Knight Life In Vegas (Sin City Omegas #3)

Chapter 19

D ylan was trying desperately to beat me in our racing game, but he always got too excitable. He didn’t have the clarity to strategize and win with anything besides speeding. His phone rang on the coffee table in front of us, an unknown number rolling across the screen.

“Who’s that?” I asked.

Dylan shrugged. “No idea. Scam caller probably.”

He let it go to voicemail, but then the call came through again. I paused the game, letting him answer it to see what warranted a double call.

“Hello?”

“Um, hi, this is Sammy.” I could faintly hear the voice on the other end of the line and leaned closer to listen. “You said to call for anything.”

Dylan’s spine snapped straight. “Charlotte’s Sammy?”

“Yeah, um, I didn’t get permission from Mommy to call, but she’s sick, and, um…”

“Shit! She’s sick? Oh, fuck, I shouldn’t be swearing in front of you. Damn it! Sorry.”

I plucked the phone out of his hand. “Sammy, it’s Eduardo. What’s going on?”

“I dunno. She’s been sleeping most of the day. She fell asleep on the floor after lunch.”

Panic shot straight through me. “Do you know your address?”

“No.” Sammy whimpered.

“Okay, it’s okay. Can you check the fridge? My mom always had our address written down and stuck on the fridge. Maybe yours has done that too.”

I heard him rustling around, his footsteps presumably leading him into the kitchen. “It’s there!”

“Dylan, get a paper and pen,” I whispered, nudging him into motion. When he returned a few seconds later, I grabbed both from him. “Okay, Sammy, read me the address, please.”

He did so, and I dutifully wrote it down.

Chico emerged from the shower, towel around his waist. I put Sammy on speaker and stole the phone out of Chico’s hand, plugging the address in.

“Sammy, I want you to stay on the phone with me. We’re just getting ready to leave and will be there in about fifteen minutes. Do you think your mom needs to go to the hospital?”

“I dunno. She said she didn’t want a doctor.”

“All right. I’m going to keep you on speakerphone and you can chat with Dylan.” I passed the phone back, letting a panic-eyed Dylan distract the boys while I shoved Chico into his bedroom. “Get dressed. We’re leaving.”

“What the fuck is going on?”

“Charlotte’s sick and the kids called Dylan for help.”

“What the what? Why are they calling Dylan? How do they have his number? Why isn’t she calling someone?”

“Stop asking questions and get dressed.”

With a huff, he complied, and I disappeared to my own room, shoving a few supplies into a bag. I wasn’t sure what we would find when we got there, but I didn’t want to have to leave again because I was unprepared.

I’d had a low-grade headache since discovering Charlotte was our scent match and being forced to part ways. I shoved some painkillers, extra phone chargers, basic toiletries, and a change of clothes before making the rounds to gather up the same for the others.

Dylan didn’t look reassured at all when I returned to the living room. Hopefully it was a different story when we actually got to see Charlotte. Chico hustled after us, fully dressed but still damp.

I kept a handhold on the back of Dylan’s shirt so he didn’t run. The last thing we needed was for him to trip and make us have to detour to get him medical attention. I checked the street view on my phone, sliding into the passenger seat and letting Chico take the wheel. They lived in an apartment.

“Sammy, we’re in the car. Do you know how to let people into the building?”

“No.”

Shit.

“Do you see a little speaker with buttons near the door to the hallway?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. When we arrive, you’re going to hit each of those buttons, and if you hear a buzzing sound through the phone, that’ll be the doors unlocking to let us come up and see you.”

I watched our progress on the map, letting Dylan take over the phone call and giving updates every few minutes. After what felt like an eternity, we arrived and parked on the street. Dylan was out of the car as soon as it stilled, bursting through the first set of doors. I ran after him.

“Sammy, we’re here. Push the buttons.”

“I gotta get a stool.”

I flexed my hand, ready to punch straight through the glass to get to our omega, but I had to be patient. We didn’t know if this was an emergency situation, and so far Sammy was handling it just fine. No sense in stressing him out unnecessarily.

When the buzz to unlock the doors sounded, I nearly wrenched the damn thing off its hinges. The three of us rode the elevator up and when we hit the hallway, I told Sammy to open his door to let us in. At the far end, a tiny face peeked out and waved.

Dylan got away from me, running ahead and nearly causing a three-person pile-up when Ollie darted into the hall. He threw himself clean over Charlotte’s youngest, hands meeting the carpet ahead of him and sending him into a roll. Good thing he had plenty of training in knowing how to fall without hurting himself.

This was why I didn’t want him to run. I sighed, Chico and I picking up our pace to join them.

All my alpha instincts roared to life when I saw Charlotte curled up on her side on the living room rug. I dropped to my knees next to her, quickly making sure she was still warm and breathing, while my heart was lodged in my throat.

