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.”
