“What’s this?” Genuine surprised flitted over Meghan’s soft features, settling in the rich brown of her gaze as the two men carrying the food set the trays down on the table. “Has something happened to Henry?”
Everyone ignored the question as Tobias leaned forward. Hand darting out, Quinn covered Elise’s tray, wide eyes taking in everything as she stopped Tobias from putting the large spoonful of pasta where their daughter could reach it.
“That’s enough, little bird.” A grinding force hidden under the quiet words, he demanded Quinn move. Buried under the cool exterior, the promise that it would all be fine shone in the evergreen of his eyes.
Either she moved or started an argument, and in front of a man like Mr. Rey, a disobedient mate couldn’t go unanswered. Still her hand remained, lips tight over her teeth and the spill of words that wanted to plead for some real assurances, an explanation of why he thought everything was safe now.
He surprised everyone, Quinn most of all.
“It’s all right, sweetness. Now move.”
“Miss Quinn?” With less than a scuff of soft-soled shoes against the thick rug, Meghan scurried to stand behind Elise, gaze darting between Tobias and Quinn. Restless hands refusing to settle over the back of Elise’s chair, she hovered as if she would protect Elise from some unseen foe.
Ignoring Meghan yet again, Quinn exhaled hard and forced her hand away from Elise’s tray. Pausing to untangle little fingers from her sleeve, knitting brows and turbulent gray gaze kept watch over the slick pile of noodles.
“Mr. Kahler, what’s going on?”
“Sit down, Meghan.” Tobias held Quinn’s gaze as he slid the heavy dish laden with red sauced spaghetti towards her, a dip of his chin indicating Adam.
Harder by far to bolster up the courage to serve Adam than it was to watch Tobias, Quinn managed it. Dragging up a smile as the meatballs rolled around his plate and he giggled at them, she smoothed back Adam’s too long bangs before she turned to the table. Everyone else had their food, plates piled high with so much it seemed obscene. Quinn’s stomach clenched, starved and angry, bitter unease mixing with the whole lot.
“Mama, why aren’t you eating?” Roundness of his face puckered, the hazel of his eyes so green in that moment he looked too much like Tobias by half, Adam thrust his hand out to the many options and pointed at the generous spread. “You eat, Mama.”
Quinn caught the widening of Devin’s eyes, the tilt of Mr. Rey’s chin, and for a moment sheer, unadulterated pride threatened to choke her. That was her son surprising these strangers as he spoke and attempted to swirl his spaghetti onto his fork.
She had no choice when Tobias began piling food onto her plate. A little of everything, she recognized some of the foods from what he’d ordered during their single outing. Delicate shrimp nestled in whorls of thin pasta caught her eye first. Any hesitation fell away as the first hints of the warm sauce burst across her palate. Ravenous, she devoured everything Tobias put upon her plate and reached for yet more. Mushrooms packed full of some concoction that tasted of rosemary and scallions, herb crusted chicken, fish laden with lemon slices and a savory crust. All of it disappeared, one bite at a time, as she bustled between her two children to help them cut up their food and get it into hungry mouths.
Sated at last, Quinn leaned back. Unerring, her heavy lidded gaze met Tobias’, and met the smug amusement head on with a shy smile. Feeling more than a little ridiculous, she dragged her attention away from the heat growing ever more impatient in his eyes to fuss over the saffron bright smears coating Elise’s face and hands.
Brimming with an energy she hadn’t felt in ages, Quinn could have laughed out loud at the giddiness that infected her. No queasiness disrupted her unabashed joy, no lethargy to drag her into an abyss of darkness. It was her, simple and clearheaded for once.
“We should go,” Mr. Rey said, standing and pulling Devin along with him. Tucked against his side, he forced the small woman’s nose against his coat. “Leaving Beau alone with the club for too long leads to things.”
They all heard Devin’s snort of amusement, and Quinn was hard pressed not to join in the muffled snicker that Devin hid behind a quick palm. Things, indeed.
Despite the rocky beginning of their meeting, Quinn entertained the idea of having a friend. Someone who understood the trials of all this, the special pain and resentment that came with being an Omega. Thoughts crumbling before they formed to true hope, Quinn glanced at Tobias to see the granite cast of his lips and the coolness of his eyes.
There would be no idle visits, and never with someone like Devin.
“Take the children upstairs. There’s an Alpha waiting there, Rebecca. She’ll watch the children while they nap, and I want you to come to the study,” Tobias whispered against the shell of her ear as he helped Quinn to her feet.
“But Meg—”
“Do as I say, little bird.”
Quinn’s feet moved, hands pulling Elise from her chair as Meghan dealt with Adam’s squirming and whining. Dangerous and brittle, Tobias’ tone left no room for her usual arguing, the undercurrent of the command snapping through her synapses in a live wire that frazzled her nerves until she did as she was told. Halfway up the stairs she dared to glance back, betrayed and indignant with his coarse treatment, to find him in heated conversation with Mr. Rey. Movement swift, his hand curled into the crisp blackness of Mr. Rey’s shirt, hauling Rey’s body up until it dangled from a fist.
Tobias was just a bit taller than Mr. Rey, not as large and muscled, yet he lifted the other man with ease.
Swallowing a gasp as Mr. Rey’s body met with the dark paneled wall, Quinn hurried up the rest of the stairs.
Chapter Ten
After settling the kids down for a nap, which was far easier than she anticipated with a strange Alpha female lingering nearby, Quinn went to the study as Tobias demanded. Still rattled by the easy way he flipped the switch of his kindness on and off, she fell into the armchair off to the side so he would not be able to force her against his body when he joined her. Contact ruined everything. The warmth of him dragged out her resentment by the murky fistfuls until she became dripping honey in his hands.
Angry and restless with the nervous energy crackling along her spine, she tucked her body tight into the large chair. Glaring at the door, she waited for him to come to her.
She didn’t understand why he invited Mr. Rey and Devin to eat with them or why Meghan wasn’t being allowed to do her job. Even his personal chef, Henry, hadn’t cooked their meal. Instead, strangers swarmed their home, people she didn’t know or trust. Tobias’ sudden change from the hospital confused her even more, the quiet peace she’d known in that sterile space dashed to bloody pieces across the floor.
