25. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“You don’t have to baby me, Enzo,” my dad grumbled as he tossed down his playing cards. “And you should go back to your job while you’re still gainfully employed.”
“You’re only saying that because I keep beating you at speed,” I teased as I gathered up all of the cards to reshuffle them again.
The three days since arriving in California had been a whirlwind of talking to doctors, catching up with cousins, and helping my sister get the house ready for whenever the hospital released dad back onto the masses again.
I felt a little bit bad for all of the hospital staff that my dad harassed throughout the day because what should have been a two-day post op stay was quickly turning into a week.
The heart surgery had gone well, but he’d developed a small infection that they wanted to keep an eye on.
“Only because I let you,” the man harrumphed, eyeballing me as I divvied out the cards. “And don’t be trying to put more cards on my side either, boy, your mom pulled that trick on me for our entire marriage. I can sniff out cheating from a mile away.”
“Mom wasn’t the cheater, Dad,” Amy said as she breezed into the room with bags full of lunch for us. “She was just better at games than you.”
“There’s my favorite child,” my dad crowed, shooting me a silly grin that told me that he was only kidding as he accepted a kiss from my older sister.
Amy just shook her head and began to unload the food. “I got you grilled chicken and rice, dad, no more sweet talking me into steak. Doctor’s orders.”
Dad frowned, tossing his cards down and crossing his arms stubbornly over his chest. “I’m not eating rabbit food for the rest of my life, Amelia.”
“If the doctors say you will, then you will,” Amy scolded and handed him utensils. “Now eat or I’ll tell them that you actually do want the steamed fish and broccoli instead.”
The man seemed to consider it for a moment before finally picking up his fork and spearing a slice of chicken.
Amy then turned her attention to me.
“And you also need to eat. Mom would be appalled at how skinny you’ve gotten,” she said, shoving a tin foil wrapped burrito into my hands.
Glancing down at myself I frowned at her. “I have not gotten skinny. If anything I’m ripped, Ames.”
My sister just scoffed at that with a shake of her head. “My husband is ripped. You’re a toothpick by comparison.”
Dad’s laugh was a little bit rough as he watched our interaction, eating his grilled chicken with more zeal now that he’d gotten dinner and a show. “She’s got you there, Enzo.”
“We can’t all be weightlifters, Amy,” I grumbled, but took a big bite of my burrito anyway. “But I guess he needs to be strong to pick up your small army of children.”
Amy rolled her eyes. “Five is not a lot. We were trying for a girl.”
“And you got it along with four of the rowdiest boys I’ve ever seen. I swear I thought Leonardo was going to push my stomach straight to my asshole today when he jumped on me while I was asleep.”
“This is so nice,” Dad chimed in cheerfully around a mouthful of rice. “Having you kids home, I mean. I never know if you’re going to love on each other or declare World War III—it keeps life interesting.”
We both shot him an identical, withering look.
“Anyway,” Amy said, standing and pulling her purse up on her shoulder. “On that ridiculously cheesy note, I’ve got to head back. Giulia has ballet and I’ve got to drop the rest of my army off at soccer practice.”
She leaned down and pressed a kiss to our dad’s cheek before reaching out and giving my hair a ruffle. “I’ll see you both later.”
Once she was gone, Dad and I sat and ate in a comfortable silence.
“She’s right you know, you are looking a bit skinny. Are you still worrying about Artie and his eyes?”
Sighing, I put down my half-eaten burrito. “I’m always worrying about Artie—and Leith too. It’s kind of my job to worry about them.”
“And who worries about you?”
I thought about it for a moment.
It was easy to say that Artie and Leith took care of me… but truthfully I rarely ever let them.
“That’s what I thought,” Dad said, pleased by his own deductive skills. “You never let us take care of you either, Son. It used to drive your mom crazy how independent you were when you came back from Italy.”
I did everything for myself the way that I did it for myself and my nonna. When I returned, there had been a couple of weeks where I kept doing things just as I had when I was in Italy. It got to the point where my mom broke down and we got into an argument because I wouldn’t let her wash my underwear.
