“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“We had a date.” Claudia waves her hand like I’m being silly, purposely making the shimmering gold on her slender wrist catch the light.
“I don’t appreciate liars. And trust in our world is important, wouldn’t you say? Since I can’t trust you, why would I even thinkof asking you out on a date?” I drop the pretense of trying to be anything but pissed off as I challenge her, staring at her jade-green eyes, demanding she grow the fuck up and act better than a three-year-old.
And rather than looking uncomfortable at being called out, she just shakes it off. Thankfully, she drops the baby voice. “Vitale said you’d need the company.”
“Vitale sent you here?” I ask for clarification.
She nods eagerly. “And Daddy,” she says, standing up straighter, tits pushed out.
Her father is a desperate man with a gambling problem who owes Vitale a lot of money. Vitale sending the daughter our way is as offensive as her agreeing to it. I look at Dante, and he shakes his head, unsurprised, but he’s also telling me not to worry about it. In the scheme of things, it’s nothing but an intentional jab in a fight we’ve been readying ourselves for.
“And her?” I point to Vivian. I know them both. I wish I didn’t, but we all grew up in the same circles.
Claudia flutters her eyelashes. “Moral support. Unless you need extra company.”
I look to my brother and Matteo. My moral support. Hopefully they kick her ass before I have to.
She ignores the dip in my mood, instead refocusing on her ploy to get inside my building. She must think I’m batshit fucking crazy.
Honestly, I’m floored by her audacity. Waiting until she’s sure my pack are watching, Claudia does a slow spin before bending down to pick up something behind her. She makes sure to do it in a way that ensures her skirt rides up high enough to show me, and the rest of the goddamn world, that she’s shown up on our doorstep without underwear.
Vivian giggles as she watches us, feeding more encouragement to Claudia to keep up the show. From next tome, I can practically hear Matteo rolling his eyes and Dante’s scent gets tart in his growing frustration.
“Whoops,” Claudia says in a breathy voice. But instead of jumping up and tugging her skirt down, she makes her ass cheeks wobble and sway suggestively before wiggling her skirt down and standing up with a Belmondo bag swinging in her hand.
Belmondo is renowned for bringing late-night Italian delicacies to our side of the world. They’re popular and expensive because they’re authentically good. It’s no secret I’m a regular customer at Belmondo. Tonight, seeing the bag turns my stomach, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to visit them again, which pisses me off more.
“I brought your favorite. It’s pistachio gelato, right?” She makes a big show of peeking in the bag, then looking back at me, her lips pulling down as she mimics being on the verge of tears. “Oh no, they forgot to pack spoons. Guess we’ll have to use our fingers.”
I go to tell her to fuck right off—I come so close to kicking her slutty ass to the curb—but before I can, Dante clears his throat, diverting my attention away from the desperate diva to something way more my style.
A soft cloud of caramel is the first thing I notice, and it immediately douses the sourness of my mood. I watch with interest as Layne climbs out of Ahmed’s car.
She doesn’t make a scene; she doesn’t even glance our way as she laughs at something he says. He goes to help her retrieve her luggage from the trunk, but she says something, and he reaches out to shake her hand before getting back in the front seat, leaving her to get her things. And it’s not much.
I don’t feel sorry for Layne. If anything, I feel proud she’s managed to survive with so little. Seeing Layne’s independence, her unwillingness to be waited on by others, is such a breathof fresh air in our world. In time, I will teach her to gracefully receive, but seeing her determination to do this her way is seriously turning me on.
Claudia keeps talking, unperturbed by what is happening behind her, which confirms how desperate and stupid the woman is. My attention flits between the two women, but as Layne comes closer, I fall fully under her spell. Claudia is forgotten. Vivian too. My brother and Matteo…well, it’s lucky we share a bond, because their presence is completely overshadowed by the Omega in front of me. Her hair is a bundled mess, she has dark circles under eyes, but I’ve never found any woman so fucking tempting.
“Hey, baby, so sorry I’m late.” Her voice is soft and sweet, and she doesn’t stop walking until she’s standing in front of me, balancing on her tippy toes, waiting.
And, yeah, I absolutely fucking preen that she’s wearing my hoodie, smelling like me and wanting a kiss. It flips a switch in my brain, and I curl my arm around her to pull her against my chest. And then I am kissing her like we’ve been sharing life and all its secrets for years.
Layne’s lips are as soft and sweet as the way she talks. They taste incredible, like my favorite dessert, which is now melting caramel. I have to break away and look into her caramel eyes to make sure it’s her because I’m so shocked by the way she makes me feel and fucking want with the barest of touches.
But one kiss isn’t enough, and I take the bags out of her hands, dropping them to the ground before I pull her back in, half feral for another taste. She grins just before our lips touch again; her breath rushes out and fills my lungs. I growl against her lips—fuckinggrowl—making her quiet laugh move farther down her throat, but the sound is just for me. The noise is like the whisper of a siren’s song.
She pulls away way too soon for my liking, cupping my face with one hand and pushing my chest away with the other. “I missed you too.”
Then Layne steps in front of Matteo, lifting up for a kiss, which he gives her, small and soft, before collecting all her bags and boxes once more.
Dante crooks his finger at her, beckoning her closer. Taking everything out of her hands, he holds some and leaves the rest for us to carry. Then he swoops low to pick her up, throwing her over his shoulder and holding her still with a large hand groping her ass.
It doesn’t take twin intuition to understand why Dante picked up Layne up and carried her back inside our building, so she’s secure behind the door. Claudia is about to erupt. There’s no real physical threat to Layne, considering the three of us are here to defend her, but at the same time, Dante isn’t taking any risks, something I approve of wholeheartedly.
Still ignoring Claudia’s theatrics, I watch Layne slide down Dante’s front before he dips down to take her mouth. I can’t hear what he’s saying to her each time he nips and licks at her mouth, but I see Layne’s hands clawing into his shoulders, like she’s trying to pull him closer.
