Chapter 29 Nicholas
Nicholas
Wilson’s guards are back up, his face blank like he’s checked out while his body runs on autopilot.
Watching him fall apart between us had been everything and I had never wanted so much to sink into his sweet ass and knot him the way I once did. But he wasn’t ready for that and seeing him now, I feel like we’ve taken several steps back.
This morning was quiet, his eyes walking all over the apartment before settling back on a cinnamon roll he hadn’t touched.
When I reached for him, he flinched and then melted.
He’s done that another seven times throughout the day, catching himself each time with a muttered ‘sorry’ before leaning into me.
I was pulling into the fucking parking lot last night when I recognized Sebastian’s beat up ass car just outside the entrance. Never in a million years did I think he would show up so brazenly and the fact that he made a beeline for Wilson just pisses me off because I could have stopped it.
I’m not sure how, but if I had been there…
I quit that line of thinking and refocus on Wilson. The man I held against my chest at 3 AM has vanished behind impenetrable walls.
From my security post in the east corridor, I scan the floor, counting each sweep.
Forty-five seconds per rotation. The amber notes of my scent remain tightly controlled beneath my skin.
No one in this club needs to smell the desperate worry radiating through my pores.
However, I’ve stationed the largest Alphas by the door and two Betas at the main part of the floor just in case.
It might be overkill but I’m not playing yesterday over again.
Wilson's eyes meet mine at 10:17. I check my watch each time it happens. Again at 10:42. Again at 11:03. His expression never changes, never softens. With each passing glance, I feel something inside my ribcage fracture a little deeper.
When last call finally comes, he still hasn’t relaxed, not that I would have expected him to. His gaze has started to dart to the door, my heart breaking further at the fear lingering in his expression.
I make it to the stockroom before my body finally calls it quits. The door thuds shut behind me, and I slam my fist into the wall. The shelving unit beside me shudders as pain blooms across my knuckles, a relief compared to the formless ache pressing against my ribs all night.
I drop my forehead to the cool plaster. Sebastian is my blood: same parents, same dinner table, same house where we grew into the men we are.
My mother’s eyes. My father’s jaw. The Cavallero name stamped on my business cards and on the legal documents chronicling every person foolish enough to trust my brother.
I share a last name with the man who whispered things into Wilson’s ear that left him shaking for an hour.
I share genetics with the man who spent three years turning Wilson’s desire to submit into a weapon.
I share a childhood with the man who took Wilson from me simply because he could and then broke him, because destruction is Sebastian’s only fluent language.
I punch the wall again. Something topples from the top shelf and shatters on the concrete behind me.
“That was a bottle of Hendrick’s,” Lorenzo says from the doorway. “Oliver’s going to make you replace it.”
I keep my forehead against the wall. “Fuck, sorry. It’s just… how much did Wilson tell you?”
“Enough.” Lorenzo’s steps echo across the stockroom.
He stops three feet behind me, close enough that I can smell rain and honey steadying against the amber-tinged adrenaline pouring off me.
“I don’t know as much as you do but I know enough to know that it’s going to take a bit to bring Wilson out of his shell again.
” He offers a small smile as I twist around to lean back against the wall.
“Oliver’s hovering, though. It’s the only reason I haven’t tried a different tactic. ”
Even while my attention was on Wilson, it was hard to miss Oliver flitting around the Beta, constantly touching or sending him little smiles. I couldn’t have found better men to be with.
My voice comes out thick and strangled against the wall. “Wilson shouldn’t have had to deal with that. He shouldn’t have had to stand there and defend himself against my brother. I should’ve been here. I should’ve—”
Lorenzo snorts as he steps closer, his aura demanding I look at him.
“You should have what? Been lurking behind the bar when Sebastian walked in? You think your presence would’ve stopped him?
” There’s no judgment in his words but they definitely snap me out of my head because he’s right.
“Sebastian came for Wilson specifically. He came to prove he could still reach inside Wilson’s chest and tinker with the wiring he installed.
And Wilson looked him in the eye and said no. ”
A few years ago, I’m not sure Wilson would have been so strong.
He would have caved. He would have gone back home with Sebastian and swallowed every word my brother ever said.
“He’s so fucking strong, Lorenzo but I hate that he has to be.
I hate that the world around him has tried to break him.
” A raw sound filters through my lips as I meet Lorenzo’s gaze.
“He’s stronger than any of us give him credit for. Including himself.”
