“Enjoy your park turf wars, getting up early to play, and being a kid,” I add. “You’ll be an adult before you know it.”
Lore hasn’t said a word, and I wonder if this is one of the kids who he ran into once.
“You heard about that, huh?” the boy asks, biting his lip. “My mom wasn’t very happy that we didn’t want to share.”
“On the flip side, are the other kids the ones edging you out?” Marie asks.
“Ugh, yes. See? You get it.”
“I do,” she says. “Find a way to coexist, or be the ones who claim the yard before they do. There’s no other way around it.”
Lore and I share a glance, and I can tell by the possessiveness in his eyes that he wants to get her pregnant too. I need to know how we’re going to make this happen.
He’s petty enough to want the first kid to be his.
“We’ll see you around,” I tell him. “I’m taking Marie on a date.”
“Both of you?” the kid asks, lips pursed.
“That’s what packs do,” I say simply. “We learned how to share.”
I leave him with that as I turn on the bike, slowly walking it out of the parking spot with Marie holding tightly. The restaurant isn’t far, and the sun is shining brightly. It’s as if the world was unhappy while my omega was gone.
Sappy? Probably, but that’s how I feel. The three of us walk into the restaurant, though Lore pulls his face covering down so he doesn’t scare anyone. Honestly, his beard is taking over his whole damn face.
I don’t expect many people to recognize him as a dead man walking.
“Table for two, please under Wilder. We have a reservation,” I say.
Mama Antonia’s is an Italian restaurant that also serves as a mafia front. While I could have chosen to have my meeting here, I don’t know Antonia well enough to ask her.
My connection is with Cian, so I’ll stick with what I know.
The well dressed beta in front of me has long, dark hair that does nothing for me, not even when she bats her dark eyes at me.
Marie reaches up and pulls off her bandana, having forgotten it, and fluffs her hair almost absently. It draws the beta’s eyes to her, and she deflates as she sees she has zero chance with me.
“Right this way, sir,” she says politely, taking us to a table.
My hand sits on the small of Marie’s back possessively as we walk, and I help her sit down once we’re at our table.
“It smells amazing,” she says once the host leaves us to seat Lore.
“I’ve heard good things,” I admit. “I asked Cian for a restaurant recommendation. He said this is one of his favorites.”
“You seem to be getting along,” she says coyly.
I watch as she slides her jacket off, carefully placing it behind her seat.
“I want to be able to stay in Minneapolis, so I’m willing to play the game,” I sigh. “He’s gonna be pissed at me too.”
“He won’t,” she says. “The mafia understands why certain things need to be done and why details are revealed on a need to know basis. He’ll deal.”
“Look at you,” I tease her. “For the girl who insists on being outside that world, you still have a lot of knowledge of it.”
“I never wanted to,” she sighs. “I picked up some things, but I think Tommy’s attitude scared me so much, it put me off.”
A waiter comes to take our orders, and Marie orders the special without hesitation. It’s some kind of Italian clam soup, and I have to admit that does sound good. I order the lasagna and water for the table, and the waiter nods, stepping away to continue with his day.
