Chapter 20
TWENTY
ELENA
She’d come unraveled from a single kiss.
Elena could scarce believe how something so simple could devastate her so easily. Brushing her fingertips over her tender lips, she stared out of the windows at the gloomy day.
Leon left her after ordering her to eat, not even remaining to have breakfast. It shouldn’t bother her where he went or what he did, and she resolved to stop caring. He didn’t care about her, she could return the favor.
Try as she might, it kept gnawing at her though.
The worst being another Omega who he actually courted, though the thought of him with some Beta laughing and smiling on his arm while Elena remained locked away inside the house turned her stomach.
She’d never realized just how much autonomy she’d had before.
If she wanted a book, she went to the bookstore.
There was none of this making out lists for someone else to deal with.
Elena had her classes to get her out of the house for hours of the day, and now she meandered from room to room with nothing to do.
Her father’s Omegas had had more freedom than this.
“And how many others don’t,” Elena muttered as she shoved a book back onto the shelf, none of the titles holding her interest for long enough to justify taking it back to the sunroom.
It was time to be practical. She was his, and there was no changing that. However he decided to keep her, she couldn’t very well demand something different. Elena would have to succumb to him whenever he wished, heat or no. She’d make do.
Her hands went to her stomach, cupping the fluttering spark held deep within her.
It wouldn’t be long before she had something to occupy her days after all.
There’d always been nannies in Valente’s house, but maybe Leon could be persuaded to do without one.
Elena rather liked the idea of tending to her own child, though she doubted he would appreciate the midnight feedings and diaper changes.
“We’ll see, little one,” she whispered as she turned away from the bookcases to return to the sunroom. At least there she could lounge undisturbed as her melancholy mood shifted and grew darker.
She whiled away the hours doing nothing, bored and frustrated as the time ticked by. The shadows lengthened into afternoon, her foul mood rising on a tide of bitterness when Mrs. Jacobs collected her for lunch.
He didn’t join her then either. Mrs. Jacobs gave her a strained smile but had nothing else to offer when Elena asked where he was. She ate alone and miserable.
Leon didn’t appear until darkness began to seep into the sky, staining the dull grey clouds black. He swept through the door, all impatient arrogance as he snapped at Elena to get up and dressed.
“Why?” Elena didn’t move from the chaise, feet curled up tight under her as she stared at the pages of a book without seeing a word.
“We’re going to have dinner at my father’s,” Leon said, snapping his fingers in front of her face.
Startling her into dropping the book, he gripped her arm and pulled her from the chair, giving Elena a scant moment to get her feet under her before he was propelling her through the house and up the stairs.
“You’ll wear something nice,” he continued as he pushed her towards the closet. “I’ll not have you embarrassing me tonight.”
Elena stopped and turned back to look at him, lips parting as she took a breath to rail at him. She knew how to dress, how to act the part. How dare he insinuate otherwise!
“Are you truly so incapable,” he ground out, snatching a sleek gray dress from its hanger. Shoving it into her arms, he pushed her shoulder to turn Elena around so that he could get at her zipper.
“I can dress myself,” Elena growled, shying away from his callous touch to wedge her back against the wall, the cold plaster kissing her heated flesh.
Then she took a moment to actually look at what he’d handed her. Sleeveless with thin straps, it would show off the bandage like the white flag of surrender that it was. Brows knitting, she looked to him once more, shaking her head.
“You will wear it,” he snarled, taking a menacing step forward.
“You can’t expect me to go around flaunting it,” Elena exclaimed as she backpedaled into the line of clothes to avoid him.
“How are you so na?ve,” Leon muttered as he grabbed her, wrenching her dress off. Before Elena could contemplate his next move, he had the other dress over her head, tugging it down hard enough that the strap bit deep into her wounded shoulder. “You will do as I say.”
Elena crumpled from the agony sheeting through her chest, scarce able to breathe around it as he pulled her arms through the openings and yanked the zipper up on the side.
