Page 104 of Broken Wolf Heart
Grey leans in closer, brushing his mouth against my ear. “You’re enjoying this.”
“Of course I am,” I whisper back. “Taking him down without shedding any more blood in the process is all I could hope for.”
He chuckles low in his throat, and I can feel the vibration of it against my side, warm and grounding and all mine. The last time we were in this church, it was to exchange wedding vows. To promise each other a future together. I can only hope this moment leads us closer to that future.
The reporters’ questions reach a fever pitch. Then—finally—one voice cuts through the noise.
“Those documents are forgeries,” Vincenzo says, voice loud and sharp. It’s not so much the denial in his words but the alpha power reverberating through his tone.
Despite the fact that half of them aren’t even his pack, the crowd shuts up.
“This is a smear campaign,” he goes on, cheeks flushingwith the only sign of his rage, “An orchestrated attempt to discredit my leadership during a time of grief and transition.”
Smooth. Confident. The voice of a man used to controlling the room.
“They’re not forgeries,” a reporter says. “We’ve verified the accounts with three separate sources.”
I blink, surprised. We knew Savannah would distribute the files to the others, but fact-checking so quickly is impressive.
“Mr. Diavolo, how do you explain the transfers of funds earmarked for community support to shell companies under your wife’s maiden name?” Savannah asks.
My heart lurches at that.
Grey’s mom?
I look over and find Grey stony and tense. “She probably has no idea,” he murmurs.
I search the crowd for Serena, but she’s nowhere to be found. I exhale. Good. Hopefully, she’s already slipped away from him.
“Is it true you used your access to city funds to launder over thirty million dollars in the last decade?” another reporter asks.
My shock deepens. Thirty million?
I didn’t even realize…
The crowd keeps pressing in, more voices, more accusations. Cameras flash. Vincenzo’s voice starts to splinter, his answers growing shorter, clipped with rage.
Grey squeezes my hand. “It’s working.”
I nod, breathless, ready to give the signal to Donahue and Camila to move in. Because, for a moment—just one stolen breath of clarity—I actually think this might be enough. That maybe we can win this without another bloodbath. That exposing Vincenzo publicly will fracture his support and give our people room to breathe. That we can rebuild something better.
Something real.
Maybe even something… safe.
But then?—
“Since you’re all so interested in transparency,” Vincenzo snarls, voice louder than before, “Let me share something that’s not yet public knowledge. I am officially declaring my general, Alvaro Martinez, a missing person. He hasn’t been seen in seventy-two hours, and all the evidence my pack has uncovered points to foul play.”
My stomach plummets.
Grey doesn’t move.
“I’ve submitted his cell phone data to my best trackers,” Vincenzo continues. “The last known location for Alvaro was a warehouse under the jurisdiction of the new alpha, Lexi Giovanni, and her mate, Grey Diavolo. Now, I know our packs live by a code that the strongest survive. But abducting a general and killing him in cold blood is not part of that code. If the evidence proves true, I will have no choice but to retaliate with the full force of my pack.”
The silence that follows is deafening.
And then?—
