I threw my arms around her and lifted her off of her feet, making her laugh as I swung her around.
“Careful.” Gage cautioned but I could see the ghost of a smile on his face as he finished making his sandwich.
Despite the craziness of the past twenty-four hours, things were finally starting to look up. From hearing Leon’s purr for the first time to now seeing that Eloise was potentially, maybe, looking to stay with us on a more permanent basis. Not to mention how right it had felt to have Eloise fall asleep between Leon and I. Things were finally starting to look up.
Of course the veritable storm cloud that was Leon Russo had to rain on my parade.
“What’s going on?” Leon’s voice cut through the laughter and fun and I put Eloise back down on her feet and she quickly stepped away from me looking a bit guilty.
Leon’s suit, which was normally immaculate, was askew and his tie (which I had tied for him this morning) was completely missing. He looked like he had been running his hand through his tight black curls and some of them were sticking straight up from his head. His expression was also… odd. Almost panicked.
“Hey…” I stepped up to him like one would with a skittish animal, “What’s going on?”
“You’re all going to leave.” It was said so quietly that I nearly missed it.
“What? What do you mean, we’re not going anywhere Leon.” Leon gripped my hands in his so tightly that it hurt. I didn’t understand what was going on with him but I was determined to figure it out.
“Eloise, Gage I’m going to take him upstairs for a bit, ok?” I barely heard their ‘okays’ as I tugged Leon up the stairs and into the master bedroom.
Leon’s room was all about clean lines and neutral tones. An Alaskan king sized bed was pushed against a concrete statement wall. Two rounded sconce lights were embedded into the wall on either side and gave off a dimmed yellow light. One wall was completely floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the bay and the glittering buildings of San Francisco. A door led to the ensuite bathroom and closet where Leon kept his many suits.
I led Leon to the bed and he dropped onto it, putting his face in his hands. In the three years that I had known Leon Russo I had never seen him like this. He’d always been confident and just a little bit cold.
Sitting next to him on the bed I gently pulled his hands away from his face and entwined my fingers with his, “Why do you think we’re all going to leave you?”
I could feel this was a turning point in our relationship, I just didn’t know which way we were going to turn.
Leon’s eyes were a bit watery as he looked up at me, “I was doing okay with this whole omega thing for three weeks. I figured I just had to wait it out and we could go back to the way things were before. But after last night? I just panicked.”
Leon had gone far out of his comfort zone to comfort Eloise after that man had broken into her room. He’d picked her up and brought her into the nest that we’d made without consulting him and his natural alpha instincts had pushed him to purr and comfort her. These were all good things in my mind but looking at him now I realized just how much it had taken for him to do all of this.
“You did good last night Leon. You protected and comforted someone who needed it. Those aregoodthings.” Using my free hand I cupped his cheek and forced him to look at me.
Leon leaned into my hand, his shoulders sagging with relief, “My body is telling me that too. It’s content if you can believe it. But my mind is telling me that everything is getting out of control faster than I can fix things.”
“Why is that?” I had never pushed Leon to talk about his past. I knew that he’d lost his parents very early on and that he’d been raised by his grandfather. But nothing more than that. I’d been content to just let it go on like that forever, just happy to be around him. But now, looking at Eloise and Gage and how much more connected everyone could feel… I wasn’t sure if I could go back to that.
“I always end up alone when I can’t control things…” Leon sighed, his breath shuddering out of him, “My mom committed suicide when I was five years old. We found her floating in the pool.”
“Oh god, Leon I’m so sorry.” I couldn’t imagine what that must have looked like to a five year old child.
I began to pull him in for a hug but Leon shook his head, “I’m not done yet. Just… let me get all of this out okay?” I nodded emphatically, miming zipping my mouth shut and throwing away the key.
“After my mother’s death my fathers just seemed to… fade away. They all died within a year and my grandfather took me in. He blamed my mother for all of my misfortunes and I guess I just soaked all of that in. I began to equate omegas with fractured packs. I was so afraid of that happening that I avoided any relationships with omegas and my ‘pack’ was my two best friends who I tied so securely into my business that I knew it wouldn’t be easy for them to leave me.”
Leon paused for a moment and gave another shuddering breath, “That worked well for a while until, well, until I met you. You were so different from anyone I’d ever met. Only you could glare at me like I had done something wrong when I caughtyouhacking intomycompany.” We shared a commiserating smile before Leon continued.
“That was when things started to get out of control, I think. I could just put everyone into separate boxes—especially because Ric also loves you. It took three years for me to realize just how out of control things have gotten and Eloise’s arrival was just the final catalyst.”
“I swear to god Leon, if you are breaking up with me…” I was beginning to seriously panic. This definitely sounded like a breakup talk.
“No!” Leon’s voice boomed in the room, “No I’m not breaking up with you Owen. The opposite in fact. I love you.”
Huh? My mind blanked out with surprise as it tried to comprehend what I was hearing.
“Come again?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“I. Leon Russo. Love you. I don’t want you to leave me.” Leon leaned in and pressed a feather light kiss to my lips.
