That wasn’t Zeller. He might be an omega in an old-fashioned family, but he didn’t plan on letting his parents steamroll him into whatever script they decided on. He would not be Jem, stuck in an unhappy marriage.
Not that he’d alerted anyone to that yet. He was biding his time. His fathers had no idea how much fight he had in him.
No one did.
Soft knocks sounded on the door. Antoni entered, carrying a tray of sandwiches.
“Thank you for bringing food,” Zeller said. “Neither of us had a chance to eat downstairs.”
“Happy to do it. Especially after your narrow escape,” the butler teased.
The brothers smiled fondly at him. The beta had worked on the estate since before Jem’s birth and was the only staff member Zeller was close to—the others were basically spies for his parents.
“Is that blood?” Asher’s smile flattened as he pointed at a fleck of red on Antoni’s shirt. “Are you alright?”
Antoni peeked down at his chest. “Shoot! No, it’s paint from where I was touching up the planter boxes earlier. They’ve gotten untidy since Uli left. Can’t believe I didn’t catch it before the party.”
“Don’t worry. I only noticed because you’re so close,” Asher reassured him. “But when did Uli leave? He was here forever.” Uli had been the estate’s general handyman for decades.
“Retired a month ago. Said he was too old for all the bending and lifting.”
“Good for him.”
Antoni’s cheek lifted a fraction. “At least your parents finally hired someone else. His first day is tomorrow.”
Zeller’s forehead pinched. “I didn’t know that.”
“He should be here in the morning. I’m going to start him in the backyard with some landscaping. Assuming that works out, he can take on more projects over the next few weeks. Light carpentry and repairs and whatnot.”
Zeller was grateful Antoni ran the estate with such efficiency, but it annoyed him that his parents hadn’t told him about their latest hire. Then again, why would Father or Daddy mention a change in household staff to Zeller? As long as he stayed quiet and amused himself with books and paintings, they barely remembered his existence. It would not have occurred to them that he should know about a new person walking around the grounds.
But he chose not to be upset about it. It wasn’t a battle worth having. And it wasn’t like his parents ever hired interesting employees. He was lucky with Antoni, but he had nothing in common with the rest of the staff, also older betas. Uli had been the only alpha, and the Parkensons never hired omegas.
“Enjoy the sandwiches,” Antoni said, excusing himself.
Asher dug into a turkey avocado and continued bouncing the ball. Zeller sat on the edge of the bed with his ham and cheddar, listening while Asher talked about his classes and university life.
Zeller’s ears perked up when his brother began speaking in broad terms about anintimateencounter he’d had the prior weekend.
“Wait. How long have you been having sex?”
Asher raised an eyebrow. “Four years.”
“Four years!?”
“You remember I’m twenty? I assumed you knew. It’s not a big deal.”
“It kind of feels like a big deal.” Zeller couldn’t keep the hurt from his voice. “I thought we talked about everything.”
“Not telling you wasn’t intentional.” Asher lifted his shoulders. “I guess in the beginning, it didn’t seem right to talk about sex with my fourteen-year-old omega brother. Then later, keeping that stuff separate was just habit. I don’t discuss it with Jem, either.”
“Still—”
“You know it’s different for betas,” Asher reasoned. “Not so monumental. We don’t have to wait tobloomthe way alphas and omegas do in order to get that urge to fuck. In high school, I messed around with my friend Seth.”
“The guy with the gap in his teeth?”
“Yeah. But it was never important—the sex, not the gap. We were curious, and it was fun. It’s been next level since I got to college, though. It finally feels significant, like I might catch feelings for someone one day. And when that happens, you’ll be the first person I tell.”
