Return of the Real Italian Alphas (7 page)

CHAPTER NINE

Lucretia hadn’t been kidding when she said there would be Alphas waiting between them and the door. Probably about a hundred of them. Gabriel suspected these particular Alphas may have been created recently, for they were not yet aware of the moon’s pull on them that would allow the most skillful werewolf the ability to turn.

Gabriel and Rico grinned at each other and turned at precisely the same time. Gaal-det transformed from his disguise back into a full-blown demon and the apostate knights also transformed. They each had a curious glow about them that hinted at a greater magic than the one currently known by their new companions.

Gordral paused a moment and whispered The Lord’s Prayer in Italian. Smirking at this, he asked, “I thought you were excommunicated from the Church.”

“Oh no, my son, quite the contrary,” he said. “The task which I was charged with is even more important than the one given to the Pope. I was charged by God himself to protect His children from evil in any way I can.”

“And yet once you thought that werewolves were evil and then you became one yourself?” he asked. “Isn’t that a bit hypocritical?”

“Not at all,” he said. “Over time I have learned that not all werewolves are evil. That they are not spawned of Satan as once I thought, but they too have a special purpose on this Earth. It is only those like Lupo, who let their powers go to their heads and commit atrocities as a result, who are truly evil. Justice will be exacted upon him by the will of God.”

Their little side conversation was interrupted by a large pair of claws slashing at their faces. “Join the party, boys,” said the owner with a toothy grin.

“With pleasure,” Gabriel told him, and shot him right in the face.

The body fell backwards and transformed back into a man. Gabriel didn’t know him. Nor did he care, he just started shooting every enemy in sight, wolfed out or not. His bullets joined those of the others until all but one enemy had fallen. But this last one was running for the elevator at full speed.

“Stop him!” Rico shouted. “He’s going to tell Lupo we’re here.”

“And you don’t think he knew that already?” Gabriel pointed out, but he still shot the guy anyway. “Lupo probably knows exactly what we’re doing right this second, you know that. We’re in his world now.”

“Just because he knows that we’re coming doesn’t mean he knows that we are here,” Rico pointed out. “But I’m still trying to work out how he knows what he does. Unfortunately, I don’t like the ideas that I’m coming up with in the least.”

“Bugged the plane?” Gabriel suggested.

“There is that,” Rico agreed. “Or it could have a homing beacon on it. Probably both. But that wouldn’t have told him he needed a bigger number of guards than usual to wait down here because of our increased numbers. Somehow he knows more than we expected him to. Desmond, you’re sure the pilot was properly disposed of?”

“As sure as I can be,” the man replied. “Maybe there’s a snitch at your complex.”

“Or maybe you told him?”

“Why would I do that?” Desmond protested. “I’ve been trying my damnedest to keep Gabriel’s kids safe from the man. Why would I then turn around and rat Gabriel out?”

“Money? Goods? A cushy new job?”

“Never,” said Desmond. “Loyalty is greater than any amount of that stuff.”

“Are you wearing a wire, Desmond?” Rico persisted. “I’ll bet anything that you are.”

“No!” he insisted. “I would never willingly help Lupo like that.”

“Not even to save your own life?”

Desmond was shaking his head, but sweat had begun to bead on his face, and he pulled at the uncomfortable tightness of his collar around his neck. Rico tore open the front of his shirt and pulled the wire free. He tossed it down and smashed it under his still wolf-like foot and snarled viciously.

“Leave him alone, Rico,” Gabriel said then. “He’s the only one who knows where our daughter is. He had to stay alive if he wanted to keep her safe. I would have done the same thing. Besides, it doesn’t really matter if Lupo knows that we are here. It’s much more important that we reach him than it is that he is aware of the attempt.”

Without another word, Rico turned away again. “The elevator is designed to hold ten people at a time tops. I think in this case we should send up the fighters first so they can clear out half of the problem before we even arrive.”

