Left with no other choice, I flag down a cab and tell them to take me home. If she’s in heat, it gives me a few days to try and figure out what the hell to say to her. Or if I even want to talk to her after this.
I have no idea how long it takes to get to my apartment. It could have been the normal twenty minutes or two hours, for all the attention I pay. Memories of the last couple months—the last two years, actually—play through my mind, and I realize how many signs I completely missed. How could I have been so blind?
I pay the driver and head into my building. My clothes must have absorbed her scent at the penthouse, because it’s driving me slowly mad. I can’t decide if I want to burn my outfit or roll around on it.
I get off on my floor and punch in the code to my door, pushing it open.
The scent intensifies, and my head snaps up. The lights are mostly off, leaving the space dim except for the light coming in from the large window overlooking the city. But I can still make out Ava’s form, huddled on the couch, the blanket from my bed wrapped around her like a burrito.
“Hi,” she says pitifully.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ava
A lot of emotions cross Mark’s face, but strangely, he doesn’t look nearly as shocked as I expected him to be. He closes the door behind him and goes to approach me, but I hold up a hand. “Not yet. We should talk first; I think I owe you that. And the closer you get, the more likely you are to lose control.”
“I know a good amount already,” he says roughly. “Though there are some questions I would appreciate answers to sooner rather than later.”
I frown. “How?”
“I just left your penthouse. I found Jack injured—”
“What? Is Jack okay?” I jump up and immediately regret it as a cramp seizes me, making me double over. Mark tries to move again, and I shake my head, breathing through it. “I’m okay. How’s Jack?”
“He’s fine. It’s a long story, but basically, he was trying to get you suppressants, ran from a police raid, and went headfirst into a dumpster. I left him with Mateo.”
I close my eyes. Goddamnit, Jack. “Allegedly,” I grit through my teeth. I’m still a lawyer, after all. Well, hopefully I can still be one after all of this.
A soft smile tips up the corner of his mouth. “Allegedly,” he agrees.
“Okay,” I say. “I can pretty well put the pieces together, and the rest, I’ll fill in later when I strangle my little brother. How much doyouknow?”
“I know you’re an omega. I know you’re in heat. I know you apparently had a seizure earlier. And I know you’re my mate. What I don’t know is how long you’ve known.”
I grimace. He does not sound thrilled with me, and I do not have the energy to fight him. It’s taking most of what little I have left to stay planted on this couch and not present for him and beg for his knot. Even that, I figure I only can do for a few more minutes. As soon as I caught his scent, I could feel the edges of my mind going fuzzy.
“That I’m an omega? For the last couple decades.”
“You know what I’m fucking talking about, Ava, don’t be coy,” he snaps. I notice that he’s gripping the backrest of one of the dining chairs so hard that his knuckles are blanched.
“I didn’t accept it until the day before yesterday. I texted you that I wanted to talk, but you had me blocked, which is why I went to Harvey’s tonight. But you were on a fucking date—”
“I wasn’t,” he cuts me off. “She was trying to make you jealous. I brought her to introduce her to Adam, and it turns out they’re mates.”
“Oh,” I say, suddenly feeling embarrassed and small.
Mark releases the chair and takes a long step toward me. “We still have a lot to talk about, but I don’t know how much longer I can stand here without touching you,” he says earnestly.
I shiver at the heat in his voice, but I squeeze my eyes shut. Slick starts leaking from me, and I begin to perfume.
“Fuck, Ava,” he growls.
“Wait! I have two things left to say, and they’re important.” I have to take a deep breath between each word to get it out.
“Little cereus, you are fucking killing me here.”
I tuck that away to ask him what it means later. “First, um, my suppressants have been failing. That’s why I’m in heat. So if we do this, there is a solid chance that I will get pregnant. And I need you to know that I will want to keep it.”
