Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Grant
I’m in the backyard back at the mansion with a crew after ordering a do it yourself house off my phone for delivery. It’s mind boggling what you can buy with too much money and some initiative.
I should be used to it as Lucas’ guard detail, but times like this makes me happy to have access to his credit card.
The entire house will be delivered in pallets and boxes tomorrow, and it also didn’t take me much work to find a contractor that would take this job on with short notice.
Now, we are planning out where the foundation will go so they can start on it. Then, plumbing and electrical will actually be added in stages and not beforehand the way I’d originally thought when I was researching this.
“These kits are great when you don’t need something built from scratch,” Jenkins, our head contractor says, looking over the plans.
“You really just need to ensure that it has a good structure before we begin putting it together. While a full basement foundation would give you more storage space, it’s clear this is a second home on the property, right? ”
“Yes,” I confirm. “We don’t need a basement, as this is more of a cottage space for our omega. She says the mansion is too big for her.”
Gazing back at the house in question, he nods.
“I don’t necessarily blame her there. I’d probably get lost in a home that size,” he admits.
“We’ll do a crawl space foundation instead, and it’ll do the trick.
It’ll take less time to do too. I saw there’s a loft to this project, and I think that the effect of lower ceilings is something your omega would enjoy as well.
Yeah, I think this is a good choice for her.
We have enough daylight to get started.”
With that firm nod in my direction, people begin working. Welp, I’m clearly not even needed. I’m used to people who ask multiple questions, and then get confused and ask more of them. I have to admit that this is a very straightforward job.
Jenkins’ words ring back to me, and I decide to let Lucas know later that he could be a good option to go with if he decides to bulldoze the current mansion and rebuild it. Jenkins seems to understand what omegas are looking for in terms of a home.
“What is going on?” Oliver asks behind me.
The build team is constructing along the side of the mansion so that it has more of a courtyard symmetry. If Isolde wants lower ceilings and a different flow to the rooms, we could build with the garden as a focal point.
Beautiful things are coming for my little nightmare.
“We’re bringing Isolde home,” I murmur, answering Oliver without looking at him.
“I see a construction crew, but I don’t see how that’ll help. Houses take forever to build.”
“Not if it’s a kit home,” I shrug. “After the foundation is built, I think it’ll be closer to a week before she can move in.”
“I didn’t think that shit worked,” Alesso chimes in.
Turning my body so I can glance at them, I nod.
“Let’s just say that Lucas is inspired by his lack of sleep. The only issue is that he could blow something up if he applies that inspiration in a laboratory,” I chuckle.
“Has he ever exploded something?” Oliver asks, lips twitching.
“In high school,” I confirm. “We got drunk together once and he told me all about it. It wasn’t actually his fault though.
Someone thought it would be funny to mislabel different ingredients.
Lucas often had the ability to go into the lab whenever he had downtime, and the teacher didn’t always need to be there to supervise. ”
“Oh shit,” Oliver snorts.
“So he mixed together different elements, intent on what he was doing. Except, instead of creating what he was expecting, it began to smoke. There was no time for him to fix it since he didn’t know that his components were mislabeled,” I explain, still smiling at how much we laughed.
“And then there was fire?” Alesso asks.
“Lucas managed to run out of the lab, yelling for help, and the lab exploded. Except, half the school also burned down with it,” I explain.
“Fuck me,” Oliver laughs. “Yea that wasn’t his fault, but it may be best to keep him away when he’s tired.”
“I completely agree. It’s also why we’re building him a lab on property, but away from the houses,” I reply.
“Fuck, you’ve been a busy bee,” he says.
“Is that why you’re not with Lucas and Isolde?” Alesso asks.
“She kicked me out for a variety of reasons,” I shrug. “I don’t mind being the bad guy today. I kept a secret of hers for too long, and another for not long enough. It’s complicated.”
“I don’t think it’s complicated at all,” Oliver says as we walk back to the mansion. “I think you were a dickhead to her and you got what you deserved.”
“I mean, she could have beat me with the bat but she didn’t. Instead, she shoved it into my gut,” I say.
“What gut?” Alesso snorts. “Your stomach has a disgusting amount of muscles. Since there’s no padding, I bet it hurt.”
“It did, but I deserved it,” I shrug. “Lucas needed to see Leila and Isolde.”
“What about you?” Oliver asks as the snow crunches under our feet.
