AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Paparazzi won’t be here expecting me, so we won’t have to worry about them showing up.”
Even more warmth spreads through my chest, making me realize I hadn’t been worried about being seen, because the pack makes me feel safe. How the hell had that happened? I can’t pinpoint when the shift occurred.
“Thanks, Daddy,” I say through the mouthpiece. His pupils blow wide, and he growls softly.
“Play nice,” he warns.
A wide grin pulls at my lips, and I’m half tempted to call him daddy again just to see his reaction. In an attempt to stop the smile, I clamp down on my lower lip and look at him from under my lashes.
His gaze rakes over me, and my stomach flips with excitement. I know it is all biology at this point and my body doing anything to encourage me to throw myself into his arms. But damn, when I say every part of me craves his bite, it isevery part of me.
* * *
The restauranthe brought us to is elegant and expensive. The lack of prices on the menu gave that fact away the second I looked at it. I’m not sure how he managed it, but they led us to a private booth in the furthest corner away from the door and no one in the tables surrounding us when we first arrived.
Once the waitress strides away with our drink orders, I lean back in my seat, taking in Austin across from me. His foot nudges mine beneath the table, and when I arch my brow, he grins.
“Order whatever you want,” he says, dropping his eyes to the menu on the table.
“You’re different right now,” I reply.
“How so?”
“Just lighter somehow.”
He captures my fingers with his and leans forward, as if he is going to tell me a secret. “I just realized that it wasn’t a painting that was missing. It was you.”
The heat infuses my cheeks as I blush like a schoolgirl with my first crush. I have to remind myself even though he is saying flowery words; he didn’t give me his mark. And before the other day, being marked by anyone sounded like a nightmare.
“You don’t have to say that shit just because—”
His face smooths out and grows serious. “One thing you need to know about me, princess, is I don’t just sayshitI don’t mean. I didn’t want an omega. Not after Sidney.”
Jealousy gnaws at my insides, and I chew on my lip before I say, “Who is Sidney?”
His eyes get a faraway look in them, and I want to call him back to the present with me. “She is an omega that pretended to want me, when what she wanted was money and power.”
I stare at him. Blink once. Isn’t that what happened to me? Only Jason was an alpha, and if he hadn’t decided I wasn’t worth the trouble and took out my parents at a bid to grab their power, he would have had it through me.
“How did you find out?”
He gives a tight smile. Before he can respond, the waitress is back with our drinks, setting his sipping rum down in front of him and my water in front of me. I know little about the cost of alcohol, but the way the waitress’s eyes widened when he ordered the Legacy Rum told me it wasn’t a normal drink.
We order, well, he orders, and from the sound of it, it is one of everything. After the woman walks away, he focuses on me again, our conversation right back to where we left off.
He runs a finger around the rim of the glass and inhales. “The Zade Mafia ten years ago isn’t what it is now. We were profitable and strong, but other Mafia’s like the De Luca Mafia–” he pauses and meets my gaze, “And Carmichael’s were stronger, more power, more money. When Sidney saw her chance to bond to the head of the Carmichael empire, she jumped. She left me without so much as a goodbye.”
“She is at the head of the Carmichael’s?”
He chuckles, taking a sip of his rum. “For a year, until a rival took her out, and Carmichael moved on to another omega. I’m not sure he ever really got over the death of his first omega, and Sidney was just a replacement, someone to help raise his daughter. His third wife’s son is in charge now, taking his name. He is ruthless. But that is off topic.”
“Well, at least she got what she deserved.”
“Maybe you are the ruthless one,” he says, arching his brow. He watches me over the rim of his glass, and I finger the side of my water.
“People like that, like her, they ruin lives. They take futures from you in their bid of a power grab.”
He leans back, setting his tumbler back onto the table as he studies me openly. “Sounds like you are talking from experience.”
