Viola's Risk (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 2) (17 page)

After Dominic’s departure, Thomas, Angelica and Sage sat
there for a few minutes, each mulling over this latest development. Sage knew
if Dominic wasn’t Viola’s mate, the consequences for daring to disobey orders
would be severe. He only hoped that being Viola’s mate would be enough to spare
him. As he thought about it, he started to think that they could use this to
their advantage.

“Sir, what if we use this to try to get more information
from Anna? I could go with Dominic to visit her and try to get a read on her
emotional grid to see if she’s telling him the truth. If anything, I’ll get a
read on Patrick as to whether or not he’s ready to tell us what we need to
know,” Sage suggested, hesitating a bit because he wasn’t sure how Thomas would
react to his suggestion.

“After everything we did to get him away from Anna, you want
us to send him back in? We almost lost Viola on that mission,” Thomas said,
furious.

“I realize that, but how long can we keep Anna on this
property before she manages to get loose? We’ve got both of the twins right
here within her reach if that happens. Once we get the information we need, we
can put them on trial for their actions and end this,” Sage argued in response.

“Sage is right. We have to end their part in this. Then we
need to figure out what my mother is up to because she is far worse than Anna
could ever hope to be,” Angelica said with clear worry radiating from her.

“You know Viola will object to this. We would be asking him to
put himself in direct danger,” Thomas responded. “I gave my word to not keep
them in the dark any longer.”

Angelica and Sage looked at each other with wide eyes,
shocked that he had made that statement.

“First thing in the morning, when Dominic hands in his
report, we will sit down with the girls and fill them in on the situation. We
will decide this as a group,” Thomas said with a nod of his head.

“I’m not sure alerting them to Anna’s presence on the
property is the best course of action sir. They need to feel safe here and I
doubt they will if they know both of them are here too, even if the two are
locked up,” Sage argued.

“It is too late for that now. I made a promise that I intend
to keep to my daughters. If it comes down to it, we’ll either change locations
or the girls will adapt, but they will be included in the decision,” Thomas
said, closing the subject with his tone of voice.

Angelica watched their discussion, silently agreeing with
Sage, but proud her husband was taking his promise to Cora and Viola with such
commitment. She was torn between protecting the girls and her mate’s promise.

“Yes, sir,” Sage said as he stood. “If there’s nothing else,
I’m going to turn in for the night?”

“No, there’s nothing else. Go get some rest. I will let
everyone else know about the meeting at breakfast. We may have to postpone
their training for at least one more day while we handle this situation,”
Thomas said, shaking his head in frustration.

“Sir, may I ask what Dominic’s punishment will be for
disobeying orders?” Sage asked, careful not to overstep his boundaries.

“I have not decided just yet,” Thomas said in a tone that
allowed no further questions.

Sage nodded and wished them both a good night, before
leaving the study and heading to his room. He didn’t know how all of this was
going to play out, but his mind was working through all contingencies.

*****

Dominic sat in his room, laptop open but fingers still on
the keyboard. He had to keep reminding himself that he’d done the right thing
by confessing what he’d done to Thomas and Angelica, before they found out some
other way.

Fear of what would happen to him for disobeying orders kept
him from focusing on the task of writing the report about what had occurred
down in the prisons with Anna and Patrick. He was terrified he would be sent
away and not allowed to mate with Viola because of his actions.

Shaking his head, he set the laptop on the bed next to him,
stood and walked over to the window, gazing out over the property. He allowed
his mind to wander for a bit before reining it in to focus on his report. He
refused to make the situation worse by disobeying another direct order from
Thomas.

As the memories came back, he began to type what happened.
He hadn’t been there long so there wasn’t much to put into the report, but he
relayed everything he could remember. Every word Anna and Patrick had spoken,
the feelings he’d felt from each of them, how they’d responded to each other
and their guess that he’d been there, he included in his report. There was no
detail that crossed his mind that he didn’t include.

Once he was finished typing, he went over the report several
times, adding, reordering and fixing details as they became clearer. After he
finished, he saved the report and sent it via email to Thomas and closed down
the laptop.

He still couldn’t rest so he changed into his workout gear
and headed into the training center to run some laps.

