8. Odell
EIGHT
ODELL
Being underground must have affected my hearing because I thought he said my troubles would disappear if I married him.
“Say that again.”
“Marry me.”
“Look, mate.” Color flared in his cheeks, and he grinned. Not the reaction I was expecting. “Isn’t that what you called me? Mate? Or your dad did?”
So much had happened, I couldn’t remember who said what, though everything out of Draven’s mouth was imprinted in my memory.
“No, let me think about it.” I rubbed my head. “Nope. Just a minute. No, no, and more nos than I can count.”
Hunter put a hand on my arm, and I shrugged it off. Weirdly, he’d just spouted words that alarmed me, and yet I yearned for a loving touch. He could hug me, say pretty words—not the M word, though—and yet it would not come from love. From what, though? The need to control me? My brain was a mess of tangled thoughts and confusion.
“Let me explain.” But a huge mobile phone rang. It was big and bulky and reminded me of the pics Aunt Louisa showed me of mobile phones in the 80s.
Hunter rattled off a series of instructions that made little sense, though I understood he was telling the person on the other end how to find us.
Great. Now I had to deal not with three mafia members but the whole mob, kids included. And another marriage proposal.
I braced myself for the onslaught of panic room guests. But if there was a lot of commotion, I could slip out, though how likely was it I’d find my way up to street level? Shit, I should have done a Hansel and Gretel and dropped something so I could find my way back. Not that I’d had anything. Paper in my messenger bag, perhaps.
But on thinking of escaping, I couldn’t leave my aunt and uncle in the midst of a mafia reunion. They’d be here soon, and last night while Aunt Louisa and I had sobbed together, I’d had visions of pushing Uncle over a cliff, but that was wrong. I didn’t want any harm to come to him, and I regretted thinking that. I did need answers, though.
Hunter checked the monitors and said his brother and family had arrived before scanning his retina and fingerprint.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding.” An omega with a baby on his hip and holding a little girl’s hand walked in and smiled at me.A stale aroma drifted in from the air outside the panic room. While I didn’t want to be locked underground, the air inside the dungeon was better.
A man with a snake tat on his wrist and a hand on the omega’s back followed, with a large box tucked under his arm. Hunter’s brother. I’d run into him at City Hall. His dark eyes were the same as my kidnapper, and he nodded at me.
“Come in.”
“Grandpa, Uncle Arnie,” the little girl shouted.
“Hello, my darling. Have you eaten?” Rudy greeted the girl who must be his granddaughter.
Maybe they had kidnap parties all the time, as they seemed so matter of fact.
“Can I watch a video?” the girl asked before turning to me. “I’m Lottie.”
I greeted her, and her omega dad introduced himself as Tony and his son, Kendrick.
A second alpha appeared. Ranger, also from outside City Hall. He was lugging three enormous boxes. Arnie took charge of those, and he went out again, he said to collect his family.
“Odell!” That voice was familiar.
Oh my gods, my family was here, too. I fell into Aunt Louisa’s arms while my uncle hung back. I didn’t want to hug him either, but I was glad he was safe. Or as safe as he could be, immersed in a mafia viper pit.
Not that anyone seemed remotely snake like, despite the older brother’s tat.
“Are you okay?” My aunt ran her hands over me. “Are you married? What are we doing here?”
I said I was fine, intending to give her the whole story when we were alone. But I didn’t tell her Hunter had proposed marriage.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered into my ear.
“Lottie, come with me,” Rudy said to his granddaughter. “We can eat in the other room.”
The little girl took Rudy’s hand, and she asked me over her shoulder, “Do you have a wolf inside you?”
The room went silent, followed by nervous giggles. Anton had described an image of a wolf in the club’s logo. But surely Lottie couldn’t be referring to that.
“I’m… No?” I glanced at Hunter to help me out, and he waved, as if swatting the question away like a fly.
“I’m Matt. Sorry you’ve been thrown into this mess, but it will be okay.” A second omega with a baby arrived with Ranger and indicated Tony. “We’ve both been through this.”
“Kidnapped?”
“Ummm, it’s a little complicated.” His face reddened, and he fussed over the baby, saying Storm needed a diaper change.
“Long story,” Tony butted in.
Arnie interrupted the conversation by placing pizza, wraps, samosas, and pies on a tray and putting them on the coffee table. Rudy appeared, and he and Arnie got another tray of food and bottles of water and took the remaining kids into a second bedroom and closed the door.
Ranger and Flint shoveled food in their mouths while pummeling Hunter with questions about me, my family, and Draven. Matt and Tony were together on the second sofa. I made my aunt slide into an easy chair while I sat on the arm, and Uncle, after a moment’s hesitation, plopped himself on a footstool behind us.
Hunter stood to my left, alternately ruffling his hair and pacing the floor, but always with his gaze on me.
“What is this place?” Aunt Louisa whispered.
