“I doubt it,” Roman murmured. “The risk is high if they’re not sure who we are.”
That was fair, though Sidian didn’t want to risk it just the same. “If you think you hear cameras, we stay back as far as possible. There are eight alphas in that pack. There are no guarantees.”
“Okay. I’ll keep us back as far as we can.” Roman kissed the back of his head this time, and against his will, Sidian melted into him with a relieved little sigh.
“You’re too good at doing that,” he muttered, settling his hands on top of Roman’s.
“I try.” Roman chuckled, then sobered. “Is there anything about them you know?”
Sidian knew plenty about Pack Kincaid, but not anything he thought would be useful to use against them in a fight. What he knew was that they were cruel, and that an omega in pain was not a deterrent to any of their actions. He wondered if they knew he was a prime omega, if they’d seen that somewhere in his private files and wanted him for that and that alone. Maybe Lilac was, too. Rich alphas could have anything they wanted, after all.
Roman nipped his ear. “You don’t have to talk about them. It’s okay.”
“I feel like I’m not useful enough for this. I can fight, I think, but I’m not smart like you are.” And he never had been. Would have flunked out of high school if he’d gotten to finish it.
It seemed so fucking stupid to think about the fact he didn’t get the chance to.
A squeak tripped over his lips as Roman stood, pivoting to set Sidian down on the couch before sinking to his knees. Herested his chin on Sidian’s lap like a dog, his expression almost wounded, and it was difficult to look him in the eye. Roman wasgood;Sidian knew that. There were things he couldn’t tell him and things he mightnevertalk to him about, but that didn’t make Roman less of a good man, of a good alpha. The person who cared about his mate’s well-being even in the face of something that could destroy them both.
“Don’t talk about yourself like that,” he said, and, Goddess, he soundedsad.
Sidian sighed, giving Roman’s curls a gentle ruffle. “I know, I know, it’s not doing me any good. I just feel like I don’t know what the fuck I’m even doing here right now.”
“Sid.” Roman tilted his head so he could kiss the inside of Sidian’s wrist. “You survived something that would have killed another omega. Do you understand that?”
“I do. I understand that. It’s just not enough to kill them, and that’s what I’m worried about.” And worried that the earplugs would fail, and he’d be on his knees in front of Dax Kincaid, in front ofRoman,and that his mate would see just how far he’d fallen because of those bastards.
Roman wrapped his arms around Sidian’s legs, hugging him tight. “You are more than enough,” he insisted, and Sidian’s heart throbbed. “You came this far, and we’ll get the rest of the way there together. I’ll make it happen for you. All you have to do is trust me.”
Trust.Did he trust Roman? Fuck, he wasn’t sure. He knew Roman trusted him, knew hehadto because otherwise why allow any of the things Sidian had done to him? Why allow the bleeding, the cutting, the collaring, the muzzling, the choking? Roman trusted Sidian more than anyone else ever had, but Sidian wasn’t sure if that trust went both ways. Did he trust Roman like that?
You won’t even tell him about the baby,he reminded himself, petting Roman’s hair. You won’t tell him about Amey. You don’t trust him to have your back if he knows the truth. You don’t trust him.
“I’ve got you.” Roman kissed his forearm this time before letting Sidian go, and Sidian bit down on the inside of his cheek until the skin broke and he tasted blood. “Once we get a good look at the house, I should be able to figure out what we need to do to get in.”
“And if you can’t?” Sidian pressed, because they needed to be ready for disappointment.
As much as he hated to think about it, the possibility of failure refused to stop rearing its ugly head.
“Then we use guns.” Roman shrugged, returning to his notebook. “The Mambas have sniper rifles. I’ll pick them off through the windows until all eight of them are dead.”
That wasn’t what Sidian wanted, but he would deal with it if it meant every member of Pack Kincaid was dead and cold and he had his daughter back. He wanted them to suffer, but if he had to choose between their pain and Amey, he would choose Amey every single time.
He just hoped that when it came time, Roman would do the same.
“You should get something to eat.” Roman threw the words over his shoulder, half-bent over his work again. “We’ll start driving when the sun sets so we get there when it’s dark. Make sure you wear all black too for the camo.”
Sidian slid off of the couch without a word. He needed to eat for the baby, anyway.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The house that belonged to Pack Kincaid looked abandoned.
It was the first thought Roman had when he and Sidian crested the hill on foot, staying close to the shadows of the trees despite the distinct lack of any faint camera buzz. The edge of the pack’s property was still a few yards or so inward from where they stood, cloaked in all-black to make use of the moonless night, but Roman knew how paranoid the traffickings packs were. If the Kincaids made their money standing guard during omega auctions, then it would be as natural as breathing for them to mount cameras in trees they had no legal ownership of.
There were no telltale flashes of tiny red pinpricks amongst the leaves, no signs of vehicles or recent tracks in the dirt path winding around the large Victorian mansion. The siding was chipped in places and sloughing off in others, revealing the bare wall beneath. Pieces of the porch railing were broken off and tumbled down into the grass below, which was long, tangled, and unkempt. A few of the windows bore spiderweb cracks that stretched to the edges of the frames, though two of them onthe ground floor had been shattered, the curtains swaying in the cool breeze.
What the fuck was going on?
