Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Iwake with the start. The all too real dream causing a bead of sweat to roll down my temple.
“Shh, Little Devil. It was just a dream.”
The comforting voice has me settling for a moment before reality hits me and I squeal, my fist flying around and connecting with the side of Conall’s face.
He grunts, slumping back onto the bed beneath us.
“Fuck! Cal! What the fuck are you doing here?” I shout, bringing my fist to my chest, clutching it in pain. Motherfucker has a hard face.
“Good morning to you too, baby. I would have expected a kiss on the cheek or even a sneer but a right hook was certainly a surprise,” he chuckles,opening his eyes to look up at me. “When are you going to understand that you are the woman of my dreams?”
I roll my eyes before I fling back the sheets. We are both still covered in the clothes we were wearing last night and I thank myself for small miracles.
I then allow myself to remember just what happened before I fell asleep.
I sigh as I cross my legs, looking down at my hands as they twist in nervousness before I look up at Cal.
“Thank you for being there for me, Cal.”
He smiles sweetly as he sits up and grabs my hands to hold them in his own.
“You never have to thank me for being there to support you, Valley. It was my honor to be there for you when you needed someone.”
I nod and drop my eyes to where he holds me.
“I know that yesterday was a lot for you. I have questions and I know that you have a million of your own. But there is one thing that I need you to understand before we get into any of that…” He trails off for a moment longer than I expected.
I look up to find him looking at me with a strange look on his face.
“No matter what happens, no matter what you tell me, I will be here for you, Valentina. I know that may terrify you but there is something about you that has me hooked and I can’t stop. ”
I go to talk but he cuts me off. “I know that is a lot right now for you to process but I just want you to know that I’m not going anywhere. I will be here for both you and Amity in whatever capacity you will let me.”
There is a part of me that wants to tell him no. To push him away. To demand that he leave right now and never speak to me again. It's small but it's there.
The other part of me though—the much louder part—screams to let this man in. To allow myself to have someone for the first time in my life.
Someone that actually seems to give a fuck about me and what I want.
Maybe just this once, I could allow myself to have just that.
Without having to say anything between us, I know that he knows the truth. I also think he knows that I know. He should be mad. He should be ripping shreds off me for lying to him.
But he isn’t.
Instead, he is in my bed, fully clothed—jacket and all—and is asking for my permission to be in my life.
So, instead of saying no, for the first time in my life, I say yes to an Alpha.
I already am dreading my stupidity but I need to change my thought process. I can’t allow myself to be terrified for the rest of my life.
The smile that Conall gives me lights up the entire room. He chuckles, bringing my hands up to his lips and places a delicate kiss on my fingers.
“Thank you, Little Devil. Now, we better go check on our little firefly. I heard giggles before and I have a feeling she may be up to mischief.
The squeal of excitement from my three-year-old as both Cal and I make our way out into the lounge room helps ease any kind of lingering sadness.
Instead of beelining straight for me like she normally would, Amity launches herself into Cal’s waiting arms.
“Cal! You had a sleepover! Are you going to have another sleepover?”
The excitement in her voice has me chuckling, “It's only just the morning, baby. Let’s see how the rest of our day goes before we ask Cal to stay again tonight.”
Amity nods before she wiggles out of Cal’s arms. “Okay! But you have to play dolls with me again!”
Cal chuckles but nods. “Anything for you, Firefly.”
I smile as I head over and begin making breakfast for us. Cal doesn’t leave me waiting long before he is right beside me helping to prepare bacon and eggs.
It's strange doing such a mundane task with him.
To be honest, it feels unnatural even to have an Alpha in the kitchen with me.
My old pack refused to step foot in the kitchen while I lived with them. Every single meal they ate was prepared by me. If they wanted something to drink, even a glass of water, I still had to bring it to them.
To them, Omegas belonged in the kitchen.
But as Cal works along beside me, it's clear that he doesn’t feel that way. Even as I shake my head, so used to doing this job alone, he refuses and finds something for him to do.
It seems at every single turn, Conall proves me wrong.
In a way, it's refreshing. In another, its scaring the living fuck out of me.
Why does he have to be so goddamn perfect? Why has this man steam rolled into my life and completely turned it upside down?
Why the fuck am I falling for an Alpha I have no business falling for?
I keep trying to tell myself that he is my boss. That he is forbidden. Though, if it was meant to be so wrong, why did it feel so good having him beside me last night?
A boss doesn’t hold their employee in their arms like that.
A boss wouldn’t have stayed the night at their employees house only to promise them forever and stand beside them in the kitchen preparing a meal for her daughter.
I know that my delusions of keeping our relationship strictly professional are just that; unrealistic.
A man like Conall won’t stop at the word no, but not in a way that terrifies me. It's obvious that when he sees something that he wants, he will do anything and everything in his power to get it.
And right now, his sights seem to be set on me.
We eat and clear up breakfast all together. The entire time we laugh and joke around, poking fun at each other.
By the time we are done, both my cheeks and stomach are sore from laughing so much.
I know that it's only a matter of time before this feeling disappears. The conversation that we need to have lingers over our heads like a dark cloud.
Conall follows Amity into her room, setting her up with her toys before he comes out to where I am huddled up on my couch.
I wish that I had some blankets and pillows that I could cuddle into but alas.
Cal's smile is almost sad as he collapses into the seat beside me.
I sigh as I look up at him. “Where do you want me to start?”
“Wherever you feel comfortable, Little Devil. I don’t want to push you into telling me anything you aren’t ready for.”
