32. Chapter 32
Oliver
Ishould’ve been asleep, snug in my nest, dreaming of money and hot chicks.
But no. Instead, Nico sent me ahead to get the safe house ready for a guest. But she wasn’t really a guest, was she?
She was a prisoner that we were probably going to torture and kill.
Nico could use pretty words to dress up the ugliness of what he did all he wanted, but I knew.
Shoving eggs into the fridge from the curbside grocery order I’d picked up in town, I wondered how I got stuck with the bitch work.
The store employees were not happy to see me at the ass crack of dawn, but money and connections made anything possible.
I made sure to tip them at least as much as they would’ve made in payroll that day.
They deserved a little recognition for the unfair working conditions.
I wasn’t the only one getting stuck with bitch work today.
I hip-bumped the massive fridge door shut, wadded up the canvas totes, and tossed them onto the pantry shelf.
What the fuck did I know about getting a safe house ready?
It wasn’t that I minded it, really. This place was just in the middle of fucking nowhere.
The internet was slow as shit, and it was quiet.
So quiet, I could hear myself think, which was never good.
No one wanted me thinking too much, least of all Nico. That was how Francisco’s offshore bank accounts got hacked and funds mysteriously redirected to a few of my favorite wildlife sanctuaries. What a pity.
On the other side of the panoramic windows, the pink clouds of impending dawn shifted, chasing the purple night sky across miles of vineyards cascading down into the valley, away from the house.
Pretty, but too fucking quiet. I should enjoy it while it lasted because it was about to be too fucking loud.
Too quiet or too loud, it felt like there was no in-between.
Far off in the shadows of the oak trees that lined the river, two tiny pinpricks of light began winding their way up the hill toward the house.
Took them long enough. They were two hours closer than I was and still took an extra two hours to get here.
You’d think Nico could figure out how not to drive like a grandma in that new Bentley of his.
He still hadn’t let anyone else drive it.
Cruz asked me to bring his M5, which wasn’t so bad, but I preferred my Audi.
I certainly wasn’t driving like a grandma in either of those, but still, four hours behind me?
Something must have happened. I wondered what sort of trouble that girl could have caused to delay my pack.
The thought of another omega near my pack—in my personal space—had my hackles up.
She wasn’t even here stinking up the place yet.
At least she was hot, but I wasn’t looking forward to the headache-inducing pheromones she’d bring with her.
I bet she smelled like spring rain and dirty toilets or island splash douche flowers.
That reminded me. We came here often enough that I’d taken the time to stock it with the comforts of home, which I wasn’t going to let her get her stinky hands on.
Keeping an ear out for the car, I hurried around collecting blankets from the couches and all my favorite throw pillows.
Weighed down by a mountain of faux fur, I marched that shit straight down the hall into my nest, locking it behind me. No contaminants allowed.
I barely finished in time because outside I heard the barely audible thud of the Bentley’s soft-close doors.
I sprawled into the window seat overlooking the driveway, affecting an air of boredom.
The omega looked a mess in a torn white dress that was nearly see-through in Cruz’s arms as he scooped her sleeping form out of the back seat.
I adjusted myself in my gray sweats before he draped his coat over her, shielding her dusky nipples from my eyes. Probably for the best.
Here she was, finally in the flesh, the omega my alphas were obsessed with. They always wanted shit they couldn’t have.
I knew she was hot. I’d watched her on security cameras more often than I’d like to admit, but in person she was on another level. Thick, puffy lips perfect for wrapping around a cock. It was no wonder my pack couldn’t keep their knots in their pants around her.
Nico pounded up the stairs onto the wraparound porch, not pausing before swinging open the front door.
His eyes landed on me lounging in the window nook.
Maybe I was imagining it, but there was banked aggression plastered across his face, and someone was going to have to take the edge off that at some point.
Did I want it to be me? Maybe, but only if he chased me around for it.
He held the door as Cruz carried the girl inside. I braced for the smell of blue urinal cakes, but instead the most amazing scent of smoky roses, juicy dripping raspberries, and sun-warmed violets assaulted me.
Fuck, I wanted to drink her slick out of a cup.
What?
No.
That wasn’t right.
Nico told me she was off the charts, but this, this wasn’t what I’d expected at all. Never, not once, had I smelled an omega that didn’t smell like dirty enema water.
When I wasn’t with my pack, I stuck to hot betas and the occasional alpha, never another omega. But this girl had my mouth watering, and I was itching to get my hands on her, or my mouth. My instincts weren’t picky about their demands right now.
The corners of Nico’s lips kicked up in a lazy smile as he watched the reactions parade across my face, but Cruz was too busy carrying the omega to my nest.
I jolted out of the nook and followed Cruz down the hall. Was he fucking with me right now? I figured they’d take her upstairs to their rooms, or the guest room, but when he walked past those, my stomach clenched. “No, Cruz. No. You are not putting that stray in my nest.”
He shot a shadowed glance over his shoulder but continued past my door, too.
“That’s fucking right. You better keep walking,” I muttered and turned back toward the great room.
I didn’t even make it a step because Nico was taking up the entire hallway with his presence. Fucking always swinging that big dick energy around. “What do you want?”
He leaned a shoulder against the beige plaster wall. “So, what do you think of her?”
“I haven’t even spoken to her, how the fuck should I know,” I hedged. That almost certainly wasn’t what he meant, but it was late… early… dawn… and none of us had slept yet, if the bags under his eyes were anything to go by.
That knowing look he leveled on me made me feel like a cornered rabbit. I had to get the fuck away from him before he smelled the arousal seeping from my pores.
“I’m going to bed.” Maybe I was a coward, but I hurried through my door and slammed it behind me. I leaned my back against it and slapped my hand over my chest to keep my heart from vacating my body.
That delicious-smelling snack was our ‘guest’.
Oh shit…
Scent-match.
Francisco was going to kill us all just to watch us scream.