He hums his agreement, licking over his own lips like he’s chasing after the taste of me.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I say, hoping that it’s true and knowing that I will do everything I can to make sure that it is. “I am falling for all of you. The more time that I spend with you, the deeper I fall. I never thought that I would meet someone who I could feel as close to as I do with Icarus, who is my best friend. Since I have met you three, however, it’s like I am findingmypeople — those who I was always meant to meet. I didn’t feel that with Zoe’s dad. The Alcotts were just the pack who I had been matched with. But I didn’t love them. Perhaps, growing up in a broken, loveless family, and seeing how unloved my dads were by their Alpha, I didn’t really believe that pack bonds could be a good thing. Finally, I understand that love is real.”
“Believe me, I grew up thinking that I would never experience love either. This…” Lionzio’s eyes crinkle, as he smiles. “…is the happiest that I have ever been to be proved wrong.”
I grin. “See, you have a lot in common with Icarus. He’s also an Alpha who almost never admits that he’s wrong.”
“Surely not,” Lionzio replies dryly, resettling me on the other side of Zero to keep the Beta snugly between us. “I spent years plotting, almost losing my life, in order to become the most powerful Alpha in my pack. But now I find that it’s a relief to have someone like your Alpha sweep in and take over as the Chief Alpha. I didn’t expect that. If you trust him, then I do as well. I had to protect my sis and everyone else, often without them knowing it, when I was young. One protector recognizes another. But do you have any tips on how I can get Icarus to like me?”
I hate how unsure Lionzio feels about his place within the pack.
“He already does,” I reassure.
Lionzio looks unconvinced. “Most Alphas don’t. In my old pack, I didn’t have any Alpha friends. They only pretended friendship in order to increase their status with my dad. I couldn’t let my guard down with any of them. They were either enemies, rivals, or possible future alliances. None of them liked, let alone were interested, in me. I am prepared to work hard at changing that with your Alpha.”
He means changing himself.
Icarus would be having strict words with him if he was awake, rather than being used as a scented cushion by a purring Omega.
So, I’ll do it for him, more tactfully.
“He may not admit this to you,” I begin, “but you weren’t the only one to gift their Alpha on Alpha virginity yesterday.”
Lionzio’s eyes widen. “Icarus has never been with an Alpha…?”
I shake my head. “He has never been with a Beta either. And he has neverlikedanyone but me before. I’ll let you into another secret. Icarus and I together decided to court all three of you just as you are. We didn’t know that you were already a pack. You don’t need to study, train, or change anything. Happy Christmas to us, huh?”
“The best Christmas of my life,” Lionzio murmurs. “Sleep now, or I’ll be blamed by our Chief Alpha for keeping you up all night talking, when you’re yawning into your coffee in the morning.”
“I don’t mind if it’s that incredible coffee made by Wolfie.” I still start to settle down.
I keep hold of Lionzio’s hand, however, as both of us hold Zero safe from his nightmares.
I wish that I could have gone that one step further tonight and confessed to Lionzio about not only my secret heist but also the other side to myself.
Lionzio asked whether I would abandon them if they weren’t billionaires. Of course I never would because Icarus is poor. I don’t care about status or shit like that.
But willtheyabandonme, when they discover that I am not simply some sweet HO but rather, a member of the Frost family?
Worse, that I am a criminal safecracker?
“How about I tell you a story? Just listen to my voice, while you fall asleep, mio tesoso; this often helps Pip,” Lionzio murmurs. “Once upon a time, there was a little Alpha boy whose baby brother was sold to the underworld. He grew up dreaming of the day when he’d become a strong enough knight to fight the villains who took his younger brother and take him back. Instead, his Mom dressed him in his best clothes and told himtimes were hardand that they were selling him to the same packthat stole his brother to become the underworld’s adopted mafia heir. When he tried to fight back, he was tied up and blindfolded. Alone.Terrified.Amongst strangers. He met a new family to protect. But his greatest joy was finding his baby brother, only they weren’t united. Here is the twist in the tale. Because he became an elite within the pack, while his younger brother was a mere feral fighter in a cage. And the nightmare mob overlord of the underworld, his new father, forced him to keep it a secret that they were brothers, punishing him in ways that he hadn’t even dreamed in his nightmares. So, he learned to play the villain instead of the knight, while plotting to free his true family…”
Slowly, my eyes close, and I drift asleep to visions of a boy Lionzio, ripped from his family and kept from his brother, scheming to escape hell.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Room 234, Omega Hotel
“Here, this is the juiciest one, love.” Zero dips a fresh chocolate strawberry into his glass of bubbling champagne. Then he holds it up to my lips. “I think that I’m getting why Alphas have a thing for handfeeding their Omegas.”
Despite the shadows under his eyes, I would never have known the nightmares that shook him last night.
Does he remember them?
I hope not.
Neither Zero nor Lionzio mentioned them when they woke up. Both men were back to their sparking relationship, which is based on scolding on one side and flirtatious teasing on the other.
