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The rain outside had soaked her black curls, making them hang around a high cheeked face and frame the plump, dusky pink lips that were pulled down into a frown as she listened to whatever her billionaire brother-in-law was saying on the other end of the phone.
Artie was buzzing with a strange excitement that I couldn’t quite place, and on the other end of the bond Leith was filled with a mixture of dread and a sappy longing that scraped over my skin like fucking sandpaper.
“Can you two please get it the fuck together?” I whispered to them, glaring at Leith who at least had the decency to look sheepish.
At my outburst, the dark haired beta woman with Ciara eyed me with a cool stare.
“I’m Penelope Nashtos, Ciara’s stepsister,” she said, finally introducing herself.
I pointed at myself. “Enzo, and these are my packmates Artie and Leith.”
“Oh I know about that one.” Penelope nodded at Leith who was standing just behind me.
My teeth clenched together. “All good things I hope?”
My words sounded so much like a threat that Artie and Leith put hands on my shoulders.
“Calm down, Enz, they’re not doing this on purpose,” Leith whispered in my ear. “Besides, I’m all right. Really.”
I shot him a look. I wanted to tell him that he clearly was not fine and that it was setting off every single one of my protective instincts standing here in this weird ass standoff with a woman who was as gorgeous as she was dangerous.
‘You protect every member of your pack, angioletto,’ my grandmother used to tell me when I was fourteen and miserable about being shipped off to Italy because I couldn’t stop getting into fights at my school in America. ‘Alphas are not supposed to hit recklessly. They were built to be the first line of defense for their omegas and even the weaker alphas in their packs. You are from a long line of first alphas, my boy.’
First alpha. It was an antiquated phrase that had long died off by modern standards, but it meant the alpha in charge who was responsible for everyone else in the pack.
I’d never understood that as much as I did now.
Between Artie’s eyes and Leith’s heart on his sleeve I had my work cut out for me and the women in front of me weren’t going to help one fucking bit.
Penelope frowned at me before glancing over at Ciara who was now arguing much more quietly than before. “She rarely talks bad about anyone despite her sailor’s mouth.”
That surprised me. Most of the female figure skaters I came into contact with were the ones who trained at the same ice rink that Artie did and they were always catty and ready to slice each other to bits at a moment’s notice.
“She does indeed have that,” Leith said from behind me and I could feel his elation through the bond.
Ciara seemed to be nearly done with her phone call. “Just grand, I suppose we’ll have to deal with it then. You are not getting any babysitting out of me for the rest of the year… no I don’t care if you have the money to pay for a nanny. I know you’re a billionaire, Colt, you don’t have to point it out. All right, bye.”
“So, what’s the verdict?” Penelope asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Ciara looked up at us for the first time since we’d all filed out into the hallway to find them directing the movers into their apartment.
“It looks…” Ciara began, her light, almost whiskey colored, brown eyes filling with reluctance as she undoubtedly met Leith’s eyes behind me. “Like we’re going to be neighbors for the foreseeable future.”
“Seriously?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
Ciara crooked a dark brow at me. “Seriously,” she repeated. “There aren’t any other apartments available that are big enough for me and Pen to live in. So I hope you don’t mind seeing my face around.”
“And you can’t just go back to where you came from?” I asked, knowing that I sounded like a complete asshole, but the alternative was having her close by to make Leith feel like shit.
“Enzo,” Artie chided, his fingers digging into my arm.
Anger flashed across Ciara’s face, this time directed at me, and she tilted her head to the side as if to size me up. “If you must know, back where we came from was our parent’s house. Her mam and my dads just got married and it’s a bit crowded there with newlyweds and a teenage omega and all that. Not to mention getting the riot act every time we go out.”
“Even though we’re both creeping on thirty.” I heard Penelope mutter under her breath.
“It’s fine by us, just excuse Enzo. He can be a prick when he hasn’t eaten,” Artie explained, giving me a gentle shove back in the direction of our apartment door.
Ciara’s snort filled the hallway. “I’m sure that’s what it is,” she said, her voice sarcastic.
