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“Not surprised,” murmured the slender, green-eyed omega, Luca.
He’d been watching my exchange with Emiel, curiosity sparking his gaze.
“It is a rather...inspiring... dessert,” said the final member of the party. His tone was arch.
I’d been trying my best not to look at Byron Harper, but I couldn’t exactly avoid doing so when he was speaking directly to me. I cleared my throat, bracing myself for the jolt of desire that zinged through me as soon as my attention fell on that classically handsome face... the artfully tousled blond hair, and the tattoos peeking out from his unbuttoned collar.
“It does seem to be, yes,” I agreed, hoping no one else at the table would notice the faint, hoarse rasp beneath the words.
Byron’s aloof gray gaze held mine effortlessly. Then, to my surprise, he looked pointedly toward the back of the restaurant, and back to me. It was only a flicker of a glance, but it conveyed, ‘You, me, outside,’ as clearly as if he’d whispered it directly in my ear.
Unease trickled through me, tangling unpleasantly with my twisted flush of attraction. After everything that had happened, why would this alpha want to talk to me alone?
I could have blown him off. Pretended I hadn’t noticed that loaded glance; gone back to what I was supposed to be doing. Ishouldhave done that. Almost certainly, I should have. With a steadying breath that I hoped wasn’t too obvious, I returned thewelcoming hostsmile to my lips and slipped back into my role as unruffled restaurant part-owner.
“Thank you again for coming,” I said. “Please let me or one of the waitstaff know if there’s anything we can do to make your meal more enjoyable. Emiel, I’ll get that early dessert order into the kitchen for you, and I’m sure Mia will want to come out and say hello when she has a minute.”
The others made polite noises, Zalen offering his compliments to the chef. For about the hundredth time, I wondered which of them were fucking her... which of them harbored ambitions of making her theirs. It was just about all I could do to take my leave calmly, ignoring the throbbing pulse of blood fluttering in my throat.
I poked my head into the kitchen, where everything still seemed to be under perfect control—with Mia and Shani both immersed in their element.
“Mia, your guests are here. They’re waiting whenever you get a moment to go say hello,” I called. She looked up from her station, a broad smile on her face. Her cheeks were flushed pink from the heat of the grill before her.
“Thanks! I’ll be out in a bit,” she called back.
I nodded. “Everything’s looking good in the dining room. I’m going to take five and get some air, okay?”
She flashed me a thumbs-up sign, her smile still broad and happy. When her attention returned to the food she was grilling, I steeled myself and strode down the hall to the employee entrance.
The evening air was brisk. I appreciated the chill of the faint breeze after the heat of the restaurant and my own flustered emotions. I went and stood halfway along the alley, knowing that I was going to feel like a complete idiot if I’d misread Byron’s wordless signal.
I told myself I’d give him five minutes to show up, since that’s what I’d told the kitchen. It would be a relief if he didn’t appear,really. I still didn’t know what on earth he thought we needed to talk about, but whatever it was, I was guessing it wasn’t good.
Two minutes later, a tall figure strode casually in from the mouth of the alley, hands thrust into jacket pockets.
“Byron,” I said flatly. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but what could you and Ipossiblyhave to discuss?”
He snorted, sharp and humorless. “What do you think