Page 30 of Knot Letting Go (Knotty Streak Omegaverse #4)

The world spun. I raised a hand and pressed it to the side of the stall to keep myself balanced. Outside of a movie, I’d never seen a gun before. Never mind having one aimed at me.

My first thought was Lillianna. I opened my mouth to tell her to run, but the brunette shook her head. She spoke in a hard and quiet tone. “If you scream, I will shoot you. If you do anything that I don’t tell you, I will shoot you. Do you understand me?”

I nodded numbly.

Lillianna. I had to get her away.

“Put your phone into the feminine products bin, and then reach into the basket under the seat and take out the jacket. Put it on and put the hood up, hiding your hair. Finally take the sunglasses out of the pocket and put them on.” Her expression didn’t change.

It remained cold like she was void of emotion.

“Aubrielle?” Lillianna’s angelic inquiry echoed in the bathroom.

“Lillianna, vieni qui. ” The stranger didn’t take her eyes off me as I slowly did as she asked.

My hands shook as I tried to think of any way out of this.

Surely whatever this woman was planning wouldn’t work.

We could only leave the bathroom by going into the hall.

Talis and Levi were out there. They would see…

Then it dawned on me. I was being made to wear a disguise. Shit.

Lillianna walked into the stall, saw the gun, and squeaked with fear. She went immediately to me and buried her face against my side. “What’s going on, Aubrielle? What’s happening?”

“ Tranquillo ,” she hissed at Lillianna. It suddenly clicked that the woman was speaking Italian. Oh God. The Pacettis. No. “ Sedetevi nel passeggino e copritevi con delle coperte .” When Lillianna didn’t move, she barked, “Now!”

“Don’t yell at her. She’s frightened.” No matter what was going on, I refused to let anyone treat Lillianna badly.

I crouched down to hug her and managed to keep my voice calm so as not to scare her anymore.

My heart was racing and my stomach twisted.

“What did she tell you to do, sweetie? We need to do as she asks.”

“She wants me to get into the stroller and put on the blankets.” Lillianna’s chin trembled. Tears spilled from the corners of her eyes. “I’m too big for a stroller.”

“Oh, baby.” I hugged her again and kissed her forehead. If anything happened to her, I would never forgive myself. “We’ll be okay just as long as we do what she says. You really are too big for a stroller, but you’ll fit in this one, and it won’t be for long.”

I helped Lillianna get in and tucked the blankets around her.

“Cover her face.” The stranger instructed, and I gave Lillianna one more reassuring look before I did so.

Standing up, I found the sunglasses and fumbled with them as I put them on. They were big ones and covered half my face. I swallowed a whimper and faced the stranger again.

“You are going to push the stroller. I will walk beside you with the gun always pointed at you. So don’t say or do anything. We will go the opposite way than your security. Got it?”

I nodded, feeling a few tears slip free behind the big glasses. Sniffling, I pushed the stroller out of the stall just as another woman and her toddler came into the bathroom. I could say something, but that would put the innocent people in danger too.

We exited into the hall. I mentally screamed for Talis and Levi to look our way, to notice that it was me in the bulky jacket and sunglasses.

Because I knew if we left the building, if the kidnapper took us someplace else, we were screwed.

Lorenzo wouldn’t kill his own granddaughter, but her life would be miserable. I couldn’t let him have her.

And me, I was inconsequential. I was dead.

Or worse, merchandise to be sold off to the highest bidder.

The brunette poked my side with the muzzle of the gun hidden now in her jacket pocket. My tears came faster as we walked to the other end of the hall and then down a curving ramp which led to the front entrance. No one looked twice at us.

We went out the front doors and walked down the ramp to the parking lot. My gaze darted desperately around for a security guard or anyone that I might try to give a subtle sign that I needed help. All I saw were tired parents and grandparents with energized kids.

“Keep moving.” The kidnapper poked me again, hard enough it would leave a bruise. “Go to the far end of the lot.”

A large family group came toward us. If I pushed Lillianna into them, there was a chance she’d get away.

I’d be shot, but Lillianna… Would then be alone.

The stranger could still grab Lillianna and run off with her.

Wherever we were going, I had to be there for Lillianna.

She was terrified of being abandoned, and she needed me now more than ever.

I had to be strong. I couldn’t let anyone see me freaking out, especially not Lillianna. But inside, oh God, I was screaming with terror.

A black Sedan with blacked out windows pulled slowly into the far corner of the lot. The kidnapper gave me a shove. “Get the girl out and get into the car with her.”

I said nothing to her, didn’t even look her way. Bending over, I removed the blankets from Lillianna who stared at me with teary eyes. I picked her up and let her wrap her arms and legs around me before turning to open the car door.

When I sat inside with her, the stranger immediately shut the door behind us. The sound of the locks triggering sent a wave of fear through me. But not as much as the sight of Lorenzo sitting on the seat opposite of us.

Lorenzo was dressed more casually than he had been on the beach, but he still held himself like the master of all Alphas.

Danger rolled off him, even when his thin lips curled up in a smile.

He didn’t reach for Lillianna, thankfully, but tapped the glass separating the back of the car with the front, and the vehicle glided forward to the parking lot’s exit.

“Now, now, mia piccola tesoro , you needn’t hide from me. There’s nothing for you to fear here.”

