Page 18 of Omega's Vengeance

“I agree.” I gesture to the cot with the clothing piled on it. “What do you want me to do?”

He hesitates, then says, “Grab another coat if you can find one. We need two fake people.”

As I go to the boxes I wonder if I’m digging through the clothing of the many prisoners we’ve kept down here? That’s an unsettling thought. Will my clothes end up in one of these boxes if Carlo murders me in cold blood?

I watch Dario out of the corner of my eye. He’s moving around, stabbing the air with one of the broken fishing rods. He thrusts the pole with such brutal force, I shiver. I can only imagine what it would feel like to have that pole shoved through my body. I’ll do whatever I need to so that I can survive, but I can’t say I’m looking forward to piercing another person’s eyeball with a fishing rod.

“How will this work?” I ask, stuffing a big wool sweater into the cavity of an old coat I found. “We don’t know exactly when they’re coming tomorrow.”

“We’ll have to be ready before daylight.” Dario pauses his play fighting for a moment, and he glances at me. “There can be no hesitation. If you think stabbing Carlo will be a problem for you, you should tell me now.”

I scowl. “How many times do I have to tell you I’ll do what needs doing? I look forward to stabbing that asshole.”

“I think instead, I’ll handle Carlo,” Dario says, studying me. “You can take on the others.”

I frown. “Excuse me? Shouldn’t I have the pleasure of murdering Carlo?”

“Why? Because you’re related?” He chuffs. “That’s not what matters. What matters is that he goes down fast. There will be no second chances with him.”

“I told you before, I’m not weak,” I hiss, straightening.

Dario shrugs. “I’m not saying you’re weak, but he’s an alpha and I’m an alpha. We’re more evenly matched.”

I huff. “Well, I don’t take orders from you. And, besides, they’re all alphas, so your logic makes no sense.”

“It’s important Carlo dies fast. I’d feel better being in charge of that happening.” Dario turns his back on me as if the subject is closed.

I wrinkle my brow. “This isn’t settled.”

“Yeah, it is.” He goes back to jabbing the fishing pole in the air.

I give a short laugh and move toward him. “No, Dario, it’s not. Like I said, you’re not in charge of me and I want to be the one to take Carlo out.”

“Jesus,” he rumbles, turning to face me. His eyes are black and angry as he steps toward me. “We’re going to die if you challenge me every step of the way. What happened to you doing whatever I ask you to do? Was that just a line so I’d take you with me if I get out of here?”

Heat prickles my cheeks because I did say that to him. “I don’t think it’s right that you’d be the one to kill Carlo when I’m the one he betrayed.”

He sighs and his rigid expression softens ever so slightly. When he speaks, his voice is not exactly gentle, but it’s less harsh. “I understand you want revenge, but I just want out of here.”

“I want that too.”

A muscle works in his cheek as he studies me. “I think we have a better chance of succeeding if you’ll listen to me and follow my lead. I’m not trying to push you around. I think you’re very clever. You ambushed me and I didn’t see it coming. I don’t doubt you’re tough, Alessio. But this situation is different. Brute force is what’s needed here. There will be no do overs. Do you understand?”

My pride tells me not to listen to him, but the rational part of my brain knows he’s right. There’s no denying Dario is bigger and tougher than me. I’m no hot house flower, but I’m not built for brutality, and he is. His fists are huge compared to mine. I’m not soft, but I’m softcomparedto him.

As if reading my mind, he grimaces and says, “Kid, I’m built like a tank, and you’re built like a thoroughbred. Let me do the dirty work, okay? I know you can handle those other two guys. I’m not confident you can murder your own cousin without hesitation. I don’t even blame you for that. It’s actually good that you’d have qualms about murdering family. Take it as a compliment that I think you have a soul, okay?”

I hold his gaze, fighting my pride.“Fine.”

He nods his approval. “Good.”

I return to stuffing the coat and pants to look like a person. I’m so cold I’m tempted to put on one of the old sweaters. When my teeth start chattering, I give in and slip on a light blue cashmere sweater from the pile. Dario takes note, but says nothing.

Eventually, we have two fake people constructed. “Should we put them on the bed?” I ask.

Dario hesitates. “No. We can put them on there later. I think we should try sleeping a little bit.”

“Oh. How exactly would that work? Do you mean we should sleep in shifts?”

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