Page 122 of Broken Wolf Heart
Charlie winces. “Vincenzo’s working with Dr. Severin, has been for a while. They’re developing a serum. Something tomake him a super alpha beyond what Franco did to himself—to you.”
“Are you fucking joking?” Grey’s voice comes rough, incredulous from behind me.
Charlie shakes his head, slow and heavy. “I don’t know the science or how close they are to perfecting it, but it would make him stronger than you, stronger than Lexi. Powerful enough to challenge you both—and win.”
The air is sucked from my lungs. Of course Vincenzo decided to take matters into his own hands. I’d stupidly thought that withholding my blood samples would thwart his attempts to do something so horrible. I should have known he’d have a backup plan. Or maybe I was the backup plan. Maybe he’s been capable of this all along.
“Doesn’t he realize the side effects Grey and Lexi have been feeling? The instability of their wolves?” Mia asks.
“He thinks he’s stronger,” Charlie says tiredly.
I stare at Charlie, stomach roiling. The idea of Vincenzo becoming something like that makes my wolf pace restlessly beneath my skin.
“What does Andy have to do with any of this?” I ask.
“It could be a simple act of vengeance,” Charlie says, but his tone makes it clear it’s more than that.
“What aren’t you saying?” I ask.
“He likely plans to use her as a test subject,” he says quietly.
A snarl rips from my throat. The wildness I felt earlier slams through me again, and it’s all I can do to remain human.
“Where is this place?” I demand.
“There’s an office building across from Altobello’s.”
“In the middle of the fucking city?” Mia asks incredulously.
Charlie looks away. “Vincenzo believes hiding in plain sight is the best strategy. Always has.” His voice is hoarse as he adds, “He’s been moving equipment there in pieces, quiet, secretive.”
Grey curses, low and vicious.
“Dad,” Mia says, her voice breaking. “How do you know?” But disappointment is already written into her expression.
Charlie takes one look at her, and his shoulders sag. “I helped him secure the lease and set it up, before…” he trails off, face crumbling into shame. “Before I knew how far he’d go.”
I leave Charlie in silence, my stomach turning as I walk out the door and into the starlit night. The others follow, all except for Mia. Whatever she’s saying to him in there, I can’t hear it—and that’s fine by me. I don’t envy her pain, but I also can’t watch her look at him like that anymore. Like she wants to forgive him. I’m not sure I feel the same way.
“What do you want to do?” Donahue asks, and it takes me a moment longer than it should to realize he’s talking to me and not Grey.
Dutch and Grey hover beside him, everyone looking at me. Grey nods as if to signal he’s letting me decide what comes next.
“Call Camila and fill her in,” I tell Donahue. “And anyone else you trust. We need them to be ready at first light.”
He doesn’t question me, simply nods and returns to his post outside the pool house, already dialing on his phone.
Dutch and Grey follow me into the house where I prowl through the darkness toward the study. It’s the one place in the house Andy’s presence still lingers. Maybe because she and I have already spent so much time together in here. But it makes me feel closer to her. Less like I’ve lost her already.
Grey follows me into the room but doesn’t say a word, simply lets me pace like a caged animal. A moment later, Dutch appears with three glasses and a bottle. I can smell the whiskey from here and take it gladly when he passes the glasses around.
The liquid burns my throat, but I welcome it. The way itslices through my senses. I hold my empty glass out for a refill. Dutch pours it, but not without murmuring a warning, “If you want a buzz, you’re going to be disappointed. Wolf metabolism’s going to burn it off too fast.”
I empty the glass, exhaling against the burn in my throat. For the first time since becoming a wolf, I wish I were still human. If only so I could lose myself to the numbness of the alcohol. But hiding has never been my style before, and I’m not going to start now.
So, I set the empty glass aside and force myself to focus on a plan.
“Hey,” Razor says as he and Crow arrive. “Did Charlie give us anything?”
