Page 27 of Omega's Vengeance

I frown. “Gee, thanks.”

He laughs. “I’m trying to say you’ve been a real trooper. You’ve barely said a thing about your finger.” He shifts his body and turns to face me.

My pulse spikes when he does that. Even though I have my back to him, I can feel him watching me. When he gives me his full attention, it makes me nervous. But I don’t want him knowing he has me flustered. “I’m still your enemy, Dario.”

“I know.”

I turn my head, but I can’t see him clearly in the dim lighting. “Why are you being nice?”

He hesitates. “You earned my respect today.”

I shouldn’t care if he respects me or not, but I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge his words please me. I don’t get the feeling Dario is an easy man to impress. I can’t help but feel flattered that he respects me.

He’s Valentino’s second. Who gives a fuck if he respects me?

When that thought comes to me, I feel foolish. What am I doing getting all gooey inside at a few words of praise? Does it really only take a few kind word from Dario to make me forget he’s myenemy? He works for the alpha I still plan on destroying. I’m not giving up. I’ve had a setback, that’s all. I still fully intend to take Valentino down.

I shift to face him, scowling. “Is this your way of trying to get me to drop my vendetta against Valentino?”

“No, but since you brought it up, you’re never going to succeed. You have even less of a chance now that I know your plan.”

“I guess we’ll see,” I mutter.

His dark eyes glitter in the dark. “If you try again, this time you’ll die.”

“Then I die,” I mumble. “Nothing has changed.”

“Everything has changed, Alessio.” He sits up on his elbow. “You have no advantage anymore. Valentino will know you’re coming now.”

“Not if I murder you in your sleep.”

He grunts. “Do you seriously want our syndicates to go to war? I doubt your men would want that. And what about Carlo? If he’s still alive, you have him to contend with. Don’t you think putting out that fire is more important than trying to take out Valentino?”

“No.”

“Why? Carlo is the real threat to you, not Valentino.”

Through gritted teeth I say, “Valentino needs to die.”

“How can you be so dense?” he snaps. “Going after Valentino is a suicide mission. Our syndicate is way more powerful than yours. We’ll annihilate you. You don’t stand a chance.”

Frustration gets the best of me, and I growl, “I have nochoice. I have to do this. Whether I die or not, I can’t rest knowing how unfairly my father was treated.”

I expect him to growl back at me, but he doesn’t. Instead he says quietly, “Look, I won’t pretend to understand the love you had for your father. As you well know, I wasn’t close to my mine. But you’re not looking at the circumstances logically. The head of a syndicate must always act logically, not emotionally. That’s what’s needed when deciding whether or not to start a fucking gang war, Alessio.”

“I don’twantwar. I… I just want Valentino to pay for what he took from my father.”

“What he took was material things. You’re trying to take Valentino’s life. I’m not going to allow that. None of the men will.”

“Then try and stop me,” I hiss. “Valentino is going to pay for what he did, and that’s final.”

He’s quiet for a moment and then he asks, “What would you have had Valentino do to your father? Your father took his omega captive. Nico was almost killed because of what your father did. Do you really believe that Valentino should have completely let him off after what he did to Nico? Valentino would have been in danger then of being perceived as weak. You know how this works.”

“He took almost all of my father’s business away. He humiliated him.”

“And as I told you before, Valentino let your father offeasy. You don’t seem to understand that by sparing Joseph’s life and that of his family, Valentino was trying to be fair. By all rights he should have had your father and his entire family slaughtered. How can you not see that?”

“You’re not going to change my mind.” My voice wobbles with anger. “Just stop talking about it.”

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