As his feet pounded on the floor, the rhythm of his pace and
elevated heartbeat, helped to ease his mind enough to where he thought he might
be able to get some sleep. Tomorrow would be a long day with Viola and Cora’s
training beginning. He was also sure Thomas would hand down his punishment at
some point the next day as well.

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he headed back to
his room, took a quick shower and climbed into bed. It took a long time, but he
was finally able to drift off into a restless sleep.

*****

The next morning, Viola woke up to her entire body aching
and stiff from the rigorous workout Sage had put them through the previous
evening. She groaned as she rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom,
turning the knobs on the shower to as hot as she could get the water and
climbing in. She prayed the heat from the water would ease her muscles enough
to help her get through the day today.

She stayed in the shower until the water began turning cold
before turning off the water and getting ready for a long, hard day in the
training center. Glad the heat from the shower had helped, she pulled on yoga
pants and a tank top, yanked a brush through her long hair before securing it
up into a pony tail and heading down to breakfast.

She was eager to see Dominic and begin their day. The sooner
she could learn how to use her powers to defend and protect, the less she would
have to worry about being a ticking time bomb like she was at the moment. Even
she could feel that element in herself right now and hated the feeling.

She could tell something was wrong when she entered the
dining room, it was like a cloud was hanging over everyone already in
attendance for the meal. She went over and took her seat with Dominic,
who was being his normal attentive self, pulling out
her seat for her before returning to his own.

“Okay, what is going on?” Viola asked as she reached for her
coffee.

“We will fill you in on everything after breakfast in my
study,” Thomas said, his voice much like his posture, stiff as a board.

Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good and made a knot form
in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t press the issue and wasn’t surprised when
nobody else did either. It was a silent meal, the first of its kind since she’d
moved in with her parents. It was more unnerving than anything she’d ever felt
before in her life.

When everyone was finished eating, Thomas stood and lead
everyone out of the dining room and into his study, for the meeting that would
change everything for her.

After everyone was settled down in the study, Thomas cleared
his throat. Viola looked around and noticed that Dominic almost looked afraid,
Sage looked worried, Cora was just as confused as she was and Angelica and Liam
were each apprehensive about what was about to happen.

“I made you girls a promise that we wouldn’t hide things
from you anymore. There is something we need to discuss with you right now,”
Thomas said, making the hairs on the back of Viola’s neck stand up in warning.
Whatever it was, she knew it wouldn’t be good.

“What is it?” Cora asked, apprehension in her voice.

“Please don’t be angry with us. You are in no danger. We
felt certain circumstances warranted us telling you this so you both could have
a say in what happens next,” Angelica said, worry in her voice.

Dominic looked down at the floor and that told Viola
something was very wrong. Sage looked like he wanted to shut her parents up
somehow, but stayed quiet against his wishes. When no one else said anything
for a few minutes, she spoke up.

“Would someone please tell us what is going on here?” she demanded
and threw her hands up in frustration.

“Anna and Patrick are being kept in the prison below the
house. They are both under maximum security and under constant watch so you don’t
have to worry about them,” Thomas told them and his revelation knocked the
breath from Viola’s lungs.

“What?!” both Cora and Viola screamed.

“Why weren’t we told about this before now?” Viola demanded.

“Because we wanted you to feel safe here. They can’t harm
you from where they are,” Angelica spoke, trying to calm their girls flying
emotions.

“Look, we told you for a reason. Dominic, please tell
everyone what you came here and told Angelica, Sage and I last night,” Thomas
said, putting Viola’s mate on the spot.

Dominic’s eyes shot up and looked at Thomas with shock. He’d
known this meeting was happening because of his actions, but he’d never
imagined he’d have to confess to everyone else what he’d done. However, he knew
better than to argue. This was not a battle he was going to win.

As he filled Liam, Cora and Viola in on what he’d done, he
could see the horror filling his mate’s face. He knew he’d messed up big time
by the time he’d finished speaking.

“What we need to decide on now is where to go from here. We
have an opportunity to use Dominic to gain information from Anna, but both of
you need to agree to this plan. He will have Sage there as backup in case Anna
tries any of her tricks,” Thomas told the girls, who sat there stunned and
trying to absorb all of the information that had just been dropped into their
laps.