“You’re certainly emotional today,” I told him, trying to lighten the situation while changing the subject.
But Dad was having none of it. “I don’t know if the heart attack is what’s making me so sentimental, but I wish that I could go back in time and try and figure out a different way to help you. Sending you to my mom’s worked and you came back as a fine young man, but I think it broke all of us in the process. You the most.”
Shaking my head I rested my clenched fists on the top of my knees, not looking at him. “You did what you had to do.”
“We did. But that doesn’t mean we were right to do it,” Dad reached out and put an IV-hooked up hand over mine. “But now you seem to have found something even better than us. Leith and Artie are perfect for you.”
And Ciara, my brain whispered but I shoved that down. My family had no clue how messy things were getting back in Seattle and I didn’t want to say anything until we figured it out for ourselves.
Adding another alpha to the pack required lots of discussion about boundaries and how the new relationship would change the dynamics within the pack. It couldn’t just happen.
“They’re my family,” I said with a shrug. “And so are you. I’m not very far away anymore—just an hour by plane—so when you or Amy are struggling please actually call me. Don’t wait until you’re about to die from a heart attack.”
Getting the phone call from Amy had shaken me to my core and I’d made a silent vow on the plane ride over that I would be a better son to my dad now that we were so close.
“Your sister won’t let me get away with it anymore, I have a feeling she’s going to rule me with the iron fist she inherited from your mother.”
If anyone could bully Antonio Santoro into behaving, it would be my sister.
“Good, you need it. Now, finish your meal before the nurses see and snitch on you to her.”
At that moment my phone began to ring and Leith’s face popped up on the screen.
“I’ve gotta answer this,” I told him, standing up from the uncomfortable hospital chair I’d been posted up in all day and headed for the door, pointing at his still half-eaten plate. “Eat your food.”
“I wonder who the dad is here,” I heard him grumble as I slid the door shut.
Once I was in the hallway, I answered the phone. “Hey, Leith, everything okay?”
He’d been giving me text message updates over the past three days, but he’d been unusually quiet today. I kept telling myself that it was probably because he was busy, but as soon as he spoke I knew shit had hit the fan.
“Enzo… I have good news and I have bad news… which do you want first?”
Hopping out of the taxi I thanked the driver, tossing more than the fare at him as I yanked my suitcase out of the trunk.
“Hey! Your change!” the man called but I ignored him, my eyes on the glass doors of our apartment building.
‘Artie went into heat and Ciara got caught up in it… and, well, she bit him.’
Leith’s words had rung in my head over and over again through the two hours it took to find a flight and give a lame excuse to my dad and sister.
He’d been quick to tell me it wasn’t her fault, but gave no explanation as to how that was possible.
I’d known that Artie was close to his heat, but I’d still decided to go to California anyway and now I was kicking myself.
Five minutes later and I was standing in front of our apartment door, my nerves making bile rise in my throat as I tried to figure out just how I was going to handle this.
There was no going back. The closer I’d gotten to my pack again, the more I realized it.
Before, there had been two other presences in the bond, one strong right next to mine, Artie’s, and the other hovering just on the other side that was Leith’s. I could always count on the steady thrum of their hearts to soothe me and remind me that I had a place with them.
But now I could feel a third presence—a third heartbeat—rattling right alongside theirs. On some level, I’d always known Ciara would join our pack. The inevitability of it was plain for me to see. I just didn’t think it would happen quite like this.
Feeling along the bonds, I realized with a jolt that all three were out of their minds with lust. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep my head as soon as I walked in.
Then the front door was yanked open and a slightly familiar face greeted me.
I’d seen him before during the Olympics when I commentated on Team USA’s hockey game in the semi-finals and again when I looked over all of the character profiles to do a voice over for the Complex’s marketing team.
He was also the alpha that Ciara was dating.
“Jae-Sun Park.” His name tumbled out of my mouth before I could catch it and we stood staring at each other for a moment.
He was the last person I expected to see standing inside of that apartment I shared with the pack. “What are you doing here?”
Jae-Sun glanced over his shoulder at the hallway that led to Artie’s room before looking back at me. “Ciara’s here, so I’m here.”