Without waiting for Elena to uncurl from her pained huddle, he bent to grasp her around the thighs, carrying her to the bathroom where he set her down in front of the vanity.
“Now finish getting ready. I don’t want to be late,” he said, wiping away a single tear that had escaped her clenched lids with his thumb.
Elena sniffed hard, waiting until the door closed behind him before she unfurled from the dissipating pain in her shoulder. Her hands shook as she retrieved what little makeup she wore, having to steady her hand twice before she could apply the thin bands of liner to her lashes.
He was so very cruel to her, whether she instigated these exchanges or not. Leon cared nothing for her comfort, always bashing his way in and expecting her to know exactly what to do to please him. There were no explanations, no rules laid out for her.
“Except one,” Elena muttered to her reflection as she swept the pale gray shadow over her lids.
Her resolve to be more practical about her interactions with him had flown out of the window before it’d even fully formed. Something about him dug under her skin, gnawing at her no matter what she decided.
That honeyed voice whispered sweet lies to her, that her Alpha was protective of her. Of his child. Elena bowed her head after applying lipstick, hand pressed hard to her belly. It was all she was to him. A good time that had a chance of becoming an incubator for his child.
Clenching her teeth over a quiet sob, Elena leaned her head back and blinked away the tears that threatened to undo her work.
She knew what Omegas were. Had grown up in their shadow, always knowing what was destined for her.
It shouldn’t matter that it was Leon Marchetti who had stolen that role.
He’d never once had a nice word to say to her, but she’d been good enough for him to mate, and that was a damn sight more than she’d had before.
Elena had been a stain on society after her father’s death.
She’d had no options, no recourse for any kind of life lest she find a man who would be willing to take her in.
Not so very long ago, she’d resigned herself to the fact she would never be anything more than a lesser Omega in a large household.
Someone who could bear the brunt of her stigma with little effect to their own standing.
Now she was the first, and pregnant besides.
If she gave Leon an Alpha heir, all the better.
So why then did her heart twist at the very idea, caught up in the sticky tendrils of that sweet voice?
“Elena,” Leon called from beyond the door, a warning rumble painting the edges of her name.
She’d once loved the sound of her name on another’s lips, forever reduced to demeaning pet names and the cold formal honorifics. Now she hated it, for the sound of it in his husky tones made her shiver and not for the reasons it should.
“I’m ready,” she said, opening the door with head bowed as she promised herself to stick to her plan this time.
She’d stop caring what he did and with who. Would mind her tongue and her feelings both until he tired of her and moved on to the next woman that fell under him. Only then would Elena have some freedom. She’d have her child, too.
“You look…” Leon trailed off, his fingers brushing her hair back over her shoulders and away from her face. He made a pleased sound deep in his chest as he bent to lay a kiss on the corner of her mouth. “You’re lucky we don’t have time for me to ruin that lipstick.”
Finally, she’d done something right.
Elena followed him down the stairs and out to the waiting car, forcing herself not to flinch as he touched her far more than was necessary.
She applauded herself for not cringing as he leaned into the sleek car to latch her belt, his nose nuzzling her cheek before he extricated his large body from the opening.
He was quiet during the long drive there.
Through the meandering streets, past manicured lawns and their spikey iron fences, his only action was to reach over and grip her thigh.
Giving it a light squeeze at moments, though Elena was uncertain if he was attempting to reassure her or lay his claim upon her.
When they arrived, a man in a smart suit opened her door with a hand extended to help her out. Leon growled low in his throat, shoving the man aside. Wrenched a pained gasp from Elena’s lips as he pulled her from the car, jostling her wounded arm.
Quick to school her features into something far more pleasant, she plastered a small smile on her lips as if nothing was wrong when he looked to her. Kept it all in place as Leon led her to the front door that was already opening to allow them inside.
“He’s in the study, sir,” said yet another man who had opened the door. “Maggie will take her to the drawing room.”