She let out a little groan. Thank god. I would’ve perished on the spot if we’d walked in to her dead.

The whole place smelled like burnt sugar and fermented lemons.

“We’re here, querida. You’re going to be okay. I’m going to check you over, all right?”

Her whimper was her only answer. I wasn’t that well trained, but first aid certification was pretty mandatory when you worked with large animals and weaponry. A quick check revealed nothing broken or obviously injured, just sweat at her temples and her heartbeat a little faster than I was comfortable with.

“Let’s get you into your nest.”

Chico and Dylan hovered.

“Sammy, where’s her bedroom?”

The child led us to the end of the hall, swinging the door open to reveal a painfully plain room. Besides a couple of extra pillows on her bed, it didn’t even look like an omega lived here. Why didn’t she have a real nest?

I settled her on the bed and her fingers curled into my shirt. “What… What are you doing here?”

“Taking care of you. When was the last time you ate something?”

She shrugged halfheartedly.

It was nearly nine at night, so it was likely at least one meal had been skipped if she didn’t remember which was her last.

“Chico, Dylan.” They were both right behind me. “Rest with her. I’m going to make sure everyone is fed.”

As much as I wanted to climb in with her myself, Chico could burn water, and Dylan’s main specialty was anything on toast. She needed something more substantial.

I almost tripped over Sammy and Ollie when I turned around to find them right there.

“Are we having a family nap?” Ollie asked.

“Family nap sounds great,” I replied. “Why don’t you climb in and I’ll make you something to eat?”

They clambered over Charlotte’s prone form, and I winced at the thought of little feet, knees, and elbows driving into her as they got settled.

Her scent was already starting to soften when everyone crowded around her, drawing a blanket up so she was safely cocooned. Chico and Dylan were purring away, Charlotte’s own purr crackling and stuttering in response.

I turned from the room, faced immediately with the reality of her apartment. Toys littered every surface, a half-folded basket of laundry on her couch, bowls of what looked like the remnants of boxed mac and cheese on the living room floor. This was the best way for me to deal with a crisis. Doing things with my hands helped me focus.

I opened every cabinet so I could see where everything belonged, unloaded her dishwasher, and then loaded every dirty dish I could find in the apartment, turning it on even though it was only partially full. Better to get everything clean as soon as possible.

Next, I scrubbed down her counters and unused portions of the stove. She had all the ingredients for a decent breakfast for dinner, and that was always a crowd-pleaser. I spread a package of bacon onto a cookie sheet and shoved it in the oven to cook while I whipped up a batch of sheet pan pancakes before scrambling some eggs. I bundled the cooked eggs into a little casserole dish and tucked them into the oven alongside the bacon and pancakes, leaving me with more time to get this place into order.

While I tidied, I learned about the tenacity of the omega who had been haunting my dreams. She obviously tried her best. A place like this with small kids could get overwhelmed so quickly, but it wasn’t filthy. I knew what growing up with little boys was like and the kind of messes they made. When Charlotte woke, I wanted her to feel relaxed, not like she had a mountain of chores waiting for her the moment she felt well enough to stand.

Dylan emerged nearly an hour later.

“How’s she doing?”

“Improving. Her eyes are clear now, and her scent is sweet. What can I help with?”

“Wipe down the coffee table.” I ran a dish cloth under the tap, wrung it out, and tossed it at him. “Food is ready.”

Dylan made quick work of the coffee table, taking a couple extra minutes to wipe down some other dusty surfaces within reach and stacking the laundry baskets out of the way.

“Sammy, Ollie, come get some dinner,” he called.

I loaded up their plastic plates with a sliced square of the pancake, a scoop of eggs, and two strips of bacon each, adding butter and syrup for them. They were finished within a couple of minutes of sitting down at the coffee table.

“Dylan will get you more if you’re still hungry.”

I slipped away into Charlotte’s bedroom, where it was only her and Chico. “Are you ready for some food, querida?”

“Please. I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t be here cooking for my kids.” Her cheeks were beautifully pink, but by her scent it was only embarrassment and not fever.

“I promise you, it’s my pleasure to help take care of your family.”

That had her blushing harder.

“Do you want to eat in bed or in the living room?”

“I don’t think there’s room for all of us if I go to the living room.”

She wasn’t wrong. “I’ll bring you a plate.”

I returned a few moments later with a plate in one hand, a water bottle tucked under my arm, and a cup of tea in my hand. I passed her the plate and set down the cup and bottle on her bedside table.

“I’ll help Dylan keep an eye on the boys,” Chico announced, extracting himself from the bed, leaving Charlotte and me alone.

She glanced shyly between me and her plate before patting the bed next to her.

Praise fucking god. That was an invitation I never thought I would get, and I wasn’t going to waste it.