I am so sick of this weather. I don’t care how long I’ve lived in it, I’m already waiting for spring to pop her head out.
“I can bide my time,” I say.
I’m good at it.
Isolde
“I’m awake,” I mumble as I hear a cry, struggling to open my eyes.
Pushing myself into a sitting position, I look around the room and find it empty.
“Lucas?” I call out, getting out of bed.
“I’m coming,” he replies. “I had to get her bottle.”
I haven’t made a new bottle, and I walk out of the room to find him. Lucas is shaking the bottle to mix the powder while crooning and talking to Leila. My heart.
He looks really good with her.
“She’s impatient,” I say, walking over to kiss her forehead. “It’s coming, I promise.”
“I initially got up to change her, and then she started to root and bounce her head in search of food.”
My lips twitch as I run my finger over her lips. She tries to suck on it, and by the time she realizes that it’s a body double like a stunt man in a movie, Lucas is ready to give her the bottle.
“What time is it?” I ask.
“One in the afternoon,” he winces. “We all slept hard. It’s no wonder she’s hungry.”
“I read that babies won’t starve themselves, and not to wake them,” I murmur. “I have no idea what I’m doing, honestly.”
“I think you’re doing just fine,” Lucas says honestly. “I have some thoughts I want to talk through with you. Do you want to sit on the couch or the bed?”
“Bed,” I say immediately. “It’s the most comfortable. I just have to make sure I don’t fall back asleep.”
“That bed is really nice,” he smirks, following me as we walk back to the room. “This is a really good house for you, have I mentioned that?”
“I don’t think you have,” I muse, wondering what he’s up to.
“Well, it is. I want you to decorate your mini house when it’s finished being put together.”
“A three bedroom house with a loft isn’t exactly mini,” I tease him, getting into bed with him.
Lucas covers our legs with a blanket and shrugs.
“I mean, compared to the main house it is,” he says. “What do you think about Oliver submitting paperwork to the Healthy Pack Organization? It could be added security for Leila.”
“You’re a dirty negotiator,” I accuse, leaning against him.
“I’m willing to let you fly as far as you need to, but another part of me wants to bind you as well so you have to,” he winces.
“I think you should own it,” I tease him.
“I have a lot of feelings about this, but I also know that I want to be with you. I missed you while you and Grant were gone, and I disliked being away from you for work. Even though this kill was amazing and I loved every second of making that asshole realize how badly he’d fucked up in his betrayal. ”
“So it’s complicated,” he says, pressing his lips together.
Oh my god, the man is trying not to laugh at me.
“Very cute,” I mutter. “I think the word complicated should have a photo of me beside it in the dictionary.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being multifaceted…”
My raised brow makes him bark out a laugh, startling Leila. Pulling off the bottle she begins to wail, and Lucas looks as if he may join her.
“You’re okay,” I croon, laughter threading my voice as I take her from Lucas.
I rub her back and bounce her slightly until she’s reduced to little sniffles.
“All good,” I murmur. “I want to know where I stand with the pack. You all have been so careful, and I’ve loved that. Except, now I think I need more.”
“So paperwork, a name change, and maybe that ring?” he asks.
“Rings have too many places for blood to get stuck in,” I sigh. “I don’t think I’ll ever be a ring girl.”
“How do you feel about bites?” he asks soberly. “We can work up to them, but I know that I want you forever.”
“Yes,” I breathe. “It’s so fucked up. I want the bites, but I’m scared of the rest of what it means to be an omega. Slick, heats, wanting knots.”
“That’s because it was twisted against you,” Lucas says. “I swear, it’s not like that.”
“You’ve helped an omega through her heat?” I ask, not knowing if I should be jealous yet.
“That’s also complicated, but I did. She is happily packed up with her alphas in Minnesota now.
It made me realize what I’m missing. You know Oliver, Alesso, and I met through very odd circumstances.
Slick Dreams is where that happened, and we all helped an omega through her heat.
It’s why I know how terrible their living conditions can be,” he confesses.
“If you want to end the bitch who sold you, I have no problems helping.”
“Even if it means hanging out with Leila so I can go?” I ask softly. Not all heroes wear capes, and sometimes they wear burp cloths and a baby.
“Yes,” he says. “I’d prefer if you take at least Grant though. I don’t want you to go alone.”
“I’ve been thinking about how I’d want to do this, and I’m still working through it. I don’t want Jefferson City Auctions to be functional by the time I’m done,” I admit.