Page 46 of Toxic Revenge, Part Two (Mafia Omegas #2)

Chapter

Forty-One

TALIA

I was soaking in a hot bath when West burst into my bedroom, speaking loud enough even I could hear him clearly.

“We have a lead on Benjamin.”

Water sloshed over the sides of the tub as I pushed myself to stand, stepping out of the bath and wrapping a fluffy towel haphazardly around myself. Still dripping, I hurried out of the bathroom, only to stop short when I saw Violet standing beside West.

“Oh, sorry!” She turned to face the far wall with pink cheeks. “I didn’t know you were in the bath.”

If they’d gotten here thirty minutes ago, I would have been in a much more compromising position than in the bath.

“I’ll just put on some clothes real quick. Not another word until I get back,” I said awkwardly.

“Call Emilia and Lavinia too. They’ll probably want to hear,” West told Mercer.

“On it.”

I vanished back into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. Fresh clothes waited on the counter for me, prepared before I got into the tub. Drying myself off as fast as I could, I put on the comfy evening clothes and went back out into my bedroom.

Lavinia showed up at the exact same time, Emilia in tow. “How did you find Benjamin?” she demanded. “Emilia can’t even find him.”

Violet cleared her throat, raising a hand like she was asking to speak in a classroom. “Um, it was me.”

“How?” Lavinia asked.

“Maybe let’s sit down,” I interrupted. “Before we get too deep into it.”

I was probably the only one whose legs would tremble when Benjamin was mentioned, but Violet looked like she could use a seat too.

Going over to the couch, I sat down on it with Violet and Emilia.

Conrad hovered behind the couch, a hand on my shoulder, while West and Mercer stood across from it with Lavinia.

“So, how did you manage to find Benjamin?” Emilia asked Violet. “Are you a secret hacker or something?”

Laughing, Violet shook her head. “No. Nothing like that. I just… know some people and asked them for help.”

Mercer cursed. “Are you talking about Cal’s Diner?”

“Yes.”

“Vi, we warned you not to trust those people.”

“I know.” She stared down at her hands. “But they helped me. They help omegas. I wanted to see if they could help Talia too.”

Emilia reached out and grabbed Violet’s hands. “Wait. The Cal’s Diner? The shadowy organization helping omegas and righting wrongs all across Banfield?” Her volume rose with every word, her excitement obvious in her eyes.

“I think so, yeah.”

“You’re so lucky! They’re untouchable. You can’t get on their contact list unless they want you to. I’ve been trying for years with no luck at all.”

I’d never seen Emilia get this excited about anything other than books and computers. “Can you tell me what you know about them?” I asked. “Are they reliable?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they have information on Benji O’Connor,” Emilia said.

“Their hacker is about on par with me, skill wise, but the resources they have?” She whistled.

“Damn. Immense. I just hack existing cameras to find people. They have their own cameras, planted by skilled operatives so no one knows they’re even there. ”

“Why go to all the trouble?” I asked.

“So they can know everything .” Emilia was very clearly in awe. “Which they kind of need to if they want to complete their ultimate mission: keeping Banfield omegas safe, and killing alphas and betas who abuse their power.”

West growled. “Wait, are you saying my sister has been making contact with a fucking assassin’s guild?”

Violet avoided eye contact with everyone. I had a feeling she’d already known about that part.

“Calling it an assassin’s guild would be going a bit far,” Emilia said. “They don’t accept any assassin who comes to join, and they only take on contracts if their code says the person to be killed deserves it.”

“Great, an assassin’s guild with a moral code,” he scoffed.

“Now that we know what Cal’s Diner is all about, let’s get back to Benjamin.” I prodded the conversation back in the right direction—otherwise, West would spend all night trying to figure out if Violet was in danger talking to them.

“Yes, uh, well, I called Cal’s Diner.” Violet jumped back in, giving me a grateful glance. “I asked them to help me find Benji O’Connor, and they did. Apparently, he’s currently staying in room 217 at the Jubilee Harbourfront Hotel.”

Adrenaline coursed through me.

We had a location—we knew where he was.

And he wouldn’t be expecting us to have such a well-connected contact, so we might even be getting ahead of him, finally.

“Damn, they’re good.” More awe from Emilia. “I checked all O’Connor properties, but didn’t spot him on camera there.”

“It’s possible this is a trap,” Mercer said. “We don’t know if Cal’s Diner is affiliated with the O’Connors.”

“There’s no way,” Emilia said. “They don’t take sides on mafia issues. I’m surprised they even helped. They must like you, Violet.”

Violet flushed. “I’ve talked to them… a lot.”

“Emmy, you’re letting your fangirling get in the way of thinking it through. Whether they’re vocal about it or not, most organizations favour one mafia family over the others,” Lavinia said. “We have to be careful with information from them.”

“They said he’d been there a while, and seemed to be staying for the foreseeable future,” Violet said. “So we don’t have to rush. You can double check all the information yourselves.”

“We will be,” Lavinia said firmly.

“And when we’ve double-checked, what then?” I asked.

Conrad tightened his hold on my shoulder, reminding me he was there for me. West and Mercer floated a little closer, their scents wrapping around me in a blanket of comfort.

“We’ll get him,” Lav stated.

“There’s got to be more to the plan than that.”

“Yes, but you don’t need to know it. You’ll be staying on the property. Your pack and I can handle the part where Benjamin is captured.”

I chewed my bottom lip. He was my problem—my unwanted bondmate. I was weaker against him than anyone else was, but I didn’t like leaving his capture completely in other people’s hands.

How could I help, though?

I wasn’t built for sneaking around or kidnapping. The only thing I could do was be the distraction.

“Won’t it be easier to catch him if you draw him out?

” I blurted. “And hey, if Benji O’Connor is supposed to be dead, wouldn’t Brooks O’Connor want to know that?

I could go meet with him at the Jubilee.

I don’t think Benjamin would be able to resist the opportunity to go after me if I’m right under his nose. ”

“Absolutely not.”

“No way.”

“Not a good idea.”

West, Lavinia, and Mercer all spoke at the same time, completely shutting it down. I gave Emilia a pleading look. “It makes sense, doesn’t it? If he’s all holed up, it might be impossible to get to him.”

Emilia sighed. “I can look into where he is and see what the options are for extraction. Talia might be right, though. If he’s settled there, he’s bound to be well-equipped to ward off anyone coming for him.”

“We can catch him off guard a different way,” Mercer argued. “She shouldn’t be involved.”

“I was forced to be involved when he bit me,” I said. That shut up all complaints, an awkward hush dropping over the room. I continued. “There’s no escaping it until he’s dead. If Emilia finds a better way, fine. Until then, assume the plan is to use me to tempt him out of hiding.”

I knew I’d be fielding all their worries later, but I’d made up my mind.

This time, I was going to meet him again on my terms, with my family and alphas standing behind me.

“Emilia, let’s go.” Lavinia reached out a hand to help her up. “You have research to do.”

She rolled her eyes but accepted the hand. Violet popped to her feet too. “I’ll go with them, in case I forgot to mention anything.”

My mates didn’t say it out loud, but the way Mercer and West looked at Emilia said one thing in particular: find another way.

Maybe we would get lucky and she would, but I doubted it.

Starting now, I needed to get ready to face down the man who’d ruined me.

I needed to be prepared, mentally and physically, to ruin him too.