped at her.
The hell with this. Zoey grabbed her phone. Giuliana shifted back to human form in a flash.
“Who are you calling?” she cried out, sounding panicked.
“I’m calling an ambulance, you moron! Your leg is broken!”
“Don’t you dare!” Giuliana shouted. Then, she choked out the word “Please. Don’t call anyone. I have no right to ask you for a favor, but I’m asking.”
Zoey was bewildered. “Are they abusing
you? Are you afraid of them? I could hide you. I have map magic. I can use it to disappear, and to avoid people.”
“Why would you?”
“Because it’s what anyone would do.”
Giuliana grimaced in pain. “You’d be surprised.”
“Giuliana. Seriously. I’m ready to barf from just looking at your leg. I have to call the ambulance.”
“I’m a med-mage!” Giuliana snapped. “I can heal myself. And I don’t want you to call anybody because if my uncle finds out I was chasing you, he’ll lock me up in my room for a month. He’s not abusive, it’s just the way the pack works. He’s an insanely overprotective ass.” She looked positively pouty as she said that. But not frightened.
And her leg was straightening itself as Zoey watched.
“You’re sure? Pack members aren’t abusive?”
Giuliana gave her a sly look. “They’re abusive to their mates. They beat them for the slightest offensive.”
“Wow, for someone who comes from a criminal organization, you really suck at lying.” Zoey shook her head. “You actually want people to think that of your pack-mates?”
Giuliana’s face contorted in frustration. “Fine. Our men don’t beat their women, it goes against our pack’s code. And also none of our women would tolerate it. Doesn’t matter. Stay the hell away from Dominic.”
“Suddenly, I actually feel like calling him for a very romantic date. And if you start following me again, I will not hesitate to snitch on you.”
“You bitch!” Giuliana gasped.
“Thank you.” Zoey gave a sarcastic curtsy. Then she climbed back on her bike and peddled away, chased by a stream of what were probably very colorful insults, but they were in Italian so for all she knew, Giuliana could have been shouting out the alphabet.
But she probably wasn’t.
Chapter Fourteen
Dominic rained a hail of blows on the punching bag in the pack gymnasium, which was tucked away at the back of the Arena. It exploded under the force, and he threw back his head and howled in fury. That was the third one this morning.
He was boiling with frustration. Zoey was nowhere to be found. Normally he’d have men on her apartment 24 hours a day, but with the war against the Bianchi pack, they didn’t have the manpower. She’d briefly gone to her apartment yesterday, but by the time one of his men got there, she’d left again, and her friends claimed they had no idea where she was staying. He knew they were lying, but he also knew that if he had them tortured to make them talk, she’d never speak to him again.
Damn, love was complicated.
His wolf was furious. It craved its mate, wanted to nuzzle her, smell her, press up against her. It wanted to feel the peace that came to him in her presence – only hers. Yesterday he went running in the woods and challenged a bear to try to get some release. The bear took one look at him, turned, and ran for its life.
After the night he’d spent with her, he couldn’t believe that she’d run off and leave him over one little argument.
And it had been a hell of a week. The Bianchi pack had burned down a restaurant that was under Blood Oath pack protection, so the Blood Oath pack were now rebuilding the restaurant and paying the owner for the loss of revenue. They’d kidnapped four Bianchi pack foot soldiers in revenge and blown up an armored truck that was carrying money from one of their casinos. The Bianchi pack had refused to ransom their soldiers, who were still being held prisoner, so the Blood Oath pack dressed them up in frilly outfits and sent pictures of them to taunt the Bianchi pack.
He still hadn’t been able to track down the business owners who’d gone missing, and he knew that Arturo could only tolerate his failure for so long before having to take some kind of disciplinary action against him. It didn’t matter that Arturo had also failed to find them; the businesses had been in Dominic’s territory, and he was responsible.
Romano had been trying to reach him all morning. Every time that he answered, Dominic snapped “Did you find her yet?” And when Romano said “no,” he slammed down the phone.
As he swept up sand from the latest punching bag he’d destroyed, the door flew open, and Romano stalked in.
Dominic whirled to face him. “When did you decide that life wasn’t worth living?” Dominic snarled.
“There was an attack on one of our armored vans this morning,” Romano said calmly. “The driver was badly burned, Arturo brought him here so Giuliana could heal him. Giuliana’s pissed because she wasn’t allowed to go to the scene and the driver nearly died. Arturo asked me to tell you since apparently you’re not answering your phone. He was at his house, he’s on his way here. I told him that you were already on it.”
Dominic shook himself. “Fuck.” Then he grimaced. “Thanks for covering for me.” He dumped a dust-pan full of sand into the trash.
