Chapter 52
Chapter Fifty-Two
ALEKSEI
My wife is white as a ghost.
“Don’t make me force you to eat, maya.” I lean forward, holding the takeout container for her, the fork hovering, ready for her to take.
She’s been picking at the food, but I need her well-nourished. It’s not a want, it’s a need. My Omega’s distress is like having a finger papercut. But with her, because of her importance to me, I feel those small cuts cover every inch of my skin.
“I’m not hungry,” she says, grabbing my hand instead.
Before I interlace our fingers, I press a kiss to the moon-shaped silver scar left from our first meeting.
“Quinny,” Kade snaps, making my hackles rise. And Roshka’s too.
He realizes his abrupt bark is kindling to my mood and softens his approach. “Do me a favor, darling. Switch off for a while, like you do when you go to work. If you were facing a long shift, you’d be eating whether you felt like it or not. The food will give you a boost.”
Santiago comes back from where he has been pacing at the back of the aircraft. He looks ready to make others bleed for upsetting her.
“Bebe, eat. I’ve put a call in for Valentine and Ronin. As soon as I hear, you’ll know.”
I pat my lap and she climbs up, resting her back against me. She sighs in relief, despite the tension leaking from her. Sitting back with her in my arms, I make her hold the container.
“Roshka,” I warn, pushing him away. He senses her emotions and knows she needs comfort, but my wife is mine. I already share her with too many.
Santiago sits opposite, and Kade is close by. Everyone is careful not to pressure her, but our concern is obvious.
“How long until we land?” she asks quietly.
As she finishes speaking, I take advantage of her mouth being open and make it hard for her to deny me, begging, even. “Please, maya.”
I will drop onto my knees and beg as loudly as I spoke at Victor's office if needs be. But she takes what I offer, then, together, we work through the whole bowl. After the last few bites I share with her, the timid smile I get screams of her resilience, but also her beautiful, golden heart.
She tucks herself under my chin, bringing her feet up and resting them on my thigh.
Santiago grabs his suit jacket and lays it over her lap. Kade is close enough, she would be getting his scent in the air. We’re drawing around her protectively while she tries to think of where Victor would be hiding.
He won’t be at her house in the mountains. We’re all aware of that fact. He has never gotten his hands dirty, and he’s not about to start now.
She’s reflective for a while, so long, I think she might have fallen asleep until she groans. “Oh my god, I’m so stupid. I know where he’s going.”
I barely hold back the roar threatening after hearing her talk so poorly about herself.
And that’s not to say she doesn’t notice; she’s extra sensitive, picking up the smallest noises we make or shifts in our emotions.
She undoes one of the buttons on my shirt, giving herself more room to push her hand against the place where the noise I make vibrates from my chest.
At her touch, it changes from anger to a purr in the space it takes her fingers to glide over my skin. One day, I will remind her of this, how she has the power to settle my soul in a touch. After we’ve destroyed her father.
“It’s another test. He’s giving me the choice of going for him or going to save my brother and Deena.”
“Where is he going, bebe?”
“My apartment.”
I don’t get it, but clearly Santiago understands. His frustration builds, making his usual scent sharp.
He squats in front of her, pulling her other hand into his. “There are no rules we wouldn’t break for you. And what are they going to do if we do break them? Come after us? They can get in fucking line.”
Kade clears his throat, and I feel her twisting to look at him. His eyes are narrowed, and he’s currently staring at Santiago, but as soon as he notices that she’s looking at him, his whole face changes. His emotions too.
Of course, Quinn notices, and she knows why. I’d like to know myself.
“Santiago never came to my apartment, Kade. The details he’s sharing come from his own investigation, not my sharing. I promise it wasn’t just you I didn’t allow to visit.”
And a small part of him relaxes, but no one is filling in the other huge fucking gaps. Not knowing what they’re talking about isn’t sitting well. Nalla gets up, sensing my souring mood.
Quinn is aware too. She digs one of her nails into my chest, and the tension that was building starts to deflate. “I have an apartment in a building that is supposed to be neutral. No business is allowed, no violence or killing within the property.”
“How fucking stupid is that, maya? You say the Russians are crazy! But that is yebanaty.”
Santiago laughs, shaking his head. “You would say it’s crazy, but Quinn’s apartment has been in business a long time because of the crazy security measures it offers and its reputation of being completely neutral.”
I look at him, wondering if he is the crazy one. “I don’t give a fuck, Santiago, who would abide by those rules? No killing is like telling babies not to shit!”
He ignores the rise in my anger, talking calmly like the polished, polite fucker he is. “Everyone agrees to the same rules. And the punishments are harsh if any of their rules are broken.”