“No way, absolutely not. We just got him away from her. You
cannot be seriously considering this as an option. No way am I going to be okay
with Dominic’s life being put in danger like this,” Viola declared, disbelief
and anger in her voice.

“Viola think about it. Dominic won’t be in danger because
he’ll have backup. I wouldn’t let anything happen to him at all.” Sage told
her. “This is an opportunity we need to take advantage of.”

“Are you kidding me? You were supposed to be his backup the
last time too and ended up shooting him with a tranq and then getting yourself
cornered by Anna. Then Cora and I had to come and save your butt. Forgive me if
I have a hard time believing he wouldn’t be in danger,” Viola scoffed, feeling
bad she was stooping so low, but not seeing any other choice at the moment. Her
instincts demanded she do her best to protect her mate.

“That was uncalled for Viola,” Liam said, irritated with
her.

“No, she’s right. I knew we should have filled Viola in on
the plan the first time and in the end, I was cornered by Anna. She’s right. I
underestimated her the last time, I won’t do so again,” Sage said, making eye
contact with Viola.

“That’s not good enough for me,” Viola said, upset.

“Beautiful One, you have to trust me. I can do this. Sage is
right, we have an opportunity here that we need to seize,” Dominic said,
reaching over and taking her hands in his.

“This is not about trust, this is about your safety. I
couldn’t handle it if you got hurt or killed. I saw what it did to Cora when
Liam was tortured by that evil witch,” Viola pleaded with him.

“I need you to understand that I have to do this. I will
take every precaution I can, but I won’t hide from this,” Dominic told her,
begging her to understand.

“Fine, then I’m going with you as backup,” Viola stated,
being stubborn.

“That’s not a good idea,” Sage and Liam spoke up at the same
time.

“That is the only way I am going to agree to this insane
plan, so take it or leave it,” Viola said, pulling her hands back from
Dominic’s grasp and meeting each of their eyes dead on.

“I am going too. There’s no way she’ll get away or hurt
Dominic if we’re both there to back him up,” Cora spoke up for the first time.

“This is a moot discussion. Neither of you are going down
there. Liam and Sage will backup Dominic,” Thomas said, putting his foot down.

“Then you can do this without Dominic,” Viola said, standing
up and putting her hands on her hips.

“You are being unreasonable,” Thomas declared, glaring at
his daughter.

“I agree with her. I wouldn’t be alright with Liam being put
in that situation. In fact, there’s no way that I’m okay with Liam going as
backup for Dominic without me being there to help back them up,” Cora said,
standing up next to Viola and the two of them made a stand together.

“Girls, please understand why we don’t want you involved in
this. Anna has been trying very hard to kill one or both of you to prevent the
prophecy from coming true. You both need to be very careful and think before
you act,” Angelica told them in a gentle voice.

“Neither one of us are afraid of Anna. Trust me, we’ve been
at her mercy. It would be a pleasure to cause her even half of the pain she’s
caused us over the years,” Viola said, venom dripping from her words.

“No kidding. We’ve never run from her before, we’re not
going to run and hide from her now. She needs to know she can’t defeat us that
easily and what she’s done to us will not go unpunished,” Cora declared.

“So, if you insist on proceeding with this mission, you
might as well include us in the whole thing,” Viola said, a sarcastic smile on
her face.

“Cora, think about what you’re saying here. Neither one of
you have the training or control over your emotions to be adequate backup
against Anna,” Liam said, stepping in front of his mate and trying to get her
to see reason.

“It seems to me that each of us has been up against her once
and won both times,” Cora said, not budging.

“Viola’s encounter almost cost her her life,” Dominic
stated, standing up and moving in front of Viola so she’d see just how scared
that had made him and the thought of it being repeated terrified him.

“Yeah well, both of us have lived and learned from that
experience.  Well, we can go around and around in circles over this or we can
just agree that the two of us will be included as backup for Dominic. Your
choice,” Viola said, looking Dominic in the eyes and not backing down.

“You two are stubborn and unreasonable and it’s going to get
you both killed if you’re not careful,” Sage said, standing up and walking over
to stand beside Thomas. “It’s looking like we don’t have many options here.”

Thomas shook his head and began pacing the floor. It seemed
as if they were at a stalemate and he needed a few minutes to decide the right
course of action as everyone stood there waiting for his decision.