“You have me,” he says. “Always.”
“We’ll talk about that after the heat.” Icarus’ hand is trembling now, as he runs it through his hair. He’s finally falling into rut. “You shouldn’t even know about our mission.”
Piper quirks his brow at Icarus. “Ungrateful, since I was the one who helped to half carry her out of there and made sure that your theft succeeded. Nice work by the way.”
Icarus gives a dangerous flash of canines. “How did you manage to even get up in the elevator to wander into thepenthouse? Why were you there in the first place? And no more bullshit abouttours. Don’t think that I’ve forgotten about the tech you installed, which gave you advanced warning about Maya arriving, by the way.”
Piper gives an awkward laugh. “Huh, no fooling you.”
“Just tell me if anything over our time together with you has been real? Or has it all been lies?” Icarus can’t hide his pain.
“We didn’t lie.” Lionzio grips Icarus’ hand, tugging him to sit next to him on the bed. Then his gaze swivels between both Icarus and me. “I mean, not about anything important. We revealed more of our true selves and pasts than we have to anyone else. We just left one crucial thing out and we had our reasons for that. Just like you did. Also, we didn’t lie about wanting to court you.”
“Why did you leave outone crucial thing?” Icarus demands, playing with Lionzio’s fingers. “Before we bond, Grace and I deserve the truth. We’ve told you ours. I have spent years trying to work out a way to improve the lives of the staff here. Grace and her brothers have spent their lives battling to free everyone from this hotel. Who are you really?”
Piper keeps his arm curled around Zero, but half sits up. “Since I’m the boss, I should answer. You’ve spent your life fighting for freedom. Well, so have I. I’ve suffered under the stigma of being a Rej Wolf Sibling, bullied and an outcast. The authorities said that my parents were executed as criminals. But they weren’t. They were part of the original Omega resistance who rescued abused Omegas. And so am I.”
Even through my heat, I jolt in shock.
The fire dies down. Alarm grips me instead.
Immediately, my two Alphas lean over me, soothing me with their pheromones.
“I’m sorry,” Piper says, quietly. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell you the long version of the truth. We didn’t intend to fallin love and we didn’t tell you because if we’re caught, then we’ll be killed. I run a unit within the resistance with my brother and sister out of my coffee shop. The abuse of Hotel Omegas has been in my sights as something to change since I was a teenager.”
Lionzio rests his forehead against mine. “I don’t normally do fieldwork. Stella mia dared me to come on this undercover mission as my first one. I don’t regret it because I met you but I think that I will stick to doing the books from now on. But still, I am glad I witnessed the risks that these two…brave idiots…are prepared to take to save other people. I’ve also learned that I can choose to be reckless too and there is no one around to discipline me for it.”
“The Omega resistance,” Icarus mutters, shaking his head. “I knew that you were going to be trouble from the moment that I met you. But I didn’t know…”
Piper and Zero stare at Icarus like he’s about to break their hearts.
Please don’t.
“…I didn’t know that you wereheroes.” Icarus flashes a grin at both men. “You’ll fit right in with the Sinner pack.”
Piper and Zero both relax, beaming.
“Wait,” my nose winkles, as I try and think, even though my mind is becoming fuzzy again, “you work together. You came here undercover. You’re virgins…? Then…”
Horrified, I lurch up, scrambling over a startled Zero and snatching the ends of Piper’s scarf. Before he can stop me, I tug his scarf off, throwing it to the end of the bed.
My stomach sinks when Piper’s pristine neck is revealed. He doesn’t even try and cover it with his hand.
There is no bond mark.
“You were fake bonded,” I breathe. I feel sick. “You’re not in a relationship. You’re not in love.”
My heart shatters.
Icarus’ suddenly angry pheromones wash over the room.
“Bollocks.” Zero sits up and pulls Piper into his arms. He soothes over the scent glands on Piper’s neck. Piper is trembling. “I love these bloody muppets. The Idols may be a fake pack — the name of my best friend’s bonded pack, actually — that we chose as a cover for this mission, but nothing else is. Pip has been taking me on dates for six months, and I’ve been building him nests and spending my salary to buy him gifts. He’s only been holding back from making our relationship official because he thinks the idol camp fucked up my ability to know that I could say no or how to make choices. He wanted to give me the space to live independently by myself and learn, what I like, want, or my own fucking autonomy. But I love him and that hasn’t changed.” Zero’s gaze flicks to Lion. “And I’ve been falling in love with that prick just as hard.”
Lionzio’s ears turn red. “The love isn’t faked between any of us, mio tesoro. It just needed you coming into the pack to make us be brave enough to admit it to ourselves and then each other. I only thought that I loved one person before. It broke me, when I realized that not only didn’t he love me but I had been abusing my position of authority over him. I have avoided entanglements ever since in fear that I would do the same thing. I didn’t believe that I deserved them. I’m a co-worker with these two. I tried so hard to deny to myself how I felt, terrified that I wasn’t safe as an Alpha. They’ve shown me that it’s all in my head.”
Icarus grabs Lionzio by the hair, hauling him closer. “Tell me, have you told us everything now? Do you have any more dark secrets?
Lionzio’s smile becomes dangerous in a way that shows he is equally matched to Icarus.
