This entire plan hinged on the dinner being with our father. I ruined that when I lost my temper and stormed in too early.
Though, perhaps it would not have mattered anyway, given that Alexei clearly had plans of his own.
“Listen,” Jo huffs after a moment, “this ain’t about your feelin’s, you don’t have to be afraid to talk.” She turns towards Alexei. “You clearly know who I am. And if you know that, then you also know I wouldnotbe workin’ with these two bozos if they were plannin’ to keep traffickin’ omegas…which means, they want out of the sex-trade business.”
He hesitates amid Illya and Luka’s noises of protest at being called “bozos”, but he nods.
“And,” my clever omega continues, “ifyouwere not on the same page, you would have had your men kill us all where we stood the moment Kole burst in here, correct?”
“That is correct,” Alexei answers, with more confidence this time.
“Now,” Jo continues, shifting so her elbows are on the table, “there’s still the question of what you were goin’ to do with Mikhail’s forces after removin’ him as head of the family. Were you tryin’ to take the power for yourself?”
Alexei sighs, running a hand over his face before turning to me. “You…you are on board with everything your brothers are doing?”
Frowning, my hands tighten their grip on Jo. “Yes.”
He smirks, tilting his head. “Then…maybe I should let them kill your father and then turn everything over to you”
Pushing my shock away, I shake my head. “I don’t want it.”
“Why would you give it to him and not us?” Luka snaps. “We could solve this whole issue by having Nikolai go into the kitchen right now and bark at the bastard to sign the amendment that nullifies every asset going to you upon his death.”
“Luka—” Illya starts, but Alexei stands suddenly, cutting him off.
“Did you even read the document?” he snaps. “Or did you just hear about it through your little spies?”
Luka’s mouth gapes open.
“That’s right,” Alexei spits, “I’ve known all about your little plots for years. You’re lucky your father isn’t as smart as I am.” He braces his hands on the table. “The document states that all assets go to me ifeither of you two were the ones to cause his death.And that, you idiots, is whyIwas orchestrating his death. So that the two of you could inherit without any issues or questions on leadership, but now, I’m wondering if you are up to the task, considering how royally you just fucked all this up.”
“Well, shit.” Luka rubs his jaw.
I tense considerably. I am an idiot. Luka and Illya were stringing Father along perfectly until I lost my temper. If it were not for the fact that Alexei had apparently already gotten Father’s men on his side, we would all be dead.
“They did not fuck it up—I did.” I frown, even as Jo leans back and rests her head on my chest. And then, the strangest thing happens.
She starts to…purr.
I feel my muscles instantly relax, the tension in my shoulders easing as Jo uses her omega magic to calm me down.
“What the hell is that?” Luka gapes, and I tense again, making Jo’s purr grow even louder.
“Shut the fuck up,” Jo snaps, “I’m calmin’ down my alpha, so let me do my damn job. I’m tryin’ out this little thing called ‘not fightin’ my instincts’.”
“So you are not only the Destroyer of Alphas, but the tamer of them as well.” Alexei tilts his head in interest.
“Only three alphas.” Hayden’s voice has me whipping around in my seat, and when my eyes land on him and West being led into the restaurant by two of Alexei’s men, I let out a low growl.They are being pushed in by the muzzle of a gun. “And a beta, if you want to get technical.”
My omega stiffens when her eyes land on her mates. “Alexei?” Jo asks in that sugary sweet voice that promises violence as she stands from my lap, running her hands down the skirt of her dress. “Would you pretty please explain to me why you have two of my mates at gunpoint when Ithoughtwe were makin’ such good progress?”
Before anyone can blink, she is standing behind him, her brand new blade at his throat as she leans down next to his ear. Twenty guns immediately point at my mate, and I snarl, standing from my seat and sending my chair clattering to the floor.
“Stand down, men.” Alexei raises his hands in surrender as the guards hesitantly lower their weapons. “Apologies. We did not know they were your men, we only saw a pizza delivery van get suspiciously close to the restaurant.” He taps his ear to demonstrate that he too is wearing a comm-device.
Jo scowls down at him. “And what if it was just a couple of innocent pizza delivery boys who wanted a closer look at a sex club?”
“They thought it might be the case until they saw the surveillance equipment inside.” Alexei shrugs, wincing slightly as the edge of her blade stays pressed to his skin.
