Chapter 39
CHAPTER 39
Enzo
A mir had told us of his plans to propose to Issa, but we’d had no idea exactly when that would happen, whether he would be content doing it lowkey while they were locked away at home or if he would wait until the five of us were out to dinner.
But I had a feeling it would be while they were out on the horses. What better time to do something so romantic than when the two were alone and not being shadowed?
Sure, I was mildly jealous he was the one she would marry, but she was bonded to the three of us alphas. She carried our marks, completed the threads between the five of us. This was the only way the two of them could have their own public display of claim over each other.
The fact he’d chosen to represent me, Ax, and Cyrus on the ring, as well, cemented the fact we’d chosen the perfect omega for our pack.
And not just for Issa but us alphas, too .
“Did you hear a word I just said?” my brother growled over the phone.
“Yeah. Something about your men having a lead.”
A frustrated sigh from Bain sounded like static over the line. “I’ll take that as a no. My men have nothing. Not a whiff of Antonio’s knockoff cologne, no hits from his bank accounts, and if the fucker has any social medias or a cell phone, my hackers have found nothing.”
My brother had built quite the empire and had managed to take over two other businesses after killing Issa’s and her sister’s fathers as well as the cocksuckers who’d wanted to bond his omega as some kind of arranged deal. They had killed off those who weren’t loyal, but other than that, shit had gone pretty smooth.
He’d also inherited a few more hackers in the takeover, something that we’d hoped would aid in tracking Antonio’s whereabouts before he made another appearance. My girl was tired of being locked up in the house, tired of losing her recently earned freedom, tired of having to have armed guards any time she wanted to step off the property for something as simple as grocery shopping or lunch with our omega.
“Fuck,” I gritted out, finally homing in on the conversation instead of letting my mind wander to what my beta and omega were doing at this very moment.
From the rush of love and lust, I assumed they were currently a tangle of arms and legs – as usual – but had no idea whether they’d returned home yet.
I’d asked Issa to text me the moment they got to Amir’s parents’ house, which she did, but also asked her to let me know when they left and when they returned home.
Being as the guards also let me know when they’d pulled into the driveway of Pack Khalid, I hoped they would do the same when they returned home in case Issa was too distracted by our omega to let me know they were safely back home.
“Now you’re listening.”
“How the fuck is that mother fucker staying so far under the radar? ”
He’d been ballsy enough to attempt to threaten Cora when all of us had been separated by nothing more than a wall. Yet he was hiding now?
“We’ll find him,” Bain tried to reassure me.
“Are you keeping Cora on lockdown, too?”
A growl rumbled over the line. “Fuck yes. But I don’t let her leave the house without guards, anyway. Too many enemies would love to use my omega against me, against us.”
“Good point.” Propping my feet up on the desk, I tilted my head against the seat rest until I was staring at the ceiling. “My girl is getting…depressed. She wants to go back to work.”
“Not a good idea,” Bain said.
“Yeah, I know. Our omega’s fathers sent over one of their guys, too.”
Bain went quiet for a second then huffed a laugh. “I’m surprised Ghazi Khalid didn’t send over a full army to protect his son.”
Of course, my brother would have done some research on Amir’s family. Since Issa and Cora were rebuilding – or finally building – a relationship, he wanted to make sure his omega and son were safe anytime they visited our house.
“We’ll keep digging. I’ll find that motherfucker—”
“You get him after we get our pound of flesh,” I said, interrupting my big brother.
He chuckled, the sound deep and dark. “I’ll try to keep Cohl in check, but I can’t promise anything.”
And then he ended the call.
Shit. I’d hoped Bain had at least found a way to put a tracker on Antonio or had figured out a way to keep an eye on his movements. I wanted to know where he was and what he was doing at all times. I wanted to know whether he’d planned on fucking with my girl any further or if Ax going all berserker on him in the crowded bar had been enough to scare him off.
Pulling up the cameras at home, I checked through the feeds to find an empty house. Then I shot off a text to the guard my brother had sent and received a confirmation they were still at Pack Khalid’s and were currently celebrating the engagement of our beta and omega.
I smiled as I pictured the way Amir’s beautiful and outwardly loving mom would be shoving food at them and begging to be part of the planning.
We didn’t need any financial help, but I was sure Issa would love to have an actual mother figure who’d gush over her, help her choose a gown, flowers, and all the other shit that came with a bonding ceremony.
Not a bonding ceremony – a wedding . They would have a wedding as though they were two betas who’d fallen in love and wanted to be legally bound.
Tossing my phone back onto my desk, I focused on my computer, running through the open spreadsheets.
Or I tried to focus.
It was virtually impossible to disappear anymore, especially in the states. It was absolutely impossible to disappear from my brother’s reach.
Yet Antonio had done exactly that. He was a fucking ghost. More like a demon biding his time until he could terrorize Issa again.
As I stared at the computer screen without actually seeing the numbers, my phone dinged with an incoming message.
Heading home.
Attached was a picture of Amir and Issa snuggled in the back seat, wearing matching grins, with Issa’s left hand held up and showcasing the ring we’d all already seen.
A few minutes later, Ax and Cyrus stepped into my office, smiles on their faces. “You get it, too?” Cyrus asked.
I turned my phone to show the picture.
“I was wondering when he’d finally go through with it,” Cyrus said.
“You think he was nervous? No way she would have said no,” Ax said.
I shook my head. “Nah. He’s a romantic at heart. A true omega. He wanted it to be perfect for Issa.”
Ax and Cyrus lowered into the chairs across from me and all three of us stared down at our phones.
“We’re a strange pack,” Ax muttered.
“How so?” Cyrus asked, still staring at the picture with a sappy smile on his face.
“Took us forever to bond with Issa. She claimed the omega before we did. She fucked him before us. Didn’t really court Amir. And now, we’re skipping a bonding ceremony with either our omega or our beta and the two of them are getting married.” He lifted his eyes from the screen. “Think he’ll let us at least be groomsmen? I look hot in a tux.”
I shook my head as Cyrus rolled his eyes.
“We’ll do exactly whatever the two of them ask us to do, even if that means sitting in the front row and watching them at the altar,” I declared.
Although…yeah, I really did want to stand up there with them. I wanted to walk her down the aisle with her other two alphas and stand proudly while she and Amir swore their hearts and souls to each other in front of witnesses.
Not sure how many witnesses there would be, though.
Unlike her now deceased fathers, we didn’t give a shit about appearances or prestige, nor did my brother or his pack.
Didn’t matter. Didn’t matter if it was only the five of us and someone to officiate. We would put together the wedding of her dreams, no matter how simple or extravagant she wanted.
“Dude,” Ax said, leaning back in his chair and spreading his knees wide as he adjusted his obvious boner. “I just had a thought…Amir is going to look smoking hot in a tux. Issa will probably wear some sexy ass lingerie under her dress. And we’ll have to wait until after the fucking ceremony to get them home.”
And once again, Cyrus rolled his eyes while I shook my head at our horndog packmate.