Mafia's Broken Omega (Mated in the Mafia #6)

9. Cord

9

CORD

I wanted nothing more than to climb into my bed and crash. Although most of the family business went down at night, I was not a night person. Couldn't we torture someone for information at eight in the morning? What was so wrong with that idea?

I functioned so much better in the morning. If anything had to be done at night, it was best just to get it over with as early in the evening as possible. Perhaps my enemies would learn that in the evening I was tired and had no patience for fuck-ups.

"Tell me we don't have another late night planned for tomorrow," I said.

Rosco held open the door that went into the house from the garage where we'd just parked the car. "We have nothing on the schedule, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to visit one of the clubs. It always looks good when the boss makes an appearance. It’s been a long while since you’ve been to any of them."

"Or it looks like I'm keeping tabs on them."

"You should keep tabs on them. They are your businesses."

"Hmm. I'll consider it. Though I really wouldn't mind an early night."

"It's only eleven. This is an early night."

I scoffed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Maybe to you, Rosco."

I tried to keep walking, but he stopped me. "You'll think about what Andro said?"

I grimaced. It had been a few days since that fateful intervention. I had given it a lot of thought. Mostly, I worried about what would happen if they found Avery. What would I do? Would I reach out? Would I leave him alone? What if he had moved on? But also I worried about what would happen if I didn’t move on. Would I be pining for the one that got away for the rest of eternity? The loneliness would eat away at me until there was nothing left. "I have thought about it."

"And?"

I sighed. "And I don't know. I managed not to kill anyone in the past few days, and I was very polite with the staff. That's progress, right?"

Rosco chuckled and shook his head. "I suppose it is better than nothing."

"I'll put more thought into it tomorrow. I swear it. I'm doing my best, Rosco." What more could they ask of a man who had his heart stomped on? I couldn’t even blame Velvet for leaving. We had a business deal. I gave him no reason to think it was any more than that.

"I know you are. And even if you are a miserable ass to be around, you are managing the business well and the men respect you. They also might be more terrified of you than they ever were of Vance."

"See. That was my strategy all along." It most certainly wasn't, but it was a perk of being a dick all the time. No one wanted to cross me. Being compared to my psychotic brother wasn’t ideal, but I’d take it.

I took the stairs up to my suite two at a time. The prospect of stripping out of my clothes and climbing into my warm bed was enough to spur me on.

I pushed open the door and immediately began taking off my clothes, leaving a trail as I went. I was inside the bedroom, with my pants around my hips when I finally noticed I wasn't alone.

Before I could reach for my weapon, a voice stopped me. "By all means, keep going."

That voice. It was one I heard often in my dreams.

I whirled around to find Avery sitting on the settee as if he owned the place. He had a blanket thrown over his legs and he wore one of my hoodies. "Avery?" No way was he real. "Did Andro find you?"

That wasn’t possible. Andro said they wouldn't make contact unless I wanted them to. It had only been a few days. How could they have found him so fast?

"I don’t know who Andro is, so no. I don't think so."

"What? Why are you here?"

Avery swallowed thickly as his hands smoothed down the blanket over his legs.

I pulled my pants back up and zipped them so they didn't slide down before I knelt on the floor and grasped both his hands. The fear that surrounded him was palpable, but it wasn’t of me. Something had scared him. "What is it? Are you alright?"

His face was paler than when I had last seen him, but he looked to be in good health.

Avery gripped my hands and put them over his stomach. Even with the bulkiness of my hoodie, he couldn't hide what he was trying to show me.

My jaw dropped. A baby. Avery was pregnant. With my child. It had to be mine. Why else would he be here?

"Avery. Are… Is…" Shock had my muscles on lockdown, and I couldn’t form words.

He smiled softly. "I am, and it is. I'm pregnant with your child."

"Mine?"

He nodded. "Yours." His arms wrapped protectively over his bump. "I'm keeping it. I won't... I know how it goes for families like yours. I won't let you take my child from me. I won't—" His voice got louder and more panicked with each word.

"Whoa, whoa. Avery, Velvet. Baby. I don't know what you think you know, but I would never take our child away from you. Is that why you left?"

He nodded. "I couldn't risk it. You hadn't been around, and I worried that you were done with me. Which was fine. You didn't make any promises. It's not like I thought I was special?—"

"Avery, you were special. You are special. I've been miserable without you. I didn't reach out for a while because I was... dealing with some issues. We're still dealing with issues around here. It's not particularly safe here right now."

"Unfortunately, I'm aware of that. At least a little."

My heart pounded as I considered what he’d just said. "What do you mean?"

"I was approached by a man when I was out shopping. I didn't see his face, but he grabbed me from behind."

With each word that he spoke, fiery anger flared within me. My vision was clouded with it. Whoever this person was who put hands on my omega would pay.

"He told me that if you and the Ferrinis didn't break up your little bromance, then he would kill me and the baby."

I sucked in a breath. My heart thundered in my chest as I pushed myself to my feet and paced.

"He’s a dead man. Whoever he is, he’s dead. Do you understand, Avery? I will let nothing happen to you or our child. Ever."

Avery wouldn't meet my gaze. He wrung his hands in his lap.

"Do you doubt me?" I stopped and waited for him to look at me.

"Not exactly. But you just learned about the baby, Cord. It's okay if you need time to process. I thought I'd come and warn you and then... Well, I’ll be on my way."

"Absolutely not." I took a step toward him. "You cannot go. Not when someone has threatened you. You will stay here with me, in my home, where you can be safe and cared for."

His lips trembled slightly, the vulnerability in his gaze ripped through me. "You mean that?"

I nodded. "Always. I do not say things I don't mean, Avery." I went back to his side, kneeling on the floor and placing my hands over his belly.

Avery's gaze dropped to my hands. "I just didn't know where I stood, so I ran. I had to choose my child. Even if that meant walking away from you."

I pulled him into my arms. "I know. I understand. This is our future now. All three of us."

He hesitated, but the spark of hope that flickered in his eyes was unmistakable. "You really want this?"

"Yes. All of it. You'll stay? We'll figure out what is after us and eliminate them like we do any other threat."

Avery nodded. "I'll stay. I need to get my things. I have a business I run. It's not much?—"

"We'll get whatever you need. How did you get in here, anyway?"

Avery's cheeks tinged pink, and he avoided my gaze again. "I snuck out of here plenty of times. I knew my way around. This time I was just sneaking in..."

I shook my head. "Guess I need to have a security review done. We can't allow it to be so easy to break into my home."

I lifted him into my arms and breathed in his scent. It had been too long since my omega was in my arms, and I craved his closeness.

"Stay with me, please?" I asked. Begged. Only for him would I be reduced to this puddle of goo who would do anything for his attention.

Avery smiled as he relaxed against me. "Yeah. I can stay here."

I settled him on the bed, then stripped off my clothes and climbed in beside him. "We'll figure everything out tomorrow." I kissed his cheeks.

His eyes were closed, and he was already slipping into sleep.