Chapter 8 #2
“I believe you may have a very strong reaction to the omega female when she wakes up,” Dr. Walsh explains. “Be careful how you speak or act around her. She’s had a very rough time recently.”
Lifting Rosalia’s wrist, his eyes drop to it. There’s a very thin line on it, and I wonder what he sees that I don’t. Nico has been climbing the walls for weeks, but I’m a terrible mate and didn’t want to hear about a spoiled mafia princess’ problems.
I think I’ve been going about this all wrong. Swallowing down a whine of regret, I hate myself for how weak I feel. I want to tell Rosalia how sorry I am that I didn’t give her a chance.
All I saw at the time was a woman who was standing between me and Nico. I didn’t want to see her as a person, because I was afraid of caring about her.
Fuck.
“She tried to kill herself,” Nico says. “It was a couple of weeks ago. I think she would have if I hadn’t forced her to answer the phone.”
I think back to the day he stalked through the house, angrily insisting that Don Accetta put his daughter on the phone. Now I understand why he’s been a ball of nerves about Rosalia. The health checks he insisted on make so much sense now.
“You are aware I know who this is, correct?” Dr. Walsh asks, his voice breaking for a moment before his eyes slide closed. “I am the personal doctor for the Accetta family. I have been treating her since she was a child.”
“You could have led with that,” I breathe.
“This town is way too small for us,” Ciro grumbles. “Are you going to tell her father?”
“Not after what he allowed to happen to her. As far as I’m concerned, he’s no longer her father, and I am no longer his physician. He can find someone else to clean up his messes.”
My skin feels too tight as I think about everything that could have happened to her while living in that house. I need to see if I can hack into Don Accetta’s security system. Nico asked me to do it before, and I refused.
I feel really fucking stupid now.
“Won’t that be a problem?” I ask worriedly. Dr. Walsh is doing us an enormous service by coming here. I don’t want something awful to happen to him because he answered the wrong call.
“Not at all. My family won’t allow anything to happen to me, and I have enough to bury the Accetta’s after all the house calls I’ve done over the last ten years.
I’ll be fine. I suggest you find another place to stay though,” he says.
“Try Orson Realty. They’ll place your booking under their umbrella company so you simply disappear. Good luck. I'll see myself out.”
Picking up his already packed up bag, he walks out of the house at a sedate pace that feels so much faster. It’s not until I hear the click of the door that I begin moving.
“Someone needs to stay with them at all times,” I grunt. “I’m serious. I need to take a fucking shower.”
“Hey. It’s going to be okay,” Dario says, stepping into my field of vision.
I feel as if I’m being pulled in several directions, and none of those have the answers I need.
“It won’t be until I can wash off the day and see the video from Don Accetta’s cameras.”
“Pablo.”
My name makes me stumble as it falls off Nico’s lips.
“I need to know,” I rasp, my hands twitching from inaction.
“Maybe she doesn’t want you to know.”
“How do we help her when she’ll clearly waste away if we don’t!” I scream, turning to face my stepbrother. “She’s your scent match, isn’t she, Nico?”
Ciro stares at his feet as Nico takes a deep breath and nods.
“She told me she tried to kill herself,” he admits. “Her father had her beaten the day I met her for the first time, though I couldn’t see the bruises. She’s very good at hiding the marks.”
“That’s not a good thing,” I complain, my eyes pulled to Rosalia’s dark strands now that they are no longer confined by her hairstyle.
The shadows from it almost makes her under eyes appear bruised, and I feel more determined to ensure she never has to see her father again.
“I want him dead, Nico. Promise me. If we don’t need him, and want to make sure we aren’t running for the rest of our lives—”
“Then we have to sacrifice the entire fucking family,” Dario finishes mildly to my surprise. “I’ve been thinking about it too. They’re all evil. The children can go into foster care and hopefully learn to be good people, but the rest we should light on fire.”
Rosalia gasps on the table, tears leaking from her eyes, and I force myself to stay still. She doesn’t know who I am. The last thing I want to do is freak her out.
Nico brushes away her tears, leaning over to whisper in her ear.
Sucking in a breath that I immediately decide is a bad idea as a room full of pheromones hits me, I turn and walk out of the living room.
“Pablo!”
“I’m good!” I promise Dario as he calls out to me, aware that I’m lying.