“Ah… so people do break the rules there?” My irritation crescendos when he gives me what I’ve been after—proof that criminals don’t commit crimes while they live in a “safe” space is a fucking joke and a terrible idea.
And it gives people like Victor an out. Exactly the same as religious nutters who live in sin but confess their evildoing, thinking it gives them absolution so they can keep being fucking awful people.
“No. They did. A long time ago, but no one has…”
Perhaps Santiago should have been a lawyer because he’s very good at talking the talk.
“Who is they?” Kade asks him. He, too, is getting frustrated by Santiago.
It’s a good question, because I want the names of the fucking idiots who thought harboring criminals was a good idea. My blood pressure is rising like the tide on a full moon at how my wife was sleeping in the same complex where fucking criminals were.
“A privately funded company,” Santiago answers Kade, then turns to me, his eyes locking on mine, and they’re so full of challenge, they appear neon.
“Let’s not waste time on what was, Aleksei.
I am just as incensed as you are, but sometimes those setups work.
And you’re holding our proof of their success.
Would I let Quinn walk into that building now?
No chance in hell. Did it keep her safe when she was alone?
Yes, it did. Am I happy with the setup, knowing Victor is hiding in their building, thinking we can’t touch him?
Not fucking at all, but at least we know where he is. ”
My wife’s hand presses against my chest. Her fingers sit on that very spot where I house her in the deepest part of me. And though it’s soul-soothing, it’s also confirmation to how vulnerable a position she was in. To an Alpha, that realization is like being kicked in the knot repeatedly.
She presses harder, wanting my focus. “I purchased the apartment because of the security measures in place. They do have very strict rules and regulations for all the residents to abide by. It also is a great investment. There’s a waiting list for people wanting an apartment there.”
She uncurls herself and sits up, my body feeling the loss immediately. I’m completely odurmanennyy by her. Strangely, as disarming as it is to be utterly and constantly dazed by one living, stunningly gorgeous and divinely smelling Omega, I wouldn’t swap this stress for anything.
“Fine, then, we buy the entire building, take over the management rights. I get the premonition…”
“Premise,” she corrects softly.
“I get the premise of what they are doing, but I won’t allow people like Victor to use it how they are.”
“So, you’re going to police the criminals?” She laughs. Her humor reaches her eyes, and it’s energizing. It’s confirmation she is alive and well, and now she is with us, she won’t find herself being played like that again.
“Maybe,” I tease, leaning down to take her smart mouth.
I could lose days kissing my wife. A sudden shake of the plane as we hit a patch of turbulence is just that, but my brain reads it as confirmation that we should, in fact, buy the building and do just what I said only seconds ago.
“How good an investment is it, wife?”
“Very. According to the agent who sold me the property.”
I look at Santiago, and this time I’m the one staring at him in challenge. I add more of my designation, making it one of those situations where he can’t brush this away with his indecisiveness.
He knows where I’m going with it too. Still, I vocalize for the rest of our pack. “It’s a good idea, Santiago, and you know it. I won’t even get offended if you don’t spell it out for your besties. I will be happy to keep my anonymity."
Kade shakes his head. “Aleksei, no shit, sometimes I have no clue what you are trying to say.”
Santiago doesn’t blink as he holds my stare.
And, yes, in this instance, it is a fight to the death.
He can either concede, and forever he will be under me in terms of status and dominance in our pack, or he can admit it’s a fantastic idea, and I will respect him, occasionally share the mantle of Pack Alpha, and maybe even let the hyphenated-pack-name thing happen.
It takes a while for us to resolve the issue while Kade and Quinn talk around us, but eventually, he tips his head to the side, a small smile lifting his lips and deepening the color of his eyes.
“It might stop him from killing you.”
“Or you will join me on his list of people he needs to kill in his vengeance."
He nods his head, agreeing. “I’ll call them now.”
“You do that. Put it on speaker for us all to hear.”
“That’s not how it goes.” He twists around, his finger pointing in my direction.
“And you will need to accept that. We don’t drag our pack into Trinity business without full agreement of all Trinity members being aware first. To be honest, it’s never going to happen.
The fewer people who know the finer details, the better. No offense, bebe.”
Quinn waves off the suggestion. Later, we can go through the machinations of how this will work. But as black and white as I am, I’m also not into secrets of any kind, not after having to live behind smoke and mirrors for so long. She will know everything, because she is everything.
I clap for him finally getting his balls, though, before lifting my wife off my lap. “Fine, then. Kade, hold my wife. I’m going to listen while Santiago floats my idea of being a silent member in the Trinity Alliance.”