“Desmond, you can lead the first team,” said Rico with finality. “If you’re truly as loyal as you say you are, you’ll make sure they do a good job.”

“All right,” he replied. “Gabriel, if I don’t see you again, look for a woman named Esrelda Gomez. She is keeping Maria safe. You must tell her you were sent by her little wolf-man. That’s the only way she’ll tell you anything.”

“Thank you for everything, Desmond,” Gabriel said then. “I hope that you will still be alive when we reach the top and we can go retrieve my daughter together.”

Half the group split off from the rest of it and entered the elevator. It remained fully functional and began its slow climb to the top. Rico surveyed the room they were standing in, and realized there were about a hundred bodies there.

“Well, men, we’ve got some time to kill,” he said. “What do you say we loot these bodies?”

Gabriel chuckled. “Rico, always thinking with your pockets. You’ll be a good boss when all this is done.”

“Thanks, my friend,” he said with a grin. “You’ve never really been cut out for this racket anyway, have you?”

“Not really,” he agreed. “My brothers put me up to it. I should have become a Federal Agent instead.”

“Never even say so,” said Rico with a shiver. “Then I’d have to kill you.”

“No, I think I’ll take over the other family business,” Gabriel said.

“You’re going to run the vineyard?”

“Yes.  Why not?” he said. “I know much of the business from my youth, and the rest I can pick up along the way. It’ll be just like riding a bike again.”

“No, you wouldn’t want to ride a bike,” Rico said. “That’s too slow. I think I will buy you a motorcycle.”

Gabriel gave this a moment of thought, visualizing himself riding along with Betsy curled up behind him and their twins in a side car. The wind whistled past their helmets as they smiled at each other and enjoyed the scenery.

“You know, Rico, I think I would like that,” he said then.

“What would you like?” asked Betsy as she joined them from across the cavern.

“Oh, nothing, ma bella,” Gabriel told her. “You would not wish for me to spoil the surprise, would you?”

Betsy chuckled at this. “Gabriel, you know very well that I would.”

Both of the men chuckled then. They couldn’t argue with her there.

*

The elevator reached the top with an ominous click. They could hear the sounds of fighting outside the door so they made sure their guns were loaded and their weapons were drawn before they stepped outside. The sight of Gaal-det gave several of the combatants pause. Some of them even ran away from sheer terror.

Even though there were not as many wolves to contend with up here, these enemies were much harder to subdue. Finally, however, the party managed to fight its way to Lupo’s door. Gabriel kicked it open and stepped inside, taking the lance from Gordral when he held it out to him.

“Thank you,” he breathed, then wielded the weapon as he stormed inside.

Lupo was sitting at his dinner table as usual. However, this time he had a highchair sitting nearby as he tried to feed the small boy who was seated there.

Gabriel saw red. “What do you think you are doing?” he demanded hotly.

“Feeding my son,” said Lupo with a fanciful smile on his face.

“He’s not your son,” said Gabriel with a deadly sort of calm. “He’s my son.”

Betsy was fuming now and she stormed over to Gabriel’s side. “He’s lying, Gabriel. He knows I never touched his worthless hide. I never would touch it.”

“Well, he would have been my son if you’d only cooperated,” Lupo snapped. “I would have been good to you, Betsy. You would have wanted for nothing. Instead, you persist in staying with Gabriel, who by all accounts has got to be one of the worst excuses of a crime boss ever.”

“News flash, Lupo,” she said tightly. “I didn’t marry Gabriel because he was a crime boss. I could care less about you or your stupid crime syndicate crap. Now give me my child so he doesn’t have to see what’s about to go on here.”

“I’ll do nothing of the sort,” Lupo growled. “And what is that thing you’re holding in your hand? Do you expect me to believe that’s really Gordral’s lance. Where did you get it?”

“Under the Vatican, of all places,” Gabriel told him. “Just ask Gordral himself if you don’t believe me.”

Lupo looked at the man standing behind Gabriel, the one who had handed him the lance. He turned pale, and then turned to a wolf instead. He picked up Mario in his claws and attempted to run away with him, not even sure which way to run as panic gripped him.