“Always,” Romano said promptly. “And no, we haven’t located Zoey yet. She’ll have to come up for air eventually. She has friends that she cares about, and her bank account’s running on fumes.”
“All right. Damn, she’s good at hiding.” He shook his head.
“Do you want my opinion?”
“Not ever, actually, no,” he growled.
Roman bent down and scooped up some shreds of leather from the punching bag and tossed them into the trash. “You’re letting the past hold you back. Zoey isn’t…her.” Wisely, he stopped himself from saying the name.
He knew what had happened to Dominic, long ago. He knew why Dominic had gone wolf. But he had no right to bring that up.
“Tread very carefully.”
Romano, as usual, ignored him. “You’re letting a ghost get in between you and the woman you moon-bit. And it’s making you act like a real douche.”
“Since when do you fucking care about my personal life?” Dominic growled.
Romano looked surprised. “This isn’t some roll in the hay. When it’s a mate, that’s different.”
Dominic’s wolf nearly exploded out of his skin. Instead, he took a swing at Romano, who just barely managed to duck. “Next word out of your mouth, if it involves Zoey, will be your last.”
Romano, in a rare moment of common sense, kept his lip zipped.
“And I am not driving her away,” he growled at him as he set the broom and dustbin in the corner. “I’m romancing her. I’m romancing the hell out of her.”
“Damn. So sweet. Even I melted a little when you said that.” Romano smirked – and then ducked again. “Too slow.”
“You really have picked today as the day that you want to die,” Dominic said. “What do you want on your tombstone?”
“How about ‘He died doing what he loved – annoying the shit out of people’. But really. Now that you’ve moon-bit her, there’s no going back, so you’ve got to make it work. You’re buying her fancy things and nice dinners, but you’re ignoring the one thing she’s really asking for.”
Dominic and his wolf began arguing. His wolf, pacing restlessly inside of the cage of Dominic’s humanity, wanted to be set free to tear Romano’s face off. The human part of Dominic was almost ready to break down and ask Romano what that one thing.
His phone started ringing, vibrating in the pocket of his jacket that he’d hung up on the wall. He grabbed it and answered. It was Zoey; she’d turned her phone back on.
“It’s Zoey,” he growled at Romano. “Take all your dumb advice and shove it up your ass.”
“What did you say to me?” Zoey sounded shocked.
Romano threw back his head and howled with laughter. He was laughing so hard his face turned red – as he stayed carefully out of Dominic’s reach.
“Not you!” Dominic shouted. “That wasn’t for you! I was talking to a dead man. Where are you?”
“We’re headed to the Arena. Are you there? Please be there.”
The strain in her voice sent chills through him. “I’m here. I’ll meet you out front.” He broke into a trot. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you when I see you. We’l
l be there in five minutes.” Her voice was frantic, and his hackles rose. Something had upset her. He should have been there to keep her safe. Why wouldn’t she just let him keep her safe?
Romano was wheeze-laughing and crying. Dominic, boiling with rage at whoever had hurt Zoey, swung around and punched his nearest target – Romano - so hard that he heard ribs crunch. Romano fell over, still howling with laughter.
“Worth it!” He yelled after Dominic, and then got up and followed him, limping. His ribs would heal within the next few hours. That would teach him to mess with Dominic – no, actually, if history was any indicator, it probably wouldn’t.
And what exactly was Zoey asking for that Dominic wasn’t giving her? Dominic thought angrily, as he raced down the hall. He gave her food and beautiful clothing and hot sex and himself, for the rest of his life. Wasn’t that enough?
He knew that he wasn’t exactly experienced when it came to romance. Before Zoey, he’d had feelings for exactly one woman. That woman was no longer in the picture – because of Dominic. Because of his weakness.
He hadn’t had to woo Phoebe – they’d been high school sweethearts. It had just happened.
“All right, what?” he barked as Romano came limping up to him. “What does she really want from me, if you’re so smart?”
“She wants you to let her in. She wants you to answer her questions. You’re coming on all Big Bad Wolf, telling her you’re going to go kill a man, telling her she’s going to come be a mob wife, like it or not – if you stopped and explained things to her, you could turn it right around.”
Dominic gave him a look of disgust. Let her in? That was Romano’s big idea? That had to be wrong. Now he was sorry he’d asked.
Maybe Giuliana could have given him a clue, but she got all weird every time he even mentioned Zoey.
Minutes later he was standing on the sidewalk in front of the Arena as a taxi pulled up. Zoey spilled out of the cab, followed by a few people who he knew as friends of hers, from the background checks he’d done. There was Cin, the homeless thief. There was a frantic looking middle-aged woman named Andrea, and Andrea’s friend Stewart. They crowded around him, all babbling at the same time.
Mated To The Capo (Mafia Shifters Book 1) Page 12
