Rise of the She-Wolf

Vanessa’s pov,

The next couple of days’ Don Lorenzo was very busy with something, so I did not see him much. I tried to make my days look as normal as possible and went to training as usual. I was surprised by how concerned everyone was about me. Even Blake came to me and said that he hoped I was okay and that he admired what I did.

I thought they would avoid me in fear of Don Lorenzo, but it seemed like they respected me more for my actions. None of them ever voiced being unhappy under Don Lorenzo his rule but I was quite certain they would support me if it came to it. 3 days after I begged Don Lorenzo for mercy, he asked me to come to his office again.

I was a bit scared that he finally found some time to feel me up again, but I felt relieved when I saw Tomasso was also there. I immediately kneeled again and kissed his ring, “What can I do for you, Don?”

“I have been very impressed by your improved behavior, Vanessa. You have also proven that you are valuable to our pack in the past so I would like to give you Allesandro’s old position as my second beta.”

I looked up with fake tears in my eyes, “There would be no greater honor, Don. Thank you for your trust. I will strive every day to make sure I am worthy of that position.”

Don Lorenzo smiled, “Very good. I will hold you to your word.”

Spirit growled, “That is rich.”

Don Lorenzo continued, “The last few days I have been busy preparing for a new business endeavor. A new drug has been developed that we could sell. It is much cheaper to produce than the drugs we currently offer. We could make shitloads of money with it. I convinced the developers that we should meet. My betas will accompany me to this meeting so that includes you.”

He walked out of the office, “We are leaving now.”

I exchanged looks with Tomasso before hurrying after the Alpha. We took Don Lorenzo his Porsche to an abandoned factory on the outside of town. We went inside but we were a bit early. I looked at the holes in the ceiling and the creepy interior and felt uncomfortable. I had a bad feeling about this place for some reason. “DINGDODINGDOOLULLLLUU,” I got scared by my ringtone that blasted through the factory loudly. Don Lorenzo looked at me annoyed, “Go take that outside.”

I hurried outside and saw that Duke was calling me. I hadn’t spoken to him in a while. I had been busy, but I wondered why I did not hear from him either. I picked up the phone, “Hi.”

His warm voice immediately calmed me down, “Hi Sweetie, I am sorry that I haven’t texted you lately. I have been extremely busy with something that is going to be a breakthrough in the Romano’s misery. I just wanted to let you know that you are about to be free from their tyranny.”

My blood went cold immediately, “What do you mean?”

“I finally figured out a way to catch Don Lorenzo. I made a fake post on a sketchy site about some new drug. He took the bait and contacted one of our undercovers saying he wants to meet. In 30 minutes, they will hand him the drugs and I will be there to arrest him and his left and right hand. Taking out the heads of the organization. I need to go now but I will come to get you when it is over so we can celebrate.”

He hung up and I stared at my phone not knowing what to do. My heart was racing, and I couldn’t think. “You have to tell them, Vanessa. You can’t let your whole pack go to jail. Tomasso will go to jail and even you,” Spirit said.

I felt dizzy when I ran back inside. I knew that what I was about to do would impact my relationship with Duke forever, but I could not let everyone I cared about including myself go to jail.

Tomasso looked at me confused when he saw me running in with panic in my eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“We have to go now! The police are on their way. Duke just called me. It is a trap!”

“Fuck!” Don Lorenzo shouted before running out to the car. We drove away with slipping tires and on our way back we crossed the path of some police cars. When Duke his truck passed us, we locked eyes for a moment. The moment lasted just seconds but felt like minutes. I saw his eyes widen with shock when he noticed me. The moment passed when Don Lorenzo hit the gas and the police cars disappeared in the opposite direction.

When we came back to the mansion Don Lorenzo and Tomasso went in talking with each other loudly. I did not listen to anything they said on the way home. My mind was with Duke, and I was walking back and forth at the gate thinking about what I should tell him. I don’t know how long I was outside but at some point, I saw Duke his truck driving up to the gate.

I went out of the gate and saw him stepping out of the car. His normally kind eyes were narrow and angry. My throat went dry when I saw the way he looked at me. He slammed his door and walked toward me, “What the hell Vanessa? You just ruined my only chance in years to put an end to the crime in this town. I worked towards this moment for years and you told them??? You better have a good explanation for this. Why would you tell them?”

My breath was trembling when I responded, “I am so sorry Duke. But you have to believe that I had no choice. I can’t tell you why you just have to trust me that I had a good reason.”

“Trust you?! Trust you? Are you insane? Why were you even there? Lorenzo Romano only takes his left and right hand to these kinds of meetings.”

I did not know how to respond and Duke looked at me suspiciously, “Are you telling me that you became his left hand? Please tell me that is not true.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“I don’t know what to say, Duke..”

He took a step back, “So you lied to me all this time? Was it all fake? Do you even love me?”

Tears started to emerge from my eyes, “Of course I do! I fell in love with you. My feelings are not faked!”

I tried to take his hand, but he quickly pulled it away. “Don’t touch me right now!” He snapped.

He walked back to his car and said, “I need some time to think. Do not bother calling.”