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1
LOUIE
“Are we done here?” I tapped the toe of my leather boot on the handwoven rug in my brother’s office. We had been going in circles for hours and still had no plan. I was all for talking strategy, but right now, we were trying to tap a dry well. “I’ve got shit to do.”
Andro barked out a laugh. “You mean you’ve got an omega to do? Because I know you don’t have anything more important than dealing with the Mennettis. The threat against us isn’t a game, it must be addressed.”
Others in the room couldn’t hear it, but I sensed the fear in my brother’s tone. They saw the suave head of the Ferrini family reacting to a threat against us. I saw a husband and father concerned for the family he’d only just recently started.
I sighed, knowing he was right. I needed to help. “No, keep going.” Those bastards had threatened his mate, my brother-in-law, and their unborn baby. There wasn’t anything more pressing than neutralizing that threat.
But Connor was a close second.
Andro crossed his arms over his chest. “The Mennettis have some long-standing connections.”
“So do we.” I held his stare, unsure of where he was going with this.
“We could use more connections. Some alliances that aren’t just handshake deals would go a long way in this fight.”
Marriage. Of course. Tying two families together. That was what he meant. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him we could have had an alliance with Joey’s family, if he hadn’t killed all of them, but he didn’t want to hear my sarcasm right then. That, and Joey’s family was terrible, and I didn’t want to ally with them anyway.
“The Vetrovas have an omega of marrying age,” Tobias added. Unhelpfully.
As Andro’s second-in-command, it made sense for me to take a husband who would further our family’s influence and connection. But I had no desire to do that. Sure, I wanted our family’s position solidified, but there were other means to do it. Handshake deals may not have been written in marriage vows, but they were just as good.
I needed an out. “He’s barely of age.”
“It’s something to think on,” Andro said. “Don’t forget we have Jeremiah.”
“Oh, hell no.” My fists automatically curled at the suggestion. “You aren’t using our omega brother as a bargaining chip.”
Andro grimaced.
I saw it again, the desperation of a man trying to keep his family safe while navigating the corrupt world we lived in.
“Of course not,” he said. “These are just last-resort options.”
I nodded, hoping he was truly only considering an arranged marriage as a worst case. I certainly was. “We’ll take care of the Mennettis. If you’d like, Orsino and I can spend some time visiting and glad-handing with our allies. We’ll remind them why they partner with us.” I didn’t want to spend more time away from home, away from Connor, but this was what I needed to do for the family. I supported Andro by fostering our family’s connections.
It was my role.
That seemed to appease Andro. For now. “I want to add additional protection to Joey’s personal guard. You and Orsino should think about taking one on as well.”
We had considered it, but more than anything, we needed to make sure those near us were trustworthy. It wasn’t time to bring new people into the fold. “You’ll be adding more to your staff as well.”
That wasn’t up for debate. One of my roles in my brother’s household was to keep him safe. Tobias was his head of security, but many of the decisions for Andro’s protection came from me. I couldn’t trust that Andro would do what was best for himself.
He would always protect his family before himself.
Andro gritted his teeth. “If I must.”
Protecting Andro’s family would also protect the omegas within our home. That included Connor.
That omega had gotten under my skin in a way no other man ever had. As part of the harem staffing our home, he was always available to all the alphas within our employ. Omega harems were meant to keep our alphas from having to seek out trouble.
After my first night with Connor over a year ago, I knew I couldn’t share him.
And every other alpha in the house quickly learned that too. He might’ve lived with the omegas in the harem, but he was not one of them. He was mine.