His words were simple but still held a weight to them and I could read between the lines.
They loosely translated to: even if she’s a part of your pack, she’s still mine.
During all of my restless nights where I thought of every possible outcome that could happen with Ciara I’d neglected to consider the other alpha.
Pushing past him inside, I put my bag by the door and gave both waiting dogs a pat on the head. “And you’re okay? With everything that is happening in there?”
The man’s lips just pulled up into an irritating smirk.
“What?” I asked, letting all of the panic and confusion I’d felt on the plane ride turn into anger that I directed at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Jae-Sun just shrugged. “You and that other alpha are just very similar people, that’s all.”
What the fuck did he mean by that?
Shrugging out of my jacket, I crossed the living room to head to my omega’s nest and see with my own eyes what I already could feel through the bond.
But then the other alpha caught my arm.
“Let me go,” I bit out with a growl.
“In just a second. You look pissed and I want to make sure you’re not going to be mad at her,” Jae-Sun’s dark eyes were locked on to my face, his own expression calm. Once he was sure I wouldn’t run headlong for the hallway, he let me go again.
“Why would I be mad at her?”
After the brief explanation from Leith, I pretty much knew exactly how everything had gone down. An alpha rut was hard to resist and Artie’s was nearly impossible for me and Leith, so it stood to reason that Ciara wouldn’t be able to resist it either.
I also had a sneaking suspicion that if I dug around in Artie’s bathroom I would find an old bottle of heat suppressants that was nearly empty.
He’d hung on to them for gods knew how long even though he had two alphas to service him through his heats now. He should have stayed home if he knew his heat was coming, but on some level I think he went to practice on purpose.
An alpha in rut—especially a heat driven rut—would do whatever their omega asked of them. Hell, if Artie asked me to jump off of a bridge during his heat I would probably do it. Ciara had never experienced a heat rut before and it had probably hit her like a truck.
Jae-Sun’s lips pulled down into a frown. “Just… There’s no going back at this point so we need to figure out how all of this works together. If you yell at her or make her feel like it’s her fault she’s liable to run.”
Sucking in a deep, calming breath, I forced the tightness in my shoulders to relax. “You’re right.”
“You’ll quickly learn that I usually am,” the man joked with a wry shake of his head before he held out his hand. “I’ve never met you in person, but I did listen back to your Olympics commentary. I’m Jae-Sun Park, but most people call me Wiz.”
“Enzo Santoro,” I introduced myself, giving his hand a firm shake. “And I take it you’re going to stick around with this pack then?”
Wiz nodded resolutely.
“Where she goes, I go,” he repeated again. “I was just about to bring them water and snacks, but do you want to take them instead?”
My mouth suddenly felt dry as the bundle of anxious nerves that had been tangling about in my stomach tightened. I’d been able to momentarily forget about them because of my focus on Wiz, but now it was all coming back with a vengeance.
Accepting the little grocery bag full of bottled water and easy-to-eat snacks, I kicked off my shoes and headed for the back hall.
It was quiet, deceptively so, and I nearly choked on the mixture of oranges, apples, and cinnamon that was leaking out from underneath the door.
Opening it, I squinted into the dim room and found Leith on the floor, naked and propped up against the bed. His head was laid back and he was staring up at the ceiling and looking as if someone had sucked the soul out of him.
“Lei?” I whispered, watching as he jerked to attention.
“You’re back, how’d you get here so fast?” he asked with a rasp.
Pulling a bottle of water out of the bag I handed it to him and waited until he drained the entire thing before answering his question.
“I managed to find a seat on the next flight out,” I said, crouching low so I could get a better look at him. “You look like shit.”
Leith’s chuckle was gravelly. “Thanks for that. He ran me ragged for about an hour until she woke up and then it was her turn again.”
The alpha pointed over his shoulder to where the forms Ciara and Artie were softly snoring behind the sheer curtains of the four-poster nest.
Leith’s voice dropped and I had to lean in closer to hear him. “I didn’t sleep with her, Enz, I just helped Artie out. I think the bonding helped keep his heat shorter—almost as if it did what it came for and was satisfied by the new bond.”