I nod, a sick feeling curdling my stomach at the thought of telling my inner-most secrets to Cal but I know that I need to.
If I want to stay true to who I am and potentially see where this thing with Cal could go, I need to be honest. I need to tell him the whole truth.
Taking a deep breath, I brace myself as I meet Conall’s eyes.
“I designated as an Omega on my sixteenth birthday.” I pause, allowing that information to sink in. Cal nods, allowing me to continue.
“Do you remember the Rossi family?” I question. He ponders it for a moment, as if sifting through a filing cabinet before he nods.
“Yeah, I remember them. Denzel, Roberto, Giovanni and their Omega Caterina.”
I nod, my throat feeling tight as I attempt to swallow down the pain that comes along every time I think about my parents and that night.
“My mother, Caterina, was beside herself leading up to my sixteenth birthday. She knew that I was going to designate as an Omega like her. She wanted to shout it from the rooftops. So, like any mother in high society, she threw me a massive birthday.”
Cal’s eyes blow wide as he connects the dots. His mouth drops, looking me over. A mix of emotions running over his face.
“We were there that night.”
It's now my time to be shocked. I gape at him as he continues.
“I can’t believe I never connected the dots.” He shakes his head, rubbing a hand over his face before he looks back up at me, “You look exactly like your father, Gio.”
A lone tear trails down my cheek. For years I had thought that the memory of my parents had been lost to me forever. That as their only surviving relative, I was the only thing that kept even a part of them alive.
“Vic, Olis and I did a lot of business with your parents. It would have been impossible for us to have got to where we are today without their knowledge in tech.”
I make a note to come back to what it is exactly that these three men do apart from owning a strip club. For now though, I just continue my story while I still can.
“I started to show signs of my designation just before the party started. So when the time came for us to greet the guests, I was essentially put on display for all of the unmated packs. I know that may not have been my parents’ intention, but that is what happened.
“The Andrews pack was one of the last groups that I met that night. From the moment Scott, Matt, Jason and Trey walked through the door, their eyes were set on me. No matter how hard I tried to avoid them, they seemed to be everywhere I would be. The day after my party, Pack Andrews put in an official bid to ‘court me’.”
A spark of anger lights in Conall’s eyes. I don’t let it derail me as I continue on.
“My fathers, of course, turned them away. They wanted me to find my pack naturally. To find my scent matches. To find love just like they had with Mom. It took two years for the Andrews to be sick of waiting around for my parents or myself to give in.”
I inhale, working up the courage for the next bit. “On the night of my eighteenth birthday, I woke up to the sound of gunshots. I tried to hide but it was useless. Trey found me and dragged me to my parents room where they had killed my mom and papa. My pa and dad were both bound and gagged.”
A numb feeling comes over me as I recite the living nightmare. Tears stream down my face as the words continue to pour from me.
“I watched as they put a bullet in both of their heads before they took me.”
My eyes drop, unable to continue looking at the tortured look on Cal’s face. Seeing the devastation is almost too much to handle.
I jump as he reaches over to hold my hands. Unintentionally, he gives me the strength to continue.
“For the next six years, I was under Pack Andrews’ control. For six years, I was tortured, raped and treated like I was a slave. For six years, I was their toy to use and play with whenever it suited them. For six fucking years I despised the day I emerged as an Omega.”
At the last word, the tears that were slowly trickling down my cheeks turn into a downpour. A sob explodes from my chest as for the first time, I admit to what happened to me.
Cal gathers me into his arms and I cry into his chest just as I did last night.
By the time I eventually pull myself together, my throat is raw and Cal’s shirt has well and truly soaked through with tears.
I half-assed cry and snort as I look at the wet patch. “I’m so sorry. I’ve ruined your shirt.”
I go to get up to get him a towel or something but he stops me. Reaching up, he places his hands on both sides of my cheeks.
“Valentina, you do not need to be sorry for crying on me. Ever.”
I go to argue but he doesn’t allow it.
“No. You are allowed to cry on me whenever you like, baby. You have been through fucking hell. You have had your body and soul used and abused in ways that I will never understand. The fact that those men call themselves Alphas is a fucking disgrace to our desgination.”
“Used to,” I mutter as I wipe my face.
Cal looks down at me in confusion.
“Used to. As in past tense. As in they used to call themselves Alphas. They can’t anymore because I killed them.”
I brace for impact. If Conall thought my trauma was the pinnacle of my problems, he is sorely mistaken. I wait for the look of disgust. Of the yelling that should come with a confession of killing multiple people.
But it never comes. Instead, a smile brightens Cal’s face.
“That’s my fucking girl,” he says, his voice holding a proud note to it before he leans in and presses a gentle kiss on my lips.
My breath stutters in my chest, my lungs hardly able to take the next breath as he pulls away.
I have never been kissed before.
Out of all the years I spent under four Alphas’ control, never once did they kiss me. It was why I never fell into Stockholm Syndrome. I knew that they didn’t love me. And I never could have returned the sentiment even if they were able to feel that kind of emotion.
But Conall just kissed me.
I struggle to catch my breath as he remains holding my face in his hands. His touch is so gentle that I can’t help but melt into him.
“I am so fucking proud of you. Not only did you continue on for years even after dealing with the worst the world has to offer, but you also killed off those that took so much from you.”
He shakes his head as he looks at me with wonder in his eyes. It's almost like he is seeing me for the first time but in a completely new light.
“You are utter perfection, Little Devil. I don’t deserve to revel in the light that is you but I’m a greedy fucking man. I will take whatever dregs you decide to give me.”