Chapter 41

ELLA

Hours later, Luciano and Andrea finally left the office, and Andrea showed him to the spare room. Chico slipped away, knowing Andrea would be in soon and not wanting to lose his head.

Andrea didn’t disappoint, and five minutes later appeared in the bedroom. After glancing down at me for a split second, he walked in like I wasn’t even there and ignored my tearstained cheeks and misery.

I watched as he loosened his tie and stepped out onto the balcony.

“I hope you’ve learned something from today,” he said, leaning over the railings. “Don’t fucking mess with me or bad things happen…”

“You can’t trust Luciano,” I said.

“Oh yeah?” he asked, turning to me. “Why?”

“No one can. You heard him say it himself, he has no loyalty. What if Leo offers him a better deal? That man is bad news. Take it from me. I’ve known him for seven years.”

“Loren can’t beat my offer,” he said confidently.

“What makes you so sure?” I asked.

“He doesn’t want money or acceptance in the Stella Pack or whatever else your mate could give him. He just wants you to suffer in the maximum way,” he replied.

“And as a good judge of character, I’d say he’s fairly fed up from living underneath Alpha Loren anyway. Just like me, he thinks it’s about time the Loren reign ended.”

“They’ve known each other a long time. Don’t count on Luciano wanting him dead,” I said.

Andrea only laughed and leaned back in his chair.

“You’re a smart woman, Blanca. Why are you warning me if you think that’s true? Surely you would be perfectly happy to let Luciano go running back to your mate and switch sides?

“I’d be killed, you’d go back to your family, all would be well? So the very fact that you are telling me shows that you don’t even believe what you are saying.

“You know as well as I do that Luciano could kill his oldest friend in the blink of an eye and without a second thought. He’s a total psychopath, and you’re just trying to protect your mate from him.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but there were no words to say.

“Are we done here, Blanca?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Only I want you to go and make dinner.”

I sighed. “What would you like?”

“Something Italian. Let’s make our guest feel at home.”

LEO

Max looked around the empty café and then out the wide window onto the street. “This doesn’t feel right,” he said.

Last night, we had received a call from the one and only Luciano who claimed to be able to help us find Ella.

After Max had dealt with the initial shock of finding out that I didn’t kill him four years ago, we agreed to meet in this rather mundane Caracas coffee shop.

There was one girl working behind the counter and pretty much no customers, leaving the only sound being the quiet buzz of an old speaker playing 1970s elevator music and the occasional beep of a car horn on the street outside.

“We can’t trust him, Alpha,” Max continued.

“If he can take me to my luna, I don’t care if I can trust him,” I replied. “Gustavo isn’t getting us anywhere. This could be our next best hope.”

Moments later, the bell above the door chimed, indicating someone had entered, and a few moments after, the seat in front of us was drawn back and sat in by a tall, slender man with jet-black hair.

He looked from me to Max as a smirk grew on his lips, and his dark eyes glistened.

“Leonardo,” he said. “Long time no see, my friend.”

“I am not your friend,” I replied.

He stifled a laugh before turning to Max. “And my second favorite cousin, how wonderful it is to see you again.”

He gave a smile so contrived it could have been painted by a three-year-old.

“We are only here for Ella’s sake. So get on with it, what do you know?” Max said.

“You’re not even going to order me a coffee first?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

I clenched my jaw, and his eyes snapped to mine. “Cut the shit, Luciano. How can you help me get my luna?”

“Well,” he said, beckoning the waitress over with his finger. “Andrea Martinez has been in touch with me.”

“Why?” I asked.

His lips curled up at the edges a little as he shrugged. “He asked me to kill you.”

At that point, the waitress appeared.

“Un café, por favor,” he said to her as I stared at him, unsure what to say.

The waitress nodded and then turned to me and Max, taking one look at us before backing away back behind the counter.

“He asked you?” Max growled.

“Who better to ask? He knows we have a long, rocky history, and he knew how easily I’d be able to get you into a quiet café alone,” he replied.

I folded my arms across my chest before staring him down. Max, who probably hadn’t scanned him for any kind of weapon on his way in, was far less relaxed, which seemed to amuse Luciano, and he smiled sadistically to himself.

“But what he doesn’t know is where my loyalty lies,” he said when he was done enjoying Max’s panic.

I scoffed.

“You’ve never been loyal to me,” I replied.

“No, but I’m loyal to my family,” Luciano said. “My cousins.”

This time it was Max’s turn to scoff. “You’ve always enjoyed inflicting pain on us. What’s caused the sudden change of heart?”

“I saw Ella yesterday,” he said. “And I know we never got on, but seeing my cousin in that way—”

“What way?” I asked, sitting forward.

“All beaten and bruised and miserable and having to live and sleep with a man like Martinez,” he said, maintaining eye contact with me.

I sat completely still, feeling the fury inside me rise. It was as if one single movement or word, and I’d lose control of it, so I just fixed my eyes on Luciano.

He glanced over at me and then to Max, who had leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair as his right leg jittered.

Underneath the false pretense, he seemed to be trying to hide his amusement, but it was hard to decipher. Could he, for once in his life, be genuine?

“She needs rescuing as soon as possible,” he stated. “And since I have already gained Martinez’s trust, I’d say I could be a pretty good help if you will let me.”

“How do we know we can trust you?” Max asked.

“You can’t. But right now, I’m your best bet, Alpha,” he replied, turning to me.

“If you already have his trust, surely you could just kill him?” I asked. “Why have you come to us?”

My wolf was telling me to take his offer immediately and get our mate back, but I had to bring some rationale into this. I couldn’t make the mistake of being too quick to trust Luciano. Not again.

I’d already endangered Ella too many times that way.

“And where’s that ego of yours gone?” I asked. “How have you brought yourself to ask for my help?”

“Did you know that he has alpha blood?” was what he replied with.

“He was born the eldest son of an alpha and exiled as his mother wasn’t the luna, but he still got all the strength and power that comes with being the true heir of an alphaship. I can’t take him alone.”

“You’ll find a way. I’m sure,” I replied with a forced smile.

Luciano raised one thick eyebrow and shook his head with a slight laugh.

“Don’t you think that if it was easy, Ella would have saved herself by now? She’s tougher than most, and even she doesn’t stand a chance,” he replied.

He had a point. I’d learned not to underestimate my mate, and after fighting against Andrea weeks ago, I knew there was more to him than just a rogue teen with a gun.

“Together we can do it,” Luciano reassured me.

I narrowed my eyes.

“Or you could just give me the address that you saw her in and leave me to deal with this. I have my army and a powerful rival to Andrea for support,” I replied.

Luciano’s eyes flickered, and he bit his lips before taking a deep breath.

“Fine,” he grunted. “If that’s all you will let me do to help, I will be happy to do it.”

I smiled sarcastically and thrust a napkin toward him and a pen from my pocket.

He scribbled an address on it and handed it back.

“We’ll be in touch,” I said, standing up and heading toward the door. As I passed his chair, I paused and brought my mouth to his ear.

“And if I find that you are working against me,” I added in a deep growl, “I will not hesitate to do what I’ve been meaning to do for years.”