Chapter 34 : The Condemned

**Catalina

I was glowing with body glitter under the streetlamps as The Pound's guards shoved me in the back of a limo. I remembered the last time I'd been in one of these. Mateo had been bringing me back to Efrain.

Goddess, how I missed him. It ached in my soul.

A sleazy middle-aged Italian man was sitting in the back of the limo already. His shirt was unbuttoned to reveal a forest of springy chest hair. "Hey, babe."

I swallowed. "Mr. Russo?"

"Don Russo, but let's not quibble over titles," Russo said. He ran a fingertip down my shoulder, staring at my see-through camisole.

"Are we… doing it here?" I asked, sniffing the air and realizing he was a shifter. I wondered why he preferred "Don" instead of "Alpha." All the Alphas I knew were dons, but they preferred "Alpha."

Russo leaned in and licked my neck, groping my breast through the diaphanous fabric as I felt the limo pull away from the curb. "You smell nice, and you taste good."

I choked back a sassy retort. After see