Chapter 77 - Hidden insults

Chapter 77 - Hidden insults
Cathy's pov

Approaching disaster, that was the feeling I had inside. I could barely hold it together, and the insides of my cheeks were starting to hurt from biting them so hard to keep calm. On one side of me, Alfonzo. I still didn't know why he had come. Every time I tried to bring up the subject, he would float away with flattery and comments about missing me and just wanting to visit me. Bullshit, he had something in his sights, if only I knew what. On my other side, Gora. Gora and his monster alter ego. It was the alter ego I had met in his room earlier that evening. At first, I was so shocked by what he said and the way he said it. Gora had never spoken to me that way before, which also made me quickly realize that he didn't now either. I had mixed feelings about him, which wasn't so strange since he had a split personality. Gora, the charmer who charmed and chivalrously made me feel like the only girl in the room, and his monster, the bloodthirsty, violent one who had killed me that night in the hotel room if Freespi had been more numb. Freespi, she wasn't happy to have either of them here, and I understood her. I didn't want them here either. But if I had sent them away, it could have caused something worse. Sure, I could have asked Callum and Hope to come, then this would have been cleared up very quickly. But what would that say about me? That I couldn't handle this...and after persuading Callum to give me Low Falls until James was ready, I had to show that I had this. If only Andy could come, everything would feel a little better. He wouldn't get away with this, he knew how much I needed him here and still chose to leave me in the lurch. Gora said he had seemed nervous, that wasn't likely, he must have read him wrong. What could make Andy nervous?
“You seem worried, mio fiore.” Alfonzo leaned closer to me and looked fakedly worried.
“No, no…I’m just wondering where Andy might have gone.”
“Ah, Andy…the young wolf who was by your side earlier.” Alfonzo nodded slowly before continuing. “At home…we see it as a good sign when a young, strong wolf wants some…me time.”
“Me time?”
“Mhm, young wolves are unpredictable without it. Their me time helps them stay calm and sharp.
“And by me time, you mean…”
“Time with a girl, probably. Think…he’s by your side constantly, obeys your slightest gesture, carries out your slightest request…but he himself also has desires, and being in the shadow of a beautiful, strong woman doesn’t make them any less. On the contrary, mia bella.” He took my hand and brought it to his lips for a soft kiss.
“Hrm!” Gora cleared his throat loudly on my other side, and I instinctively pulled my hand back and heard a muffled growl from Alfonzo’s chest.
“That could explain why I read him as nervous, perhaps? Maybe he just needed some so-called alone time to…relax tense muscles.” Gora raised his glass to Alfonzo in a grateful gesture, as if to thank him for the explanation. Alfonzo responded with an irritated roll of his eyes before smiling and nodding at me, as if he agreed with Gora’s explanation of Andy’s behavior. I got the feeling that these two had only just begun this rival dance, where my attention apparently was the prize. Time to figure out a way to make them back off. It would have been easier with Andy by my side, but at the same time, I could understand the explanation that he needed his “alone time” and he had chosen a time when he knew I was uncomfortable but safe. Alfonzo wouldn’t hurt me or let anyone else do it either.
I wish I could link him, but we didn’t have a bond. I wasn’t his real Luna, he was still pretty much a rogue until he swore himself to James or whoever it would be. But there was someone who could link him, someone who could hook all wolves...Hope and Luna. I could have sent a text, or called and just asked her to contact him, see if he was okay, and ask him to show up ASAP. But what would that show? Well, I couldn’t do without my right hand for a dinner, for an evening. No, that wasn’t an option, not at this point anyway.
“So, I was thinking of inviting Callum and Hope here. Hope’s wolf, Luna, would be overjoyed to meet her children from Italy.” It wasn’t something I had planned, but I wanted to see Alfonzo’s reaction. And there was a reaction. Concern at the mention of Callum, and was it longing mixed with spite that I saw fleetingly pass by in his eyes when I mentioned Luna as everyone’s mother.
“Ah, it would be a pleasure to meet them, really, but I’m sure they have more important things to do. From what I understand, there’s to be an addition to the family?”
“Yes! Isn’t it wonderful? I’m going to be an aunt!” For a second, I forgot all my worries and felt only happiness over my nephew growing in Hope’s belly.
“And I also understand that there is…a truce with the bloodsuckers?” That sentence dripped with disgust as it left Alfonzo’s lips, and the disgust was just as clear when he looked at Gora.
“That’s right. Ambrogio and Luna have buried the hatchet. Hope helped a lot with that bit. The vampires helped when she was saved from the hunters, and now they are working together to wipe out all the hunter phalanxes.”
“But that can’t be the whole idea? I mean, I understand that it’s a way to lull Father Fang and his…offspring into a false sense of security and then drive a stake through his heart when he least expects it. That must be the true goal, right? To kill Ambrogio and put an end to the vampires once and for all!” Alfonzo’s mask had fallen, he forgot for a moment to hide his intentions and, not least, he forgot that there was a vampire, a son of Ambrogio, sitting across from him at the table.
He must have known that a vampire cannot control his emotions when it comes to Ambrogio. He is etched into their DNA, and they will defend him to the death. I thought I saw an amused expression on Alfonzo’s face when he realized he had hit the nail on the head.
Gora’s chair shattered against the wall behind him as it flew away from his quick movement from sitting to standing. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He had been a gentleman all evening despite all the hateful looks and rude comments from my other guests. I expected him to throw himself across the table and bury his fangs in Alfonzo’s throat, but instead, he just stood there. His hands gripped the edge of the table, and it was clear he was having an internal dialogue with himself. Then he suddenly relaxed. The insulted, wounded look was replaced by something else. A superior, cocky, nonchalant...deadly.
“I would like to see the scoundrel who succeeds…to kill my father. Aayla herself, your mother, couldn’t do it in all their battles over the years, and her successors have been no more successful. I think we can all agree on that Aayla’s spirit, Luna, is simply no better than a retired, flea-bitten doormat. But I wish you luck, I can’t wait to shake the hand…or paw, that succeeds!” He smiled a cocky, dazzling smile, drained his wine glass, and without a glance in my direction, he left the room. No one said a word, the astonishment on their faces was clear. If there was anyone who knew vampires, it was the San Marino wolves, and for them, what had just happened was impossible. It would have been so for me too, if I didn’t know better. Gora had handed over the reins to the monster, and the monster had no connection to Ambrogio.