Knight Life In Vegas (Sin City Omegas #3)

Chapter 25

“ Y ou brought a friend,” Eduardo commented when I slid through the arena doors with Beau and my children.

“I did.” I stepped right into his waiting embrace, lemon oil, pepper, and the unmistakable undercurrent of horse filled my nose. A lot of people didn’t like the smell of a stable, but it was so intrinsically linked to my youth that it only made me nostalgic. “He’s moving to Vegas for a while until his body stops panicking that I’m far away.”

Dylan bounded over, sandwiching me between him and Eduardo. “Hey, princess. Brought the whole squad?”

“Hi.” I wiggled between them, body lighting up at their proximity and the fresh rush of leather and cherries coming from Dylan. “The boys are very excited to pet horses before bed.”

“Well, we can’t keep them waiting, then, can we?” Dylan asked, planting a kiss on the top of my head before turning to my children. “You boys want to meet some of the other horses? I’ll take you around.”

The boys’ eyes were like saucers as Dylan took each of their hands and led them into the stables.

I nuzzled against Eduardo, only a little self-conscious after the last time I’d seen him. Like Beau, I’d let my panic guide me, but I was trying not to do that this time. I couldn’t keep sprinting away every time I got uncomfortable. It wasn’t their fault Andrew had fucked me up.

“Did you miss us?” Eduardo asked. “You’re affectionate today.”

“I’m trying to be chill.”

Eduardo laughed. “I see. And what does that mean?”

“Means I wouldn’t disappear into the night if you kissed me right now.”

He tucked his fingers beneath my chin and lifted my face to his, bending to capture my mouth in a kiss that made my toes curl.

Beau cleared his throat.

I drew away from Eduardo and turned to Beau. “Sorry, got caught up for a minute.”

He shrugged. “I’m not here to get in the way of you and your other matches. I just thought you’d be more comfortable if I had something to do besides watch you.”

“Chico is trapped on the phone,” said Eduardo, “but we can show you the stables until he’s free.”

I offered one hand to Beau, linking my fingers of the other with Eduardo’s. Beau was pink-cheeked as he accepted. Eduardo took us around to each of the horses, their names emblazoned above their stalls. Beau tensed each time we got close, his grip subtly tightening. I watched him carefully, noting the twitch in his jaw and how wide his eyes were as I reached out to pat Eduardo’s horse, Scout.

“Do you want to pet him?” I asked Beau.

“I’d rather not.”

I stared at him for a moment. “Are you afraid of horses?”

“They’re all very well trained,” Eduardo promised us. “They’re selected for their temperament.”

“Horses don’t like me,” Beau insisted.

“Probably ’cause you’re wigging them out with all that nervous energy wafting off you,” Dylan called down the stable.

“He’s not wrong,” said Eduardo.

“Scout’s lovely.” I patted the gelding’s velvety nose. “Here, I can show you.”

The moment I nudged our joined hands toward Scout, Beau froze up.

I turned, cupping his face. “Hey, it’s okay. They’re not going to hurt you.”

“They’re huge,” Beau replied. “I’ve seen them bite.”

“Scout hasn’t bitten anyone since he was a colt.” Eduardo scratched Scout behind his ear.

“That’s a history of biting,” Beau pointed out.

“You took one brave step today,” I told him. “This is just one more. I won’t push you if you really don’t want to, but I also don’t want you running around terrified of horses if I can help fix that.”

Beau sighed. “Very well.”

“We’ll be quick,” I promised.

I laid his hand over the back of mine so he could pull away if he needed to and then guided our hands to Scout’s cheek. I caught the subtle shake in Beau’s touch, but Scout didn’t seem to mind. Spreading my fingers apart, I let Beau make contact with Scout, his fingers falling between mine.

“See, Scout’s a good boy.”

“You’re here.”

I turned to see Francisco hustling into the stables.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived. I’ve been stuck on calls with investors. You wouldn’t think it would be so damn difficult to find someone willing to support a business without wanting a stranglehold on it.”

“What are you looking for investors for?” Beau asked.

Francisco hesitated for a moment. “Just trying to recover from a few things that happened before I took over. I wasn’t exactly planning to be in charge this early.”

I turned very briefly back to Beau, whispering, “I’m proud of you for being brave. I’ll be right back.” I stepped over to Francisco and slid directly into his arms. His grip pressed me tightly against him, and it was impossible to miss the shudder that rolled through him.

“I was half expecting you wouldn’t come today.”

“I’m trying to be braver than before,” I replied, indulging in the instinctual drive to nuzzle against his chest. Planting my forehead against him let me take deep inhales of his orange liqueur and clove scent. A bit of agitation still burned the edges of it and my instincts didn’t like that one bit. I held my breath, standing on my toes so I could swipe my cheek against his throat in a scent mark.