There’s so much wrong with me, I don’t even know where to begin.
Shutting and locking the room where Nico and I sleep is my first step to establishing space. It occurs to me this is a very omega-like thing to do, but I ignore it in favor of locking the bathroom door as well.
What’s next? Am I going to want to start nesting next?
This is fucking ridiculous! I don’t want to be an omega.
Pulling off my blood stained clothes, I toss them beside the hamper, not wanting to fuck up everything else.
None of the blood is dry, so it could easily transfer to other things.
My mind spirals as I think of how things manage to contaminate lives, and before I know it I'm curled in a ball having a fucking panic attack.
Being an omega is a problem. I’ve always been the weakest link in my pack, and now it’ll be worse. Between auctions who think manly omegas are fun to sell as slaves, to government experiments, the list of how many ways I could be used flood my mind.
My pack has two females to protect now. We’re clearly spread too thin. I’m a goddamned liability! How can I help our pack?
Crawling to the shower, I reach up and turn on the water, sitting on the tile floor until I can calm down.
My heart is still pounding as I talk myself through the motions of washing my hair and body, reminding myself that the sooner I’m clean, the sooner I can dig into the mysterious omega in the living room.
When Nico came home after his date with Rosalia, I knew there was something wrong, but he tackled me as soon as he was through the front door. He reminded me we had unfinished business, and picked me up into a fireman’s carry as I grinned.
My stepbrothers reached for their headphones, knowing we would be fucking it out, and Nico locked us in our bedroom. I bit his throat the second his dick was deep in my ass, while he told me how much he loved me. It was perfect, but now I’m wondering how much he didn’t tell me about that day.
The bond is changing between us now that I’m an omega, making it stronger as I collapse on the bench. It’s built in and fun to fuck on, I simply didn’t make it here when I first crawled in here.
My head drops back as I focus on how worried Nico is, and the way he’s struggling to figure out what all of this means.
I doubt I’m making this any better, and I send loving thoughts in his direction.
I need to be a good partner to him, regardless of my designation.
We’ve always been attached at the hip, but this forced marriage has thrown me for a loop.
Rosalina and Verona are going to need support too. They don’t need my bullshit. I know Nico loves me.
“It’s awfully loud in your head,” Nico grunts, forcing my eyes open as I glance his way.
“The door was locked,” I remind him, noting that it no longer is.
“Not to me. Are you planning to grow roots in there?”
“Maybe. My thoughts are just as loud in here as they were before though. At least I’m not covered in slick.”
“I think that’ll be fun to explore later, but we may need to invest in slick wicking boxers so we can keep your slick for me.” Nico shifts against the wall as he thinks before adding, “And Verona. I’m not sure what we’re going to do with my brothers. That’s for them to figure out, Pablo.”
“I don’t want your brothers,” I deny, rubbing my face. “I can’t just go around collecting Domino men.”
Nico barks out a laugh, pushing himself away from the wall as he grabs a fluffy towel for me.
“We’re hot,” he smirks, opening the door to the shower and turning off the water.
“No one would blame you if you did, least of all me. I was immediately yours, designation or not. I noticed their reactions when they were in the car. They’re not talking yet, but they’re both terrible at keeping secrets. ”
Groaning, I step out of the stall and take the towel. “What do we think about secrets that can’t stay hidden?”
“I think that Rosa is someone whose secrets have secrets. She plays things very close to the chest, while I somehow manage to vomit my truths in her direction without meaning to. I want her to trust me with the darkness that surrounds her.”
“Have you noticed how sad she seems to be?” I ask, wrapping my towel around my waist once I’m dry.
“Yes. It never seems to go away.” Nico is silent for what feels like forever though it’s not, giving me time to drag on a pair of joggers and a long sleeved shirt. It’s freezing in this house due to the outside temperature being so hot.
Ciro keeps the air conditioning as low as he can to combat it.
“Spill it,” I insist, climbing onto the bed as I grab my computer. “Do you think digging into the security feeds is a mistake?”
“I think Rosa may hate us for it…” Scrubbing the side of his face, he drops onto the bed beside me.
“I also don’t believe she’ll ever tell us in time for us not to further scar her.
We can’t fuck up when it comes to Rosa and Verona.
There will need to be a very adult conversation once they’re both coherent.
However, it’ll be a few hours before that can happen. ”
“Dig it is.”