Elena had no business being with Ivanov to begin with. He was old enough to be her father and not from a pure line. What Costanzo had been thinking, if he had been at all, was beyondLeon. Finding her sitting alone with Ivanov, the bastard holding her hands, had enraged him.
Ivanov was a lesser being in their world, and his hands didn’t belong on any woman within their ranks as far as Leon was concerned. To risk Elena’s reputation by not only being seen alone with her like that, but totouchher!
Leon relaxed his grip on the glass, easing his fingers open one by one to stop from shattering the thing.
Despite her tears and pleas, it was Leon she responded to in her moment of panic. Elena scaled his body of her own will, clinging to him with those delicious whimpers as she sought his protection. Proof enough Ivanov wasn’t a good choice for her.
He shouldn’t have made such a public display though. Losing his shit and challenging another Alpha with a territory had been less than smart. He’d lost his temper, already angry about Marjory, the viciousness of the friends slithering around her. They’d demanded Elena’s head for her daring, plying him with calculated tears and pretty whines about Marjory’s name being tarnished.
Stupid bitch.
He’d ended it right there on the sidewalk. Cruel of him, but he had no time to waste on her kind. The thought of a woman capable of such hatred and cruelty birthing his children was too much, no matter how his mother railed at him over it.
Which somehow led back to Elena. She’d lost her temper, too, and it’d been a sight to behold. The vividness of her hazel eyes, the green so much more pronounced with her anger, had been breathtaking. Maybe it was just the shock of an Omega standing up to anyone, but she’d been incredible in that moment.
Elena told Anthony their family had ruined her, and perhaps she was right. Leon hadn’t thought about what all this would mean to her. She was a blooded name, an Omega from a long line of important Alphas. A rare enough creature that he’dbanked on society tucking her back into their fold once the dust settled.
Leon had half expected Valente to appear on the doorstep of the Marchetti family home to demand recompense, and he’d have gladly paid it out of his own pocket. He knew he’d hurt her, saw it in the dimming of those same hazel eyes. Making it right would have been the only option, and money made everything better in this world.
Things hadn’t panned out that way. He didn’t take into account she’d been promised to two Alphas and that both had gone so badly. One dead before she’d even properly presented, the other lost during the fight with him. Costanzo was dead now, too. Without an Alpha to manage her and her estate, she had nothing.
He could still make things right, though. After a fashion.
Leon pulled his cellphone out and brought it awake, thumb hovering over a name he didn’t call often. Clearing his throat, he tapped the screen and brought it up to his ear.
“Yeah, I’ve got a favor to ask.”
FIVE
ELENA
“You’re going to let me pay for a better place,” Jamie ground out between clenched teeth. He didn’t even slow the car down. In fact, he sped up, passing the run-down hotel with its crumbling brick façade with a rev of the engine.
“Jamie! Stop this car at once.”
“You’re not staying there.”
“If I stay there, I can get by for almost a month. Anywhere else is either too expensive or outright dangerous.”
“You don’t think that place is dangerous?” Jamie glanced at her in the rearview mirror, snorting and shaking his head.
“It didn’t look that bad in the pictures,” Elena murmured.
“Well, it is that bad, so we’re going uptown.” Jamie swerved to the left just as the light turned, barreling down a side street.
Elena grabbed onto the back of the seat as her body tried to slide out from under her with the force of the turn. “Jamie!”
“Hold on, kid.”
“What the hell?”
“Hang on,” Jamie snapped, yanking the wheel to the right so hard the car bounced over the curb before straightening out.The engine roared as he slammed on the gas pedal, sending them shooting out into the first hints of evening traffic.
“What the hell is going on?” Elena tried to straighten only to be flung against the opposite door as Jamie executed another sharp turn.
“Someone’s following us.” Jamie glanced from her to the back window, features fixed into a dark scowl.
All the blood rushed from her head, making Elena dizzy as she turned to face the back windshield. At first she didn’t see it, and then she wondered how she ever missed it. The giant SUV chasing them down was many years this car’s junior, probably loaded to the gills with all the technological advances. Its brakes didn’t lock up as it performed the same series of turns and switchbacks that made Elena’s old car groan and squeal.