Lorenzo nods. “Your brother underestimated what Wilson has built here. The nest, the pack, the fact that Wilson has people who touch him with care. Sebastian walked into a fight he wasn’t prepared for because he assumed Wilson was still the man he broke.”
“Wilson isn’t broken.”
“No. He isn’t.”
A beat of silence passes between us as Lorenzo comes to stand beside me, his shoulder brushing mine, two men desperately needing to find a way to protect our mate. And with Oliver’s heat so close, we need to know that Sebastian won’t be a problem again. Though, it makes me wonder…
“I’m surprised you aren’t more angry that this happened around Oliver.” I twist to look at Lorenzo, confused when he just smiles. It’s like he knows a joke I wasn’t privy to. “What? What did I say?”
Lorenzo chuckles as he folds his arms across his chest. “Nicholas, I would love to make some fucking joke about Alpha-holes and shit but it wouldn’t land right.
Oliver is a grown man and he knows to ask if he needs something.
I might be his Beta but I am not his keeper.
” When I don’t say anything, Lorenzo’s smile grows wider.
“Nicholas, do you really think I would have Oliver running a club with me if I was worried about how often someone would get in his way or try to touch him? You haven’t been around long enough to know that the entire staff has been trained to watch out for him and that Oliver has a bit of training of his own.
He also knows to never go anywhere on his own throughout the club for his own safety except for his nests.
If I had any inkling that Oliver had been affected by last night, I would have changed things up immediately. ”
I still don’t understand how Lorenzo can be so nonchalant. My instincts have been raging all fucking day when it comes to Wilson. “That…”
“Is something hard to wrap your brain around, I get it,” Lorenzo finishes for me. “We’re all hardwired differently, though, I will say if you start manhandling Oliver, he might like it. Regardless, I’m not worried about Oliver’s safety because I’ve built this place around him.”
I take a moment to sit on that. Vice & Virtue might be both Lorenzo and Oliver’s but it’s a sanctuary in and of itself.
There’s so many places for Oliver to retreat, whether upstairs, behind the bar, the offices, his nests…
I’m not sure why I hadn’t seen any of that before. Probably because I wasn’t looking.
Dragging a hand down my face, I mull through the next steps. “I’ve already started working on a restraining order that will get filed next week. Hopefully, precedent will be enough. The lawyer has everything and she mentioned it might get us an emergency protective order.
Lorenzo nods. His jaw shifts, a calculation running behind his expression.
“When I bite Wilson—” The words catch in my throat. “When he lets me claim him. If he lets me. I’m not putting it on his neck.”
Lorenzo turns his head, his gaze finding my face.
“Sebastian’s bite was on his neck. Hidden.
Something Wilson could cover with a collar and pretend wasn’t there.
Something Sebastian could point to in private and use as proof of ownership.
” I lift a hand to my mouth, my thumb tracing my lower lip.
“If Wilson gives me the right to claim him, I’m putting it here.
On his lip. Somewhere he can’t cover. Somewhere that every person he speaks to, every stranger he meets, every mirror he looks into will remind him that someone chose to mark him in the most visible place on his body. ”
Lorenzo doesn’t move. His arms remain crossed over his chest while his eyes darken with understanding.
“The opposite of everything Sebastian did to him.”
“Yes.”
When his hand finds my shoulder, his fingers press into the muscle with firm pressure for a few seconds before falling away. “Sebastian won’t get near him again, Nicholas. You have my word on that. Whatever it takes.”
My gaze locks with his as I push off the wall, Lorenzo heading for the door before pointing to the mess I made. “Clean up the gin. Oliver really will make you pay for it.”
“It’s Hendrick’s. That’s like forty dollars.”
“Forty-seven. I stock the good stuff.” His mouth twitches slightly upward. “And Nicholas.”
“Yeah.”
“Your hand needs ice.”
The door swings shut behind him as he leaves me to silence but feeling marginally better than I had all morning. I pull out my phone and sent one text to the lawyer.
File it. Use everything we have. We need that protective order now.
Her response appears within a minute. Filing first thing tomorrow. I’ll need Wilson’s statement eventually.
That’s the part I was hoping to avoid but it’s inevitable.
The door swings open, Wilson reaching for one of the tequila bottles before pausing as he catches me there.
I hesitate, wondering if I should reach for my Beta before dragging him into my chest. When he completely melts against me instead of flinching, I know I made the right choice.