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“Finally hired a new person,” I said, trying to sound casual, as I took my seatbelt off and got out of the car. “So no need to work as many shifts to fill in.”
“What else?”
Of course he would never let it go. You didn’t become a mob boss by being anything but tenacious. “The new employee is an omega, one I wanted the moment I smelled her. Fuck, she’s…”
“If she has you this tongue tied, she must be something,” he replied, brows raised in surprise. “But it’s best to keep talk of the omega until later. I had a problem with my last shipment, and Zaven isn’t going to be pleased that I have to head out of town without him.”
“Why not bring him with you? Heisyour bodyguard,” I asked. Together, we walked up to the front door of his home.
“Because it’s in Clearview and I wouldn’t ask him to go back there. I should only be gone for two, three days tops.”
“That’ll soothe him,” I deadpanned. We both knew Zaven would put up a fight, and we’d have to find a way to calm him down.
“I’ll be taking the twins with me. They don’t usually dabble in the Family business, and I don’t want to drag them into it, but I need back-up.”
“Good.” We were both alphas, but we weren’t stupid enough to think we were invincible. Being the head of the mob in Alexandria came with enough rivals, people hungry for his blood, that he had to watch his back at all times.
“So, what does she look like?” I snorted at his not-so-subtle subject change, but my mind immediately went back to Hazel nonetheless. He’d stopped just outside the door, giving me a chance to answer before we went inside to face our beta. He’d said we should talk about Hazel later, but he knew me well. I didn’t think I could fool anyone into thinking I’d be capable of focus until she was out of my system. I had this urge to share what little I knew of who she was, like every tidbit I revealed would somehow bring her closer to being mine.
“A goth goddess,” I said with a huff of laughter. “Not my type at all outside of being sexy as hell. She’s got the dark makeup down, but it looks fucking fantastic on her. She’s tall and slender but has the omega softness. And that fucking scent…” I adjusted myself at the thought.
“That will make work more difficult,” he noted with a grin. Of course Maximo was finding pleasure in my pain.
“I nearly killed Cade for flirting with her before we even spoke,” I admitted. “Good thing I’ve got immaculate control. I wanted nothing more than to rut her in that office.”
“Holy shit,” he said, almost startled by my reaction. “Now I kind of want to meet her.”
Oddly enough, that didn’t fill me with jealousy or possessive anger. We’d shared our beta for long enough that it wasn’t hard to picture him with her too. My mind teased me with an image of her on her knees before us, and I was hard all over again.This is not how I need to go to dinner.
“We have to stop talking about this,” I groaned. “Give me the details on this shipment.”
His expression was hard as he pushed open the door. “I will over dinner. Valentina is out, so it’s us three.”
The smell of garlic permeated the air, and we both made a beeline for the kitchen. Our beta wasn’t only a fierce bodyguard, but one hell of a cook, too. He smiled as we entered. It was adorable seeing him with the pale blue apron tied around his waist, business-casual clothes underneath. That man wore dress slacks and vests unlike anyone I’d ever met. And the sight of him bending over to pull bread from the oven didn’t help my still-hard erection at all.
“It’s not polite to stare,” he teased as he straightened and set the bread aside to cool. Although his tone was playful, I winced, knowing it would be replaced by anxiety and fear soon enough.
“What did you make?” Maximo asked as he leaned against the counter, arms crossed. The poor guy was probably trying to figure out the best time to drop the news. Maximo was the cool, put together mob boss to most, but Zaven could bring out all of the alpha’s protective instincts. That went for protecting his bodyandhis heart. Zaven was precious to Maximo despite his position as the alpha’s bodyguard, and Maximo was always unsettled by the idea of upsetting our beta.
“What’s wrong?” Zaven asked as he narrowed his eyes. Nothing slipped past this man. I didn’t know if it was some kind of beta instinct or just a Zaven thing, but when it came to Maximo and me, the beta was an expert.
When Maximo first started looking for someone to have his back, I never thought he’d pick a beta, but Zaven was fierce and protective and fit the bill perfectly. It only took a few days before he was part of the Family and then part of something more with us soon after. He was hard to resist, and the more we brought him out of his shell, the more we were captivated by the beta with a chip on his shoulder. To be fair, that sort of came with the territory after having a reckless former boss who didn’t care about his or Zaven’s safety, nearly getting them both killed on several occasions before Zaven left it all behind. From verbal abuse to being reckless, it wasn’t a fun position to be in. He’d even used Zaven as bait for his enemies, which had been the final straw. Leaving a mafia Family wasn’t an easy task, but he had found his place with us, and we weren’t going to let him go.
“Danny never responded when I called today,” he started. Zaven continued to focus on his cooking, but he was visibly stiff. “I sent Clark after him, and I was just notified that they found Danny half dead in his car, no shipment in sight and no payment.”
Zaven plated the rigatoni he’d prepared, each movement slow and precise. He set the table with my help, but the intensity of his angst was rising so swiftly I wanted to scream. Finally, when we were all sitting down, he tented his hands in front of him and stared at his other alpha and boss.
“And what did the Russo Family have to say about it?” He wasn't an idiot. The Russos ran the city he was from, and just the mention had him slipping into his old quiet self. His eyes were immediately shadowed, and he’d stopped talking altogether. With a boss like his former one, you could never truly leave it behind you. We’d heard too many stories about how Sal Russo had treated Zaven to give the man any sort of respect. Maximo played games with the man because he had to, but if given the chance to kill him, he would.
“I’ll know when I go speak with them,” Maximo said. “And you’re not coming.”
Zaven’s head snapped up, but his reply was cut off by the front door slamming open. From the chatter, we knew it was the twins before we saw them. Emiliano and Alessandro came in arguing, as per usual.
“No,Insidiousis far better than that bullshit could ever dream about. It’s a work of fucking art,” Alessandro said with a condescending laugh.
“Nothing could topArrival. It’s already a fucking classic,” Emiliano shot back. Their banter quieted as they walked in and noticed the mood in the room. Even the scent of garlic couldn’t hide the anger filling the air.
“Damn, what the fuck happened?” Alessandro asked. He grabbed two plates and took an empty chair, sliding the extra plate to his brother when he took the seat across from him.