We exchanged a meaningful look that told me that Leith had the same ideas about Artie’s heat that I did.
“You could have—slept with her I mean. At this point there’s no point in holding yourself back.”
But Leith shook his head. “Nah, I want our first time together in four years to be done with a clear mind and neither of us have that right now. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Are you going to pursue her?” Leith’s green eyes were intent on my face, trying to gauge any shift in my expression which I fought to keep neutral.
“We’ll see.” I was still conflicted about the entire thing, but I’d need to get on the same page at some point.
Slipping a hand in between the gauzy curtains, I peered inside to find both of them cuddled up together.
My eyes roamed over Artie’s bare shoulder until it made it to the fresh bond mark that stood out in stark contrast to the omega’s pale skin. It was just above Leith’s and I wasn’t sure if she’d done that on purpose or if, instinctively, she knew which side was his and wanted to share that with him.
Then I finally let myself look at the sleeping woman next to him.
While Ciara had given him a single bite, it looked as if the omega had gone to town on her. Her smooth skin was marred by bites that had bruised but not quite broken the skin.
“Jesus, was he gnawing on her?” I asked a little too loudly and it caused both of them to stir.
“A bit,” Leith said as he pulled his pajama pants up and knelt on the edge of the nest causing it to sink. “I’m gonna take her and get her cleaned up. Can you handle him if he wakes up?”
I nodded and watched wordlessly as Leith scooped her naked body up and cradled her tenderly to his chest.
“Even if it came about in a surprising way,” he said, his green eyes soft on her in the dim light of the bedroom. “I am glad she’s a part of our pack now—and I also think that guy out there is a good fit, so be nice.”
“I’m always nice,” I grumbled, making the other alpha laugh softly.
The door to the bathroom clicked shut behind them, leaving me with Artie who was slowly starting to wake up again.
“Enzo?” he mumbled sleepily, turning to face me. “When did you get back?”
Pulling my clothes off down to my boxers, I grabbed another water bottle from the bag and crawled into the nest. “A few minutes ago. I hear you’ve been a real troublemaker today, babe.”
“I thought the suppressants would do a better job of keeping it at bay,” Artie confessed, clearly under no delusions that we wouldn’t pick up on what had happened.
“Did you?” I asked, uncapping the water and holding it up to his lips. “Drink.”
He moved to push it away, but I wasn’t going to let him get away with that. “Drink, omega.” This time it was a command.
With a heavy sigh, Artie let me put the bottle up to his lips and tip it, pouring the cool liquid into his throat until I was satisfied that he’d gotten enough.
“When all of this is done, we’re going to have a serious conversation about those suppressants and you going to practice in heat,” I told him with a frown, watching as pink started to creep up his neck again—a telltale sign that another heat flare was coming.
“But for now?” Artie asked hopefully.
“For now,” I said, pushing my boxers down. “I’m going to help you through your heat so you don’t suck the life out of those two in there.”
Truth be told, his pheromones had been making it hard to focus ever since I opened the door. It took everything in me not to crawl right into the bed with both him and Ciara, but at least one of us had to stay rational.
I didn’t even know if Ciara wanted me the way I wanted her. We hadn’t spoken since that day in the broadcast closet and just thinking about it made me feel confused.
But I knew Artie wanted me and I wanted him just like always. It had started with the two of us and if his grabbing hands and little smile were any indication, he’d missed me just as much as I’d missed him over the last three days.
Every inch his skin smelled like a mixture of the rest of my pack. Apples and cinnamon mixed in so intrinsically with his own oranges that it was almost like it was coming out of his pores.
Our kiss was hurried as I slipped a hand underneath him to touch his slick asshole.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry,” Artie chanted, slapping my hand away and rolling onto his stomach, presenting himself for me.
“Impatience will get you nowhere, omega,” I chastised him gently, but placed the head of my cock at the tight rosette of his ass.
“Hypocrite,” the omega purred with a huff as I hilted myself entirely in one long thrust.
Leaning over his body, I brought my mouth right next to his ear. “Don’t I know it.”
Then we began to rock as Artie’s heat took the both of us away.