Page 44 of Let It Snow
When he walks behind me, I feel his gaze on my body, on my ass, on my hair. I hurry, and lock myself in my room. He stops at the door and whispers vile things through it. Having an omega’sexcellent hearing is a curse; I hear everything. The disgusting lines he spits out: "One day you’ll be mine. Anzo gets bored sooner or later and hands his boys to us to play with. I’ll have your tight little ass, Summer. A little patience and we’ll have so much fun."
Sometimes he says nothing, and that is worse. He simply stands outside the door and I hear his deep breathing, the beat of his heart through the wood. Sometimes he’s jerking off.
I know he is waiting. Waiting for an opportunity.
So, I sit by the tank and stare at the fish until the world around me blurs.
That’s how I escape.
The flashback ends.
…
I open my eyes.
I’m still in the Nolan house.
My eyes are fixed on my new tank. It’s nothing like the ones from my past, but nevertheless, it triggered my memory. Wincing, I turn my head away from it.
Aquariums…
Fish trapped inside.
Me, trapped in my parents’ house.
Me, trapped in Anzo’s fortress.
And now here.
Isolation…
My life in a nutshell.
I clamp my eyes shut, fling myself out of bed, boot up my laptop, and check the news.
I already know Anzo has been arrested by the FBI. Now I’ve got to learn it was for organizing an assassination attempt on the CEO of a pharmaceutical corporation, Blue Lowen.
But… Rocco is still free.
He’s the new capo now.
His picture flashes on the screen from a charity event a few days ago. The mafia likes to show up, throw some money around, and make new ‘friends’, aka people grateful for their dirty gold.
I focus on Rocco’s scarred, disgusting face.
Next to him are two people I know as well: Luca and Ennio. They’re standing with local politicians, and in another shot, Rocco is shaking hands with a senate hopeful, Mark Ferguson.
Yup. He’s moving in all the right circles, gaining momentum, rising on his own now that Anzo is out of the picture.
He craves power.
The thought tightens my chest.
I have power too, though of a different kind. Anzo and Rocco were searching ways to use it.
Did Rocco give up on this?
Did he forget about me?
