We Had a Deal
Tony
My mind has never been more made up—Roman Livingston is going to die.
My inner alpha is bellowing this fact. Kelya’s life with those alphas was cruel and harsh, and her life now is a direct result of it.
It explains everything about her. Why she runs and doesn’t settle.
But it also explains the most important thing about her—Kelya wants to live.
I stroke her back and hold her as tight as I can.
The tighter I hold her, the more she relaxes.
She could have stayed and been miserable until her body became a husk. But she ran. She fought, and she ran. I’m in awe.
Everything clicks. Kelya doesn’t live like she has a death wish, or she’s going to die. It’s why I didn’t catch on that she has NWS.
Every time she goes to sleep, she wants there to be another day, and when she gets another day, she fucking seizes it. There’s no doom. There’s no Live Today For Tomorrow We Die! Every day is a gift, and every night is a prayer for another one.
I have to tell Matty, and we have to figure this out.
The omega strokes my back, too, probably trying to calm me down. Her pheromones are working double time doing that. Again, I wish her unique scent was present. It’s a thought that negs me…her scent should be back by now.
Eventually, my dick slips out of her, as what happens after knotting, and the little omega lets out an involuntary whine. I can’t help but chuckle. She’s being so sweet. I know omegas are appealing to alphas, but this one was made for me.
At least, I will know for sure once I smell her.
“Kelya, I need you to be honest with me.”
She sits up and scoots away from me. Her curls are sticking straight up, and her big, wide eyes look like a rabbit caught in a snare. She noticed the shift in my tone.
“Have you been taking the scent blockers this whole time?”
She doesn’t nod, but she doesn’t look upset at the accusation either.
“We had a deal…”
“We did, but I had a plan.”
“Did it involve stealing a boat?”
“Did iT iNvOlvE sTeALInG a BoAt?” she mimics me with angry mumbles then rolls her eyes. “No, a different plan. I was going to shoot at you, get away, and go make my case to San Miguel to keep me safe from you.”
She pulls at the sheets and hides her naked chest, then sighs and looks away.
“San Miguel? The omega clan leader of the Mangosta…wait, is that the male omega you’re supposed to meet?”
This woman makes contact with the most powerful clan in Puerto Rico, even getting a meeting with their leader. There’s no limit to what she can do, I swear to god.
“I sold him some stuff. Plus, he owns this hotel, so I think he may owe me one for the whole ‘guy in the bar trying to drug me’ thing. Tortuga, Rodrigo, and Valentina are in his clan.”
“Right, and you think he can keep you safe?”
“He’s an omega, and Valentina said he protects omegas. I would guess he wouldn’t take me back to Saint Kane.”
This whole time, Kelya has been scheming better than I could have imagined. It’s a great fucking plan, even if part of it was me lying on the rug bleeding out.
“You didn’t go through with your plan…”
She doesn’t answer. Sure, she didn’t shoot me, but she hasn’t tried to get away from me since. I stow that thought away for later. There’s more she needs to know.
“Roman offered me $500,000 to take you to them. What if he offers the Santo the same deal?”
“Oh.” Her face falls. “Wow. That’s a lot of money.”
“But I doubt a Puerto Rican clan wants to involve themselves in this. If Roman somehow made contact with them, I don’t think they’d be persuaded.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, Tony. Aren’t they after me to get the money back I took from them? I took $100k. This doesn’t add up.”
“Matty is trying to figure out their motivation. I don’t know either, but I don’t think they want money from you, Kelya.
Roman never even asked where you were. Originally, this job was a welfare check.
Once I had eyes on you, I got on the phone to end the job.
I thought I was done. Roman suddenly changed objectives.
Normally, I wouldn’t be so fucking stupid and let a client do that, but… ”
“But what?” she prods.
“He threatened to hire a bounty hunter if I didn’t do it. The idea of abandoning to you a bounty hunter enraged my inner alpha. I’ve spent the last few months looking for you, and I’ve grown…attached.”
A gentle hum builds between us. She has to know this.
“You told me you needed the money.”
“I did. I do. Desperately. I’m in a shit situation.
I owe Emmanuelle a lot of money. At this point, I’m going to lose my house.
Matty and my business also could use the funds.
She’s divorced, and her alpha ex-husband is a piece of shit.
Also, the two of us have always wanted to start a business like this.
She loves it, and so do I, but we need capital to make it what we want it to be.
So, yeah, the money is very attractive.”
She nods, not liking this part of my motivation. Though she’s got to know it’s real.
“Roman didn’t ask for information, Kelya.
All the information I gathered about your activities and whereabouts is still sitting with Bloodhound Investigations.
He never asked, so I never provided it. He doesn’t even know what part of the world we ended up in.
I wouldn’t tell him if you wanted me to keep it from him. I wouldn’t tell him.”
“Are you serious?”
I let her process this as her sheet slowly falls, giving me a lovely view of her breasts. I could stare at them all night. Perfectly shaped, heavy breasts. I know the feel of her nipple in my mouth, and what it does to her when I gently bite down. Damn.
“You didn’t tell him?”
I look up at her face. Uncertainty paints her features.
“No.”
“And you wouldn’t have? Even if I shot you in the arm and ran away?”
Annoyed at the question, I still answer. “No.”
“Why?”
“Kelya…”
I don’t know what else to tell her. I didn’t tell him because he didn’t ask, and then I just…
kept it from him. It’s a stupid thing to think I could knot her, hold her while she tells me her deepest secrets, weeping, and then hand her off to her villains.
Matty knew I was too weak for this kind of job, but there’s nothing about this I feel I can harden myself from.
She needs her nest, but fuck Roman Livingston and his pack. Kelya needs me, and I’m willing to do whatever she asks. Her mouth parts like she’s going to ask another question, but then decides against it.
She licks her lips.
Finally, she takes a deep breath.
“You should go to the pharmacy and get one of those anti-scent blockers. It closes soon.”
“What?”
“Otherwise, we’ll have to wait for it to open tomorrow.” Her sly little smile kills me. Oh my god. She’s giving me her scent.
That’s not what she’s saying, is it?
Her expression doesn’t change.
“Oh my god.”
She wants to undo the scent blocker.
Not only will I have her scent, but I’ll have it willingly.
That’s everything to me. Images of us fucking all night and dousing myself in her scent invade my brain.
I’ll shove it down my throat and coat my dick in it.
I’ll brush my teeth with it. Rut into her so hard I’ll change my scent permanently to always have hers on me…
What will it be? Sweet, I know that. I caught that part. Sweet and tangy? Sweet and citrus? Sweet sugar or sweet floral?
“Tony?”
“Yes?”
“You look like you’re going to go feral.”
“I think I may.”
She laughs and falls over into the pillows, kicking at me. “Go!”
“Fuck, ok, I’m going!” I grab my watch from the nightstand and check the time. I have fifteen minutes. She laughs at me as I accidentally put my pants on backwards, then have to redo them.
I throw on a black shirt I never wear while also putting on my shoes, not bothering with socks.
“After you get back, let’s go to the beach party while we wait for it to kick in. I want a drink, and maybe we can dance!”
“Fine, whatever you want, Omega. I’ll fucking take you anywhere you want. You want to go to the moon, let’s steal a rocket ship. I don’t give a fuck.”
I stuff my wallet into my back pocket, then rush her for a kiss.
“Thank you,” I say.
“For what?”
“For this gift.”
She kisses me again, and it’s utterly perfect. I feel like I can taste her already. There’s something there! I just know it.
I nearly trip on my way to the door.
“I’ll be right back!”
“Ok.” She snickers as I shut the door.