I didn’t want him scaring Lillianna, but I didn’t want him pretending to be a kindly grandfather either. I rubbed her back as she peeked out at him. “Nonno?”

“ Si, cara mia . You’re safe with me.” Lorenzo opened his arms as if expecting a hug, but it was as if I could see the devil’s horns on his head and the red gleam in his eyes.

I wanted to tell Lillianna she would never be safe with him, but he already knew I understood that.

His act wasn’t so good that he was trying to convince me of anything.

Lillianna didn’t leave my lap, but straightened a little and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t understand. Did you save us from the lady with the gun and run her over? She was mean.”

“Of course. You never have to worry about her again, especially since we’re going far away from here. We’re going home.” Lorenzo leaned back, unbothered by the fact that he wasn’t hugged by his granddaughter.

“Good. I want Daddy.” Lillianna rested her head on my shoulder with her little hand still clutching the front of my jacket.

“Ah, my sweet, I don’t mean the house here in America. I mean your true home in Italy.”

As if my heart wasn’t racing already, now it was thundering in my chest. He was going to take us across the ocean. There would be no way for anyone to find us then. I held Lillianna more firmly and glanced at the doors.

I could jump out with her in my arms and protect her from a fall, but the doors were locked.

Or maybe, at the airport, I could… No. I couldn’t risk Lillianna’s safety.

But surely Lorenzo couldn’t take us out of the country.

We didn’t have passports, and there was a law that a child couldn’t travel without their parents unless they had a document with their permission.

While I’m sure that paper could be faked, the passports…

Lorenzo smiled again. It was as if the monster knew what I was thinking. He probably already had fake passports for Lillianna and I.

“I want Daddy.” Lillianna repeated with a sniffle.

“We’ll see him soon,” I whispered. If Konstantin ever got his hands on Lorenzo, it would be murder. And hell, I wanted him to do it. I never wished violence on anyone, but this man sitting across from me… He was pure evil.

Would I ever see Konstantin or Quill again?

I had only started to dream of a life with them, and now that was ripped to shreds.

If they somehow managed to save Lillianna, and I would do everything in my power to make sure she got out of this with as little trauma as possible, I was nothing to the Pacettis.

I would be lucky if I was even in the plan to fly overseas to Italy. I could be shot and left in a ditch.

My stomach roiled, and I bent my head to breathe in the floral smell of Lillianna’s hair. Soft and sweet. I would do anything for this child.

“Please take off your sunglasses, Miss Smyth. You have no need to worry about the sun in here.” Lorenzo’s accented baritone was lazy and yet commanding. He lightly drummed his fingers on his leg.

My hand shook as I lifted it and removed the glasses. There had been a small sense of safety behind them, but now I felt totally bare in front of him.

“That’s better. Now I can see your pretty eyes.

They match your pretty scent.” His smile turned into that of a predator’s.

No, no, no. He couldn’t… He was an Alpha.

Of course he could. A pair of tears trickled down my cheeks.

My only saving grace was that nothing in me responded to him and he didn’t seem to be at all interested in me in that way.

“Yes, I know you’re… in the middle of your cycle.

Quite the predicament for you. But not to worry.

I have Alphas who will be happy to help you. You’ll be very well taken care of.”

Bile rose in my throat. This was every Omega’s nightmare. It scared me even more that I wouldn’t be able to fight it if my body needed to be knotted. If only I’d listened to Quill and Konstantin and stayed home. But I’d been so confident that I could handle an afternoon with my best friend.

“You’re not claimed, are you?” Lorenzo scrutinized me, and no matter I turned my face from him, determined not to say a thing, he didn’t need me to. “You’re not. Excellent. Whoever the Alpha is that triggered such a beautiful Omega and let her out of his sight should feel like a fool.”

“What’s Nonno talking about, Aubrielle?” Lillianna asked softly. He tilted her head to look at me, and like an angel, she gently wiped away my tears.

“Nothing for you to worry about, sweetie.” I should be comforting her, not the other way around. “Know that I love you so much. And so does your daddy.”

“I know. I love you too.” Lillianna snuggled into me and closed her eyes, but I didn’t feel her body relax. I couldn’t even make myself stop trembling to give her any peace.

We traveled through town and went farther inland. I didn’t ask where we were going. It wasn’t in the direction of Seattle or Portland. A million escape plans ran through my head, and every single one of them ended with me dead.

Lorenzo didn’t say anything for a while.

He didn’t seek to comfort Lillianna or even make conversation with her.

He didn’t truly care for her. I hated him all the more for it.

If I thought he might have been a grandfather missing his granddaughter, there could have been some hope for him, but no, not this bastard.

After fifteen minutes, he regarded me with his sharp, pale eyes. “You’re very good with Lillianna. She needs a proper Omega in her life to nurture her and teach her her place in our world. Perhaps I will keep you on as her nanny.”

God, I hoped he meant it. If we couldn’t escape now, there would be chances later. I could protect her from all the horrors which lay ahead, keep her safe and loved.

“Of course, I’ll only be able to trust you if you behave, Miss Smyth.” Lorenzo smirked and there was a gleam in his eyes as I paled. “I think a little re-education may be in order once we get to Italy.”

The way he said ‘re-education’ made me shudder. The word itself was full of blades. I would endure whatever it took for me to stay with Lillianna. I would never abandon her, even if that meant losing myself in the process.