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“And if he doesn’t want to come back?”
I grimaced, physically pained by that possibility. “Then I’ll let him go. Just as soon as he tells me why he left in the first place. But first, I’m getting him away from his family. Whether he wants to be with me or not, he definitely doesn’t want to be with them.”
“You’d let him go?” A voice I barely recognized spoke up from behind me.
I whirled around to find Connor, the omega that had befriended Joey, standing at the open doorway.
“What are you doing here?” I growled.
Louie stood up, putting himself between me and the omega. “Now isn’t the time, Connor.”
“Of course, I’d let him go… if that’s what he wants.” It would kill me, and I would hate every minute of it. But I just wanted Joey to be happy and safe. I wouldn’t let him keep my child from me, but we could deal with that later.
Connor seemed to accept that answer. “They probably chose the Starfish because there’s a blackjack dealer that Joey’s father has been sleeping with for years. She has access to the place, maybe even a private room where they’re keeping him.” He took a deep breath and looked down at his shoes as if contemplating whether to keep talking. Luckily, he did. “But casinos like that have cameras everywhere. They probably don’t think you could get access to it that quickly, but the video feeds should be the first things Orsino looks at when he gets there.”
I looked to Louie, and he was already firing off a text to Orsino.
I narrowed my eyes at the omega. “How do you know all this?”
He shrugged. “People talk. I retain information. Two years ago, you hired an omega who had worked at the Starfish. When Joey moved in, he told me about Santoro’s mistress and how evil they were. The harem was worried that Joey would have us all thrown out.”
I took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. “Have you known where Joey is this whole time?”
The omega shifted his weight, his gaze focused everywhere but at me. “I have spoken with him, but he didn’t tell me where he was staying. I planned to help him get a bus ticket so he could leave the city.”
I wanted to hate him for that, but instead, I was so happy that Joey had someone in his corner. “Why did he leave?”
“That I’m not telling you. Save him. Then he can tell you.”
I was quiet for a moment. Each second that ticked by was lost time that I could be putting together a plan to save my family. “Let’s go. Louie, Nil, come with me. You’re coming too, omega.”
Connor balked at that, his gaze flying to Louie, as if my brother would convince me to change my mind. “I can’t leave the house. I… I… I haven’t left in years.”
“You’re leaving today, kid. Let’s go.”
I didn’t have a plan yet, but that would come together once we were there. Bottom line was I would not be returning without my omega.
I’d save him from his father or die trying.
14
JOEY
After being away from Andro for two days, my whole body felt like it was rebelling. I couldn't keep down food and barely any water. I needed something to calm my stomach or I’d have to see a doctor. I decided to try eating, but that had been a dire mistake.
Going to the store for some soda crackers and ginger ale was what led to me being found by my brother.
I’d barely opened up the crackers when there was a knock on the door of my motel room. I tried to escape, but there was only one door in the room, and my brother was blocking it. Which was how I found myself handcuffed in a room at what I was pretty sure was a casino. They had a hood over my head for a while, but now I could tell I was in some sort of office. There was a desk in the corner, and I sat on one of those too-stiff couches. There was only one door, but there were two windows. The only problem was that I couldn’t see out of them to know if we were on the first floor or higher.
My father and brother sat silently, both holding guns. Their fingers twitched nervously, too close to the trigger for mycomfort. I tried desperately to hold back the bile that was rising in my throat by taking slow breaths.
If they knew my condition, things would not be good.
Mario glanced at his watch as his leg bounced. “He should be here any minute.”
My father must have had business dealings with the casino, which was how he got access, but I wasn’t aware of any of our clients being in the gambling business. At least, not the public kind.
But I didn’t care about my family’s business. All I cared about was Andro and how badly I missed him. I was confident that Andro would save me. If nothing else, pride alone would make sure he saved his husband, and no one knew that I had escaped to get away from him.
