Chapter 40 - Nathan
Bridget and Gabriel were absolutely having sex. I wanted to escape into the spare room or the gym, but somehow that seemed more embarrassing than pretending I was unbothered.
“Goddamnit,” Andrew muttered under his breath as he sank into one of the living room chairs with a groan. “You’d think I’d get an invitation.”
Embarrassment kept my mouth shut. My face was on fire.
When I didn’t respond, Andrew threw a balled up paper towel at me. The dinner we’d been cooking together was now packed away in the fridge. It seemed like we’d be waiting for a while. “You alright, man?”
“I’m fine,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant.
“I told you, you’re going to have to get used to way worse than hearing that.” He jerked his thumb towards the bedroom door where we could hear Bridget moaning softly. “In case you missed it, the nest is pretty close quarters,” he continued. But he wasn’t laughing at me, which I appreciated.
I was actually most embarrassed by my reaction to the situation. It was arousing in a way I didn’t anticipate knowing that Gabriel was pleasuring her, but not being able to see them. My body was responding accordingly.
What would it be like to have a bond with Bridget? To feel her desire, instead of just listening to it through the door? Based on how Andrew was fidgeting in his chair, it was inconveniently intense.
Thoughts like that just ramped up my apprehension for Bridget’s heat. How could I possibly stop myself from biting her if I was thinking like that?
Bridget moaned louder than ever, and my cock throbbed in response.
“Gym?” Andrew asked.
“Immediately,” I answered.
Even though we were all stacked on top of each other in an apartment that seemed to be shrinking as Bridget’s heat loomed, there were more and more things no one was mentioning.
The most pressing to me was what would happen after her heat.
As I sat on the couch with her feet in my lap, the idea of not living with Bridget was unbearable.
Andrew sitting next to me with her head resting on his thigh, and Gabriel telling us all about growing up in Italy to distract from her worsening cramps, seemed equally natural.
Rain was pattering on the windows, adding to the sense of coziness.
“I’d love to go to Italy someday,” Bridget sighed after Gabriel finished describing long summer days spent swimming in the Mediterranean when he was a kid. “The only vacations I went on were to a resort upstate so my fathers could ski.”
“Ma certo, we will go, carissima,” Gabriel said with a smile. “I must see you in the Italian sun.”
Bridget’s answering grin turned into a yawn. It was getting late, but anxiety was keeping me wide awake.
“Bedtime,” I said, squeezing the arch of her foot.
She glared at me. “I’m capable of choosing my own bedtime.” But she undermined herself with another yawn.
“He’s right,” Andrew said. “You need to get some rest.”
“Quit ganging up on me,” Bridget said, even as she rolled up to sit.
“Oh. Ow.” She doubled over, hugging her arms around her belly. “Ugh, why are they getting worse?”
Gabriel jumped to his feet and called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the bedroom, “I will get you more medicine.”
I rubbed her back and Andrew held her hand as she breathed through the pain.
Andrew’s phone buzzed. “About time,” he murmured. “I thought it wouldn’t get here.”
“What?” Bridget asked through gritted teeth, still rubbing her stomach.
Andrew grinned. “It’s a surprise. They were supposed to deliver it earlier today.”
“Amore, make yourself useful,” Gabriel chided as he came back into the room. “This beautiful woman needs a cup of tea and you are sitting like a statue.”
I took the opportunity to pull Bridget back into my arms for a few minutes. I hated seeing her in pain. Instinctively, I settled my hand on her lower belly and started to purr. Her answering sigh was heaven.
“Better?”
“Much,” she said.
The knock on the door made us all jump.
“What is that?” Gabriel asked.
“A delivery,” Andrew called from the hallway before we heard the scrape of the door unlocking.
“Oh wonderful, this is the right apartment,” a voice said, and Bridget stiffened in my arms.
“Cazzo,” Gabriel hissed and darted for the front door.
But before he could get down the hallway, Andrew came into view, backing away from a young man holding a gun in his face.
It was the same guy who had pointed one at me a week ago.
Another man followed behind him, older and distinguished in a black wool peacoat.
His hair and shoulders were damp from the rain outside.
For one incongruous second, I wondered why it was always raining whenever I was threatened with a firearm.
“Hello again, little one,” he said when he saw Bridget. This had to be Domenic, then.
The rage that barreled through me was nearly religious. How dare he come into our space? I stood and pulled her behind me.
