Chapter 12
LUCY
“Grandma. Hi,” I say, answering my phone.
“Lucy, love. I just had to call you, as I’m going insane here. I’m so sorry for upsetting you earlier today.”
I flop back onto the bed, phone to my ear, staring up at the ceiling. “You don’t have to…”
“No. Let me get this out.” She sniffles, and hearing her in agony cracks my heart clean down the middle. “I know you’re not a child, and as much as I want to wrap you up and hide you somewhere the world can never touch you again, that’s not how it works, is it?”
“I know it isn’t, but I love that you want to protect me.”
“I lost my own son the day he walked out with your mother. Cut them both off for leaving you on my porch like a parcel.” Her breath catches.
“And I’ve carried that every day since. So when I saw you making a big choice with three men you barely know, I got protective.
That’s all it was, love. Not doubt in you, but fear for you. ”
My throat tightens. “Oh, Grandma, you’re going to make me cry.”
“I watched you being so sick years ago, and I couldn’t help. It nearly killed me.” A pause, and she sniffles, my heart hurting so heavily. “And now here you are on the other side of it, standing up, fighting for what you want. For your Alphas, of all things. It caught me off guard, is all.”
“Yeah.” I swipe at my eyes. “Caught me off guard too, honestly.”
“So, after all that, I may not fully agree, but I’m on your side. Every step, you hear me?”
“You have no idea what that means to me,” I say.
“I have some idea ’cause I love you just as much.”
I laugh lightly and roll onto my side, hugging a pillow.
“The weird part is that this doesn’t feel the way it did with Jerry.
That was fireworks, all rush. This feels like it’s meant to be, as if I’ve just been waiting for this moment, which I know sounds crazy, seeing as I met them less than a week ago. ”
“Keep trusting your gut, Lucy. You’ve earned the right to. God knows you’ve paid enough.”
“I love you,” I tell her again. “Thanks for not making me fight you on this too.”
“No matter what happens, I’m here. And when I’m gone, I know you’ll do right by yourself.”
“Gran—”
“Now don’t you start. I’m fine. They ran another round of scans today, that’s all, and the bones want more time before they’ll let me out. Another week or two, they’re saying.”
“Oh God! Grandma, you’ll lose your mind in there.”
“Die of boredom and terrible coffee, is what I’ll do.” She’s laughing now, which has me grinning.
“I’m going to smuggle in every trashy magazine in the county and those horrible crossword books you pretend to hate, and lots of snacks.”
“Well, when you put it that way, it sounds almost bearable.” A clatter on her end. “Now go on. Let those men make a fuss over you.”
“Night, Grandma.”
“Good night, my darling.” And she hangs up.
I hold the phone to my chest a second after she’s gone, and the rock that’s been sitting in my stomach since the hospital visit dislodges. It’s not fully gone, but I breathe easier.
In the bathroom, I push my hair off my face and swipe a bit of gloss on.
I’m still in the red dress from this morning, and I smooth it down my hips and glance at myself in the mirror.
Yep, I’m doing this for three Alphas, so I do a little toss of my hair, then roll my eyes so hard it hurts, because who even am I?
But the flutter under my heart isn’t fooled.
I made my choice today, and now I get to find out if I was right.
“Please don’t let me down,” I whisper to the universe and go downstairs.
The main room glows warmly from the fireplace, and there’s a table of guests by the windows, four men in their late forties, ruddy and loud as they enjoy their drinks.
No sign of my three. Probably in the private room off the dining hall.
But first I slip into the kitchen, and stop dead in the doorway.
Ethan and Grayson have their backs to me at the range. Ethan in his white chef’s shirt, and Grayson beside him, so much bigger it’s almost a joke, sleeves shoved up, black apron tied on over a shirt and jeans. And the whole kitchen is thick with roasting-meat smells.
“Excuse me,” I announce, “but there has to be a law against a man that hot standing near open flame. It’s a hazard, and somebody’s going to get hurt.”
“You know,” Ethan answers without turning around, “I’ve been telling myself that for years. It’s the burden of the gift.”
I chuckle. “I wasn’t talking about you.”
“That’s just evil.” He flips something in the pan and glances my way with a grin. “And in my own kitchen.”
Grayson turns, wiping his hands on the apron, and gives me a slow once-over from my shoes up. “Hey, little bird. Hope you’re starving.” I’m buzzing all over at the sound of his voice, especially as a hot little pulse curls between my thighs, uninvited. He blows me a kiss, which doesn’t help.
“Earth to Lucy.” Ethan snaps me out of my fantasy, spatula pointing in my direction. “Since you’re going to stand there melting over my sous-chef, make yourself useful. I’m behind. Take these to the guests.”
