Nightswan

Chapter 37

His phone rang. It was Vasilisa's ringtone, so Alessio picked it up immediately, clutching it to his ear as he willed the taxi driver to get to his apartment building faster.

"Lissa?"

"You wish."

The distorted voice was one he recognized, and it took all of Alessio's self-control to not punch through the car's window. Alpha was in his apartment. With his wife. He wanted to scream, to swear, to do anything, but he couldn't without alerting his driver that something was horribly wrong. Taxi drivers saw a lot, and they probably told stories to their families each night of the weirdos that stooped into their vehicles. Alessio didn't want to become a dinner tale.

"If you touch a hair on her head, I swear I'll kill you." He kept his voice at a whisper.

"I haven't...yet. It'd be a pity to damage such pretty hair." Alpha laughed. "We were having a little discussion—a little...catching up. Honestly, Swan, I can't believe you tried to hide her. She's quite a beautiful woman."

"You're exactly the reason why I tried to hide her." Alessio didn't like the man's tone. It was sinister. Conniving. He might even go so far as to say it was wicked. Alessio felt like his intestines were twisting into knots. "What do you want?"

"I want those routes."

"No."

There was a pause as Alpha chuckled. He sighed, and Alessio imagined a grin spreading across the man's lips. "We have routes of our own. Not as secret, of course, but still effective. It'd be truly tragic if Vasilisa Andino...disappeared."

With how fiercely he gripped the phone, Alessio was surprised he hadn't broken it. "I'm going to—"

"Oh, your wife's coming back with my Coke. I asked her to use her phone since mine died. She had a friend here but just asked her to leave a little while ago. Took Dash with her, although he rather resisted leaving. I think he could tell something was up."

So Bree had been there...wait, how did Alpha know the name of Alessio's dog? Had Bree shared that information with him before she'd switched sides? His head was starting to hurt. Alessio ground his teeth together.

He heard Vasilisa's voice in the background but couldn't make out what she said. He could read her tone, though—she wasn't scared. Which meant she knew Alpha's identity, and she trusted him.

Alessio wanted to scream.

"Get me that info, or you'll regret it," Alpha said before disconnecting the call.

There were only a few people Vasilisa would allow into the apartment without many questions, and he could count them all on one hand...and none of them lined up with his vision of Alpha. Unless it wasn't a connection of hers but of his...

This time he really did swear.

He wasn't giving Alpha information about any routes. Bree had emphasized that Total Eclipse had no idea where he was, just that he was not in New York. Alessio couldn't be sure if they knew he'd returned. If there were any chance of his reentry being clandestine, though, he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip him by.

Total Eclipse. The Flight. The money. The routes. All of it could go to hell for all Alessio cared. Right now, he only had one thing on his mind—he was going to save his wife.

* * * * *

Vasi didn't like being at home without Alessio or Dash. It felt too empty. Too quiet. Too...unfamiliar. It didn't matter that right now, she wasn't alone. The man in the living room was on the phone, and he spoke too quietly for her to understand his words. She pulled a soda can from the fridge, popped it open, and poured the liquid over ice in the waiting glass.