Leon looked up from whatever he was doing on his phone and shot me a bright smile, it made me blink a little bit at how brilliant it was. I still couldn’t believe sometimes that this was the same Leon who had basically called me a golddigger within twenty-four hours of meeting me. It almost seemed like that Leon had been body-snatched and had been replaced by a far more cheerful version.
“We’re going to head out of the city for a bit, we’ve got a house in Sausalito. Think of it like a vacation of sorts.” With that he picked up the big black duffel bag at his feet and opened the door to the garage.
I opened my mouth to argue, but Owen linked his arm through mine and tugged me towards the door, “Just give it a chance, if you hate it we will bring you straight back here so you can brood in your nest, okay?”
“I wasn’t brooding.” I protested.
“You were brooding.” Both Dominic and Leon said together.
“Jinx.” Leon said cheerfully as he turned and headed out the door.
We were definitely in the twilight zone.
“Just admit Ellie. You can say it: “Owen, you were right. I was wrong.” Owen teased as I stood in the foyer of the Sausalito house with my mouth agape. It was the most beautiful home I’d ever seen in probably my entire life. The first floor was full of warm-toned oak floors and cozy furniture, there was a formal dining room, a den, a study and a living room along with a cute kitchen that reminded me of the kitchen at home. The entire back half of the house was completely glass and provided a gorgeous view of the San Francisco bay, complete with a view of the entirety of San Francisco. Rather than the modern style of the San Francisco house the outside of this home was built in a white colonial style with smooth white columns outside and a dark gray roof. Ivy curled up the side of the house and covered almost half of it.
“Wait until you see upstairs.” Dominic joked as he dropped his bag in the foyer and headed into the home as if he had been there a hundred times—which I guess he had.
“There are seven bedrooms, six bathrooms and a conservatory on the second floor. It gets a lot of great sunshine and it's a great place to spend the spring months in.” Leon, took my bag from my hands and put it on the entry table before pulling me further into the house.
“If you have all of this, why on Earth do you live in the house in San Francisco?” I asked as they led me through the first floor.
Leon shrugged, “It’s easier to get to the office from that house. We spend as much time as we can here but it’s been too crazy at work for us to get out here much.”
I didn’t add that they’d been dealing with a wayward omega for almost three months at this point, but the thought was there.
“Why don’t you head up to your room and take a nap? I have some work to get done this morning but I’d like to take you for a drive later this afternoon if you are okay with that?” Leon asked, handing my bag to Dominic.
“... uh… yeah sure that sounds great.” Leon wanted to have one-on-one time with me? That was weird.
I decided not to question it and followed Dominic up the stairs.
“This house was actually designed with an omega in mind, the previous owners were apparently an older pack so there is actually an omega suite.” He explained as we entered a long hallway. Towards the end was an open doorway, sunlight streamed from it which told me that was the conservatory.
Dominic led me down the hall to the last door on the left. “She also apparently loved gardening so her suite is connected to the conservatory.”
He opened the door and let me step in first. The first thing I noticed was that the room was cozy, the same warm woods as downstairs had continued up here and a cozy looking rug had been tossed onto the floor. A wicker swing was drilled into the ceiling and was swaying gently back and forth, a thick white blanket thrown onto it. Various pieces of furniture, a dresser, vanity, a small writing desk and a cozy couch were placed meticulously around the room. Another open doorway led to what looked like a bathroom and a see through glass door let out into the conservatory.
“Uhhh… where's the bed?” I asked, stepping further into the room.
Dominic grinned at me, “It’s an alcove style nest, do you know what that is?”
I shook my head and watched as the alpha moved over to one of the walls where a wide arch had been cut into the wall. I figured that was just a window but when he drew back the dark blue curtains I found myself gasping at what was inside.
An alcove had been built into the wall and went back into a smaller room—it was a room within a room. Curiously I climbed inside and found that the ledge dropped off about a foot and my foot connected with soft materials. The entire basin had been filled with nesting materials and pillows and the edges were completely soft with built in cushions.
“What do you think?” Dominic asked from behind me. He sounded a bit nervous which was an odd thing to hear from him. Dominic Dubois was always confident—to a fault.
“I love it.” I gushed as I began to move cushions around. “Did you put this together for me Dominic?”
He looked a little sheepish and if I didn’t know any better I’d think he was blushing.
“Yes I did, it’s not as fancy as the nest that Gage put together for you in the San Francisco house…”
I reached out of the nest and grabbed his hand, tugging him down so that he knelt on the other side of the nest and we were face to face.
“I love it, Dominic. Truly.” I put as much sincerity into my voice as I could manage and was rewarded with a gorgeous and genuine smile. Damn he had a nice smile—I wish he’d use it more.
Dominic entwined his fingers through mine, “Eloise I know I haven’t come off as the best person over the past two and a half months, but I’d really like to court you… If you’ll have me?”