Gabriel roared with indignation and gave chase, intent on stopping the werewolf before he got away. His paw was actually on the doorknob when the lance impacted with his spine and ran straight through it. Lupo’s lifeless arms dropped the child but Gabriel was quick to catch him in his arms.

“You got him, boss!” Rico shouted joyfully.

Betsy ran over and took Mario out of Gabriel’s arms while the two men embraced. Gabriel tossed the lance back over to Gordral, and he and Gaal-det linked arms, suddenly disappearing into nothing but mist. The same mist as they’d seen at the end of the fire-pit under the Vatican.

“Hey, that explains a lot,” said Gabriel speculatively.

“It does,” Rico agreed. Then they turned to the entrance and realized about twenty Alphas had come in. Lucretia was leading the way. Not one of the Alphas raised a weapon but obediently stood awaiting orders.

“Well, well, it looks like Lupo is dead at last,” she said with a smile. “And none of us Alphas were here to witness the event, either. So, since you already know it is traditional for the man who deposed the leader to take his place, to whom do we own the honor of this kill?”

Lucretia was blatantly telling them that they should attribute the kill to Rico. Gabriel wasn’t sure if the lie sat well with him but he weighted the options in his head. If he told the truth, they would expect him to take Lupo’s place and he’d be even more stuck than he’d been before. If he told them Rico killed Lupo, Gabriel would miss out on the glory but he would get to leave. It wasn’t a difficult choice to make, as far as he was concerned.

“Rico killed Lupo, of course,” he said loudly as he pushed the man to the front. He pat him on the back proudly and gave him a thumbs up. His thumb was covered in blood, and Rico had no blood on him at all. The lie was blatantly obvious, yet no one said a word.

“Is this true, Rico?” prodded one of the other wolves.

“If Gabriel says it’s true, then of course it is true,” Lucretia commented. “The man is much too soft to be a criminal.”

“Thanks a lot,” Gabriel grumbled. “You’re right about that, of course. I’ll be very glad to leave this place.”

“Well, Rico, there is something you must know,” said Lucretia as she stepped boldly forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. “My men are loyal only to me. If you want to gain control of them, then you shall have to make me your wife. We can reign over this little empire together.”

“Hey, take away all my fun why don’t you?” he grumbled. “I wanted to get a ring and go down on one knee and the whole nine yards, but no—miss Alpha queen won’t even let a guy do that. Do you see what I’m dealing with here, Gabriel?”

“I see very clearly,” he smirked. “Now go ahead and kiss her and say yes, so we can go, will you?”

“Go? Where are we going now? I thought we could make use of my new banquet hall for a celebration,” Rico said. “We could all use some rest, could we not? Desmond can wire a ticket to Esrelda and she can bring Maria here for you. Does that sound agreeable?”

Gabriel sighed, and looked over at his wife as she stood there soothing their son. He imagined Mario was equally as tired after all he had just been through, and Betsy certainly looked a bit worse for wear. He didn’t even want to imagine what he looked like himself.

“Fine, but kiss her anyway,” Gabriel said. “It’ll give her men a clear idea that the deal’s been accepted, and then we can go announce the good news to whoever might be left upstairs. Hopefully they’ll take the change in leadership with good grace since I don’t feel like fighting yet another battle tonight.”

“You’re the boss,
boss,”
said Rico with a grin. Then he grabbed Lucretia around her waist, tilted her way back until she yelped, and kissed her like there was no tomorrow.

The Alphas all cheered. Rico’s men laughed and slapped each other’s shoulders, and Betsy grinned as well. She cast Gabriel a grin that clearly said she like the idea of Lucretia having somebody else to focus on, and he nodded his agreement.

Upstairs, nobody was the least bit surprised when the bloody group emerged from the elevator. Some of the people seated there even cheered. The butler stepped forward and asked, “And to whom do I now owe my allegiance, sirs?”