“A panic room. More than one. I’m glad you’re here. It’s safer here than outside.” I rewound what I’d said in my head. Now I was mimicking Hunter. He’d been banging on about keeping me safe, and in turn, I was saying the same to my family.
I had to give her a hint. “Turns out, Draven is a bad dude, even in mafia circles. Shocker, right?”
She mouthed, “Mafia? All of them?”
Flint caught my eye. “You are very lucky Hunter decided to stick his nose into your business.”
“Yes, I am.” What else could I say? You’re keeping me captive and I’m going to tell the police wouldn’t go down well. “But I wish we could leave.” That was as far as I was willing to push the issue.
He nodded but didn’t respond.
“Isn’t it a coincidence that Odell is… you know.” Ranger pulled a face, and I scowled. What the heck was he saying about me? That I was poor? I wasn’t part of the mafia? I didn’t know about the realities of life?
“I may not be rich or influential, and my uncle made mistakes, but neither I nor my family deserve to be in this position.”
My words hung in the air, and I was prepared for a reaction from Hunter and his family. What, I wasn’t certain. Hunter caught my eye, and I sensed an apology. Much as I hated being brought down here and wanted to go back to my life, no matter how much it sucked, Hunter had helped me when I panicked. That was a check in his column.
“This is not your fault,” Hunter said. He hovered near the armchair, and I leaned toward him while Aunt Louisa hunched up in the opposite direction, her eyelids fluttering and closing as she covered up a yawn.
“It’s mine,” Uncle spoke up and looked at my aunt, but she turned her head.
Flint waved away his words. “No, this is all Draven. But the question is–and I have two of them. One, did he let Hunter take Odell because he wanted to start a war? Hunter steals Draven’s mate and breaks our law. That’s a crime. So Draven has every right to find you and mete out a punishment.”
Aunt Louisa’s head tipped to the side. She’d had no sleep last night and was exhausted.I was pleased she’s missed most of what Flint said.
“Can my aunt lie down?”
“Of course.” Hunter ushered my aunt and uncle into the first bedroom with the bunk beds. I made sure they were covered up, as the temperature was frigid from the air-conditioning. They didn’t protest, but Uncle grabbed my hand and apologized.
I wasn’t ready to hear it, so I turned off the lights and left the room.
I stood awkwardly, not wanting Hunter and his brothers to know I craved his presence. The brothers were huddled together talking about mates when Rudy came out of the other bedroom. Two of the little ones were watching a kids’ movie while the youngest was asleep.
“Wouldn’t you like to sleep?” Hunter asked me. “You must be tired after all that’s happened.” He extended an arm, but I stepped away.
“No, thanks.” I was running on empty and could have used a coffee, but I didn’t want to miss what was being discussed. Besides, those bedrooms were tiny, and I wasn’t staying in there.
“He can’t have known who Odell was.” Ranger tossed some nuts into his mouth.
“You don’t remember a lot about the Silverback pack.” Rudy sat between his sons’ husbands.
It was odd they referred to themselves as a pack, but when I compared that to my situation, it was a big fat nothing. So I ignored it.
“There was a rumor about a man who could see things. Or should I say ‘sensed’ things.”
“That’s an old tale that was never proven, Dad,” Flint reacted. “They were battle-hardened and had a huge war chest, but there was nothing mystical about them.”
Maybe I was too tired to comprehend what was being said. Pack. Mates. Perhaps the mafia was cult-like. But I had to bring up the marriage issue.
“Can anyone explain why Hunter wants to be both my mate and to marry me?”
That stunned the family into silence.
“One is for people like us and the other is for the rest of the population,” Ranger explained.
This was something I’d missed about the mafia. That they didn’t marry but preferred to be… friends? It didn’t make sense.
“But Draven was like you and he wanted to marry me.” This discussion was going round and round and my anxiety was spiking.
I put a hand on my chest and wished Aunt Louisa was here. She’d recognize the symptoms and help get me through the episode. I had to get out of this place, but before I could beg them to open the door, Hunter was at my side, reminding me of the breathing technique we’d practiced earlier.
I focused on him, breathing and holding up four fingers, then another four, and finally six. It was partly effective, but he stayed with me and barked at the others to get a fan from another room. Not being able to make sense of the need to have Hunter close, I clutched his hand.
“Sounds. Tell me five.”
“Kids, TV, baby crying, fan whirring, a glass being put down on a table.”
“Is Odell—?” Hunter cut off his brother with a loud, “Shush.”
And when my heart stopped racing, he led me to an armchair.
“We have to go.” Flint got up.
“But who will let us in if Hunter leaves?” Ranger kissed his husband, Matt, who clung to him, and they whispered, too low for me to hear.
Rudy put up his hand. “Guess who?”
Ranger chuckled. “I should have known.”
No matter how nice the family was, I couldn’t be stuck underground without Hunter. Yes, my aunt and uncle were here, but I had to trust that they’d be okay. I was too tired and confused to puzzle over why I had to be close to Hunter.
“I’m coming too or I’ll have another panic attack in your panic room.”