“You have ten seconds to get the fuck out of my house,” Andrew growled in spite of the gun trained on his chest. He took a threatening step forward.
“Be still,” Domenic barked, meeting his eyes. He didn’t even have to raise his voice, but Andrew froze. “And shut up. I’d prefer not to make a mess in this… lovely apartment. Can’t you afford better after all those wins? Or has the money dried up so quickly?”
Andrew could not answer. His mouth seemed to be glued shut.
Adrenaline made my mouth dry and my hands shake with the need to act.
But the gun had swung my way, and I did not favor my chances at dodging a bullet a second time.
Bridget was clutching the back of my shirt.
The need to protect her wiped my mind clean of everything else. I just wished I knew how to do that.
Bridget had told us more about Marco, the young man pointing the gun at me. Now that I was looking for it, I could see the slight wobble in his arm and the hint of doubt in his eye. He kept glancing back at his father. If I could take advantage of his distraction, I might have a chance.
Before I could act, I heard Bridget take a deep breath and step from behind me. “How did you find me?” she asked, and her voice was steadier than I expected. But she still gripped my arm for support. For a second I forgot about the danger of our situation and worried about her pain.
“You really should be more careful about who you confide in,” Domenic replied. He stood facing us with his hands resting on the back of one of the chairs. His posture was relaxed and confident. But the ironic glint in his eyes couldn’t completely mask his anger. Another wave of adrenaline hit me.
I glanced around for Gabriel. Somehow, no one was paying him much attention, and he was inching his way towards Andrew. I forced my gaze back to Domenic before he noticed, too.
Bridget was frowning at him, but then her brow smoothed with a look of horror. She gripped my arm tighter than ever. “Not Anvi,” she murmured.
Domenic’s face contorted in a look of mock sadness.
“I’m afraid so, little one. We needed a man inside, forgive my phrasing.
And Anvi was the perfect little helper. You’d be amazed at how little money it took to gain her cooperation.
She destroyed the existing samples so ours could save the day.
She was grateful for the chance. Something about a sick niece; it was tiresome. ”
It could not be true. Anvi was just a bright, if somewhat annoying intern. But then I remembered how often she had mentioned her nieces and nephews, and how her parents were scraping together the funds for her tuition. How close they all were. What would someone like that do for their family?
I’d never had that type of love with my mom. But now… What would I do for Bridget? Or Andrew and Gabriel, knowing how much they meant to her? Almost anything.
“You’re sick,” I spat to draw his attention to me. Gabriel had moved a few more feet. “How dare you use—”
Domenic nodded at Marco, who brandished the gun at me. “You’ll speak when spoken to, pup, or I’ll muzzle you, too.”
Bridget squeezed my arm again. I clenched my teeth but stayed still.
“Anvi also kept a close eye on you. I was surprised to hear that you were growing close to an Alpha. You’d always been so… frigid.” The look in his eyes was hungry now, unmistakably aroused, and my stomach clenched with disgust. “But it seems you’ve finally bloomed, haven’t you?”
Andrew grunted and I met his eyes. Even though he was still locked in position, I could see the rage pulsing in him. We would tear this Alpha limb from limb for daring to speak to her that way. My muscles tensed again, ready to attack, but then Gabriel moved into my eyeline.
He shook his head at me, as if he knew what I was thinking. I forced my attention back to Domenic.
When had I started to trust them? They could have so easily been my rivals, but now, with Bridget’s life in the balance, our bond was cemented.
“What’s your plan?” Bridget asked, and I knew she had seen our silent interaction. “I will never help you hurt another Omega.”
Domenic clenched the back of the chair. “No, I don’t suppose you will. And it seems my investment has been compromised anyway. But I have another idea for how you can be useful to me. You’d be surprised how cooperative you’ll feel with my mark on you.”
I took an involuntary step forward. He would never lay a hand on her. Marco might shoot me, but I would kill this Alpha first for daring to suggest he would claim my Omega. Bridget yanked my arm to pull me up short.
“You’re disgusting,” she hissed. “What about my mother?”
Domenic laughed. “Your mother. You’ll be able to give me the son I’ve always wanted, the one she was too useless to produce.
The strong, Alpha son I deserve. And I will treat you like a queen, rather than subjecting you to this,” he gestured around the apartment again.
“We always gave you the best of everything, didn’t we? ”
“Fuck you,” Bridget spat and I almost didn’t recognize her voice. “I will never touch you, you sick piece of—”