Francisco froze. “Duchess, was that?—”

“A scent mark? Yes. You’re stressed.”

His orange and clove mellowed almost instantly and I hooked my hands behind his neck, drawing him closer. Our mouths met in a sweet brush before he groaned against my lips, diving deeper, his hand threading through my hair to cup my head. I shoved down my whine, body tingling at his touch.

“Does that mean you’re accepting the match?”

I chewed my lip, delighted at the way his gaze was drawn to it. “Not entirely. I still maintain I’m in no fit state to be contemplating relationships, but I don’t want to deny things that make us both happy. Does that make sense?”

“I can be a very patient man, duchess. If I get to keep you while you’re figuring things out, I’m certainly not going to say no to that.”

It was better for everyone if I let us all indulge. I knew I was touch starved, but maybe the others struggled with that too. Why make any of us suffer when the solution was right there?

“I need all of you to think critically about the match. This isn’t a typical situation. I’m not an omega coming into the match on my own. I have kids to think about and I will never bring them into a situation that repeats the relationship they had with their father. Don’t ask me to accept a match before you’ve all actually considered what that would mean.”

I watched him absorb the words, focusing on the subtle shifts in his expression as I spoke.

“I promise it hasn’t escaped any of our notice that you have children, or what that would mean if you packed up with us.”

“It’s still different than the reality,” I insisted. “It would never be a case of doing only the fun things. You can’t know how you’ll react to the unpleasant parts of parenting until you’re in it. I’m not saying I need you guys to do anything, but I do need you to consider all the ways your lives would be impacted. If you really want me to think about one day accepting, I have to know you’ll be doing the same for more than a sake of fate.”

“It sounds like you’re just giving me a road map to your heart.”

Maybe I was. I needed to know that my children would be loved and wanted as much as I would be. From what little I’d seen of the alphas, they seemed like amazing men. Dylan was entertaining my kids right now, but those were the fun parts. They hadn’t experienced sleepless nights or tantrums, and the thousand other things I had to navigate on the daily. Parenthood was one of those things that hit you like a truck, except quite often that truck reversed and drove over you a few more times. You had to face it no matter how exhausted and broken you were.

Unable to bear the weight of emotion in Francisco’s gaze, I dipped my head down and stepped back, only to be nearly toppled when Ollie crashed into me. He took my knees right out from under me and Francisco caught us both before we smacked into the concrete floor.

“Easy there, little man. We don’t run around the horses.”

“ I didn’t run,” Sammy announced. I bit my lip to stop from laughing. He was a rule follower, but mostly so he could get brownie points, and loved pointing out when other people broke the rules.

“I wanted to tell Mommy that we should get to do a field trip so all my friends can pet the horses.” Ollie burrowed his face against my side.

“I can certainly bring it up to the school.” I glanced to Francisco, who still had his arms wrapped firmly around me. “Do you guys do field trips?”

“Once in a blue moon.”

“Does the arena get used during the day?”

“Mostly for training, or when we have new hires who need to practice, but that’s not every day.”

Sammy bundled up against my other side, wedging between me and Francisco. “I’m tall enough to see over Sugar Snap. Dylan said I could learn to ride on her.”

I swiveled my gaze to Dylan, who was busy eavesdropping on Beau and Eduardo talking. “Did he now?”

“Yep.” Sammy nodded. “That was the rule. We all have to be tall enough to see over a horsey back so we can take care of them.”

“Sugar Snap is one of our ponies,” Francisco explained. “Everyone always gets a kick out of her going out in the knight’s horse regalia.”

Dylan tiptoed over like the others wouldn’t notice he had been snooping on their conversation, but Eduardo caught him with narrowed eyes, Dylan offering a grin and leaping to cross the short distance to us. “What do you think, Mama? Would it be okay if I trained up some young squires?”

“Only if I can help. Do you guys usually offer lessons?”

“Who has the time?” Francisco said with a laugh.

“I mean, I do . We were going to talk about potential employment. Why not explore that avenue?”

Francisco’s fingers flexed against my waist. “We do have a fair few docile rides that would be good for beginners.”

My mind immediately started churning. Extended lessons for locals, crash courses for tourists, maybe even training programs for people who eventually wanted to join Night of Knights or other places where those skills would be invaluable.

“Be sure you make use of waivers and amp up your bodily injury insurance if you’re going to be doing lessons,” said Beau as he and Eduardo joined us. “I’m sure you already know all of that, but I would be lax if I didn’t mention it regardless.”

“We could charge a premium if we’re having our equestrian champion give lessons,” said Eduardo. “Regular people probably won’t care, but there’s always the ones with more money than sense and want their kids taught by the best of the best even if it’s just for fun.”

Beau stiffened.

“Were you one of those parents with Bryce?” I asked.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting the best for your child,” he defended.

Dylan laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “And that is exactly why people like you are gonna save this place.”