Oh, shit.
I forgot how hard it is to be around compatible alphas without the suppressants to buffer.
Thankfully, Lucky makes it to the toilet in time, but I really need to ask about getting a few things delivered.
Miriam was an angel, coming through with cups yesterday, but if we’re going to be here for any amount of time, I’d like to buy a few things to make it easier on all of us.
Miriam meets us in the living room as we make it back from the bathroom, and I ask her if she would mind watching Lucky for a few minutes while I speak to Patrick. I’m not sure where he went while we were in the bathroom, but I intend to track him down.
“You don’t even need to ask,” the older woman says, smiling brightly. “I’m always available for this little cutie.”
Lucky runs into her knees, lifting his arms. “Pick me up, Mimi.”
I grimace as she bends to scoop him up. He’s so heavy that I’m surprised how easily she lifts him. I suppose where there’s a will, there’s a way, but I also don’t want her to destroy her back.
“Thank you so much,” I tell her before taking off to look for Patrick.
I’m shocked Malachy hasn’t made it down yet, but I’m sure he has his own things to take care of. That, or he’s ignoring me now because he knows I wanted him to kiss me. I don’t understand why he has come to check on me two nights in a row if he’s not interested… Maybe he’s just a really good guy, who looks after all the women around him.
Patrick is in his office, which happens to be the first place I check.
I knock and let myself in without waiting. “Malachy was going to talk to you, but he hasn’t made it downstairs, and I don’t think this can wait.”
“He called me. That’s where I disappeared to while you were helping Lucky to the bathroom.” Patrick stands from his desk, prowling around it and toward me. “He’s assisting Cormac with something, but they should both be in soon. What canIhelp you with, Charlotte?”
“I forgot my suppressants.” I keep my eyes focused on his, but my mind helpfully replays flashes of what he looked like without his shirt the other night. My mouth feels especially dry as I say, “I need to get them. Or maybe someone can grab them for me?”
Patrick comes to a stop a foot away, and his nostrils flare. “You do smell quite potent.” He raises a hand, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Hmm, that is a problem, especially with our guest in the shed.”
My head tilts as I breathe in his smoky campfire scent. He smells just as incredible as he does every time I catch a whiff of his scent, and my instincts ache to let me be distracted by it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Patrick tsks. “Apparently no one shares with me anymore when we’re supposed to be keeping a secret.” His blue eyes roll. “Well, that’s on them. Malachy snatched one of the MC members. He’s currently in Cormac’s torture dungeon. We’re going to find out why they were in Boston in the first place and any other pertinent information that can be wrenched out of him.”
My jaw falls, and I stumble against the door.
Patrick follows me back, brushing his thumb over my cheek. “Scared now, sweetheart? I told you we’d keep you and Lukas safe. Sometimes that requires a level of ugliness most of the world would shy away from, but not us.”
He saidtorture dungeon,and it’s like my brain can’t compute those words in regard to Cormac. He could be exaggerating in an attempt to scare me, and I’m not sure if he’s successful.
Do I really care if one of Blade’s guys is being tortured for information?
Not necessarily.
The things they would do to me if they got their hands on me have kept me up at night for years. They wouldn’t have an ounce of mercy. The crimes men commit against women are often more vile and degrading than what they would do to other men.
Rape is used as a means of control.
A way to exert power and belittle.
It also means that, soon enough, Cormac will know what I did to send me on the run.
I’m not sure if I’m ashamed that I killed Blade.
Most of the time, I’m not.
There’s no doubt in my mind that if I hadn’t gotten him first, he would have killed me.
If anyone would understand my motivation, I believe Patrick, Malachy, and Cormac would, but it also might destroy their illusions that I need protection.