“So romantic.” I grab a half apron off the hook and tie it around my waist so I at least look employed. Ethan loads four appetizers in my arms, some artful little tower of seared meat and blackened greens over a dark smear of sauce, the fancy end of what Grandma calls “mountain food.”
“Quick as you can,” Ethan instructs with a raised eyebrow. Someone’s getting bossy.
I carry the tray to the guests, and the second I’m in range of all four of them, they pause their chatter and stare.
I set a plate down in front of each of them, working around the table, and catch the gold wedding band on the first one’s hand, and the second’s, and the third’s, then four for four—a whole table of husbands away for a fishing weekend.
“Well, hello,” the nearest one says. “They’ve been hiding you.”
“Enjoy the meal, gentlemen.”
“Hang on, hang on.” Another one, wearing his charm like cologne. “It’s a graveyard in here tonight. Sit down, keep us company, enjoy at least one drink.”
“That’s kind, but I’m working.”
“One won’t kill you, doll.” I turn to leave when a hand wraps around my forearm, not rough, but enough to make my skin crawl. “Come on, don’t break four hearts. You’re far too pretty to be serving food anyway.”
A shadow drops over the whole table as though the light just went out.
The talking flatlines all at once, and I glance up. Grayson has come out of nowhere, and he plants himself at the head of the table with a dish towel over his shoulder. “You want to show some fucking respect and get your hand off her?”
The man lets go so fast his chair squeaks. “Whoa, hey.” He’s got both palms up now, laughing nervously, glancing at his friends for backup that has abruptly evaporated. “No harm meant. Pretty girl here: we were just having fun.”
“She’s staff.” Grayson’s voice hasn’t risen at all. He closes one big hand over mine and draws me into his side, and I go, gladly. “And my Omega.” His gaze settles on the man as if he’s already forgotten anyone else is in the room. “You’ve got one chance to pretend you knew better.”
Silence stretches as the man shuffles his seat farther from me, while I’m still glowing at hearing him call me his Omega.
“Are we clear?” Grayson snarls.
“Crystal clear, man, we’re sorry.”
Ethan suddenly appears at the table. “Right, gents, next round’s on the house. What are we drinking? Let me sort you out.”
In one smooth move, Grayson peels me away from the table, a reassuring hand on my lower back. “Go on through to the back, little bird. I’ve got this.”
“Thanks,” I breathe, removing my apron, which he takes, and cross the room. I slip into the private room and quietly close the door behind me.
Wolf and Roman are lounging around the round table, soft music low from the stereo in the corner, beers in hand, working through a honey bread loaf drowned in butter, Grandma’s own recipe. Both their heads lift as I stroll inside, and they’re on their feet in an instant, beers down.
“Look who’s finally joined us,” Wolf says.
I’m barely into the room before Roman’s pulling out the chair on his right for me. Then he drops back down next to me. He nudges the bread toward me. “Eat. You’ve had a wild day.”
I tear off a corner, and it’s still warm, so I smear it with butter. “I’m exhausted. You got that right.”
They both just stare at me eating the bread, and it’s hard not to be impressed when godlike Alphas give me so much attention.
I reach for the glass water bottle in the middle of the table, but Roman gets there first, plucks it out from under my hand, fills an empty glass, and sets it in front of me. I don’t mind being fussed over, not even slightly.
Wolf just has that small grin hooked at the corner of his mouth.
“What?” I ask him.
“Nothing.” He takes another drink, his gaze never leaving mine. “Turns out I could watch you eat all night.”
I pause with the bread still in my hand. “That’s a weird hobby.”
“I’ve had worse.”
Roman lets out a quiet laugh, lifting his beer, then says, “He’s not kidding.”
Wolf doesn’t deny it. He just keeps watching me with that same lazy, unreadable expression that somehow makes my pulse misbehave.
I take another bite simply because I refuse to let him think he’s won.
The door bangs open, and Grayson comes in backward with half the kitchen in his arms, Ethan behind him with the rest. They lay out all the filled plates, and it’s a feast: glossy planks of ribs, a whole herb-crusted roast, blackened vegetables, buttered potatoes, more honey bread. Ethan heads back out.
“Oh, you both have outdone yourselves.” I’m salivating at the spread.
Grayson drops into the chair on my left, leans in without breaking stride, and presses his mouth to my cheek. “Miss me?” Under the table, his hand settles on my thigh, and I’m suddenly breathing quicker.
“Of course,” I tease back. “So.” I clear my throat, reaching for my water. “I was thinking, with everything that’s happened…”