West opens his mouth to answer, but Christopher beats him to it. “He thought we were in on it.”
Whitney looks between the two of them, her crestfallen face taking in the truth of her husband’s statement. “Weston…”
“I didn’t know, okay?” My beta looks torn. “I didn’t know if you were involved, and I couldn’t risk it. If you say a single word to Thornfield, he will run to Xavier, Adela will get sent right back to the asylum, and wecan’tlet that happen.”
“Of course not.” Whitney nods, her tone decisive. “She’s still just a child, and she’s innocent.”
“How much did you hear…exactly?” Sam clears his throat, glancing at me.
“I will admit…we did not wait very long before checking on you.”
My stomach drops. Great. So now they knoweverything.
But what really gets me is the growing sense of boldness coming from West’s side of the bond.
“Then I’ll just come out and say it,” West clears his throat as he moves to me, grabbing my hand and pulling me up before wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “Jo is my omega.” His parents’ heads turn toward me so fast I’m surprised they don’t give themselves whiplash. “I’m her beta. We’re all part of a packwith Sam, the bastard son of the leader of the Russian Mafia, and an oddly chipper pyromaniac. They’re my pack. My…family.” His throat bobs as he swallows. “And if you have a problem with that, then we can just part ways now.”
There’s a moment of silence as Christopher and Whitney absorb the bomb that West just dropped. My heart races, and sweat beads at my brow as I imagine them sizing me up, calculating my worth and how I measure up to their son.
Turns out, I not only have daddy issues, but mommy issues as well.
Full-on…parentalissues.
At least Kole and Hayden pretty much hated their dads, so fuck their opinions. I managed to make a good impression on Ozzy since the whole saving his life thing, but West’s parents? They’re intimidating as hell.
But West is full of a strange mix of anxiety and defiance as he stares them down, daring them to speak against me.
Imagine my surprise when Whitney closes the distance between us and wraps me in a hug.
“You…” she chokes on her words, and it’s only when I feel the drops on my back that I realize she’s crying. She pulls away, bracing her hands on my arms as she looks at me. “As a mother, all you ever want is for your adult children to have someone to love them. Tell me—do you? Love him?”
My throat goes tight as I nod. “Very much, ma’am.”
“Well, that’s all that matters then, isn’t it? You must have a very big heart, Jo.”
“To her own detriment, at times,” Sam snorts, earning a glare from me.
Christopher clears his throat. “I’m not going to pretend to understand how any of this works, or how you could be okay sharing your woman—” he cuts off at a growl from Sam before rolling his eyes, “but I’m not going to try to stand in the wayof anything. We’re just…glad you have someone. Someones. We were starting to get worried about you.”
“This is all good and well,” Roland cuts in, huffing a little, “but we still don’t have a clear plan on how we’re going to keep my daughter out of Thornfield. If what you’re saying is true, Isaac will do anything Xavier says.”
“He will,” Christopher confirms, frowning. “It’s strange, some of the things he would confide in me about wouldn’t make much sense. About how he’s losing autonomy over his business, but the money is too good to pass up. Looking back, I feel like an idiot that I didn’t see it sooner.”
“Willful ignorance.” I shrug. “Things were good for you, so you ignored the red flags.”
He opens his mouth as if he might want to argue, then snaps it shut before sighing. “I suppose you're right.”
West chuckles, his fingers threading through mine. “She is, most of the time.”
“Which is why y’all should listen carefully when I say these next words, even though they go against every instinct.” I take a deep breath, knowing my next sentence will cause a riot. But our position is clear. We can’t give Brooks back to Xavier, and we don’t have any sort of leverage to keep him from following through on his threat.
“We need to let Adela get sent back to Thornfield.” I hold up my hands as Roland sputters, and I feel West’s and Sam’s shock from inside the bond. “Our only option is to expose it for what it is and intercept her before she walks through the door. Metaphorically, physically, it doesn’t matter. Thornfield Asylum for the Criminally Insane is burnin’ to the ground.”
twenty-nine
Jo
Ilook at the shocked faces around me. “Listen, I know that it sounds crazy, but Declan—”
