Was this omega trained like I was? Did he work independently or had he been sent here by another mob family? Who was he loyal to? Where had he come from?
Curiosity was starting to feel like obsession. I was no closer to any of those answers by simply watching the closed door of his hotel room. If I really wanted answers, I knew how to get them. It would require a lot more hands-on work.
I reached for the ignition and was about to start the car when the door to room twelve opened. The omega stepped out into the parking lot and looked directly at my car. He didn't hesitate or look around. He just walked straight toward me with his hands in his pockets and his hood pulled up.
My pulse kicked up, and I considered driving away, but I didn't. I stayed exactly where I was and rolled down my window as he approached.
The man stopped a few feet from my car and crossed his arms over his chest. "Who the fuck are you and why are you following me?" His voice was low and steady, not at all scared.
That made one of us because I was a bit terrified by the way my body was responding to his proximity. His scent washed over me, and my dick stood at attention. Arousal coursed through me like liquid fire in my veins, and my body heated in response. Sweat broke out on my brow. What was happening to me? I opened my mouth to give him some bullshit answer, but the words caught in my throat. Instead, what came out was the truth. "Honestly, I don't fucking know."
His eyebrows lifted, and something that might've been amusement flickered across his face. "At least you’re honest."
We stared at each other through the open window, and silence stretched between us. I didn’t know what to say, but I knew I couldn't walk away from this omega.
Not now. Not ever.
This omega was mine.
4
CARMINE
The alpha stared at me through his car window with an expression I couldn't quite read. Confusion mixed with something darker and more intense. His scent hit me like I’d run into a brick wall at full speed, even through the night air. I had to fight the urge to step closer.
I'd confronted him expecting some kind of explanation or threat, but his honest answer threw me off balance. Not knowing why he was following me was too crazy to be a lie. And it was right there in line with the crazy thoughts running through my mind.
Before I could question him further, my stomach growled loud enough for him to hear, and I realized I hadn't eaten since lunch. "You hungry?" The words came out before I could think them through.
He flinched like he hadn't expected that either. "What?"
"Food. Are you hungry?" I nodded down the street where there was a 24-hour diner. "There's a place down the road that’s always open."
He glanced in that direction and then back at me. "You want to get food with me?"
"Unless you'd rather keep sitting in your car staring at my room like a creeper." I shrugged and took a step back. "We might as well talk like normal people instead of whatever this is." I waved my finger between us.
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and he unlocked the passenger door with a click of a button. "Get in."
I walked around to the other side and slid into the passenger seat. The car smelled like him, and that scent went straight to my balls. Dammit. As soon as the door closed behind me, his scent was stronger and more concentrated in the enclosed space.
Fuck, what was wrong with me? I’d never felt this way around a job or as an extension of a job. Alphas had no effect on me. Not before now. Was I losing my touch?
The alpha pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the street. He gripped the steering wheel tight enough that his knuckles went white, and the muscle in his jaw worked like he was grinding his teeth.
He felt it too. Whatever this weird energy between us was.
The thought that he might be my mate crossed my mind, but I immediately shoved it away. I wasn't ready to accept that. Couldn't accept it. I'd spent my entire life avoiding this exact situation because alphas and omegas like me didn't mix. I was a killer, and he seemed to be the same. Alphas didn’t want omegas who didn’t cower and cater to their demands.
Two predators circling each other could never be content.
Except it didn't feel like circling. It felt like gravity.
He parked at the diner, and we walked inside without speaking. A tired-looking waitress waved us toward a booth in the back and dropped two menus on the table before disappearing to grab the coffee carafe.
I slid into one side, and the alpha took the other. We sat there in silence for a minute while I pretended to read the menu, but the words blurred together because I was too focused on the man across from me.
He was even better-looking up close and in the light. His sharp jaw was covered in stubble, and he had dark eyes that missed nothing. As if that wasn’t enough, he had broad shoulders that filled out his shirt in a way that made my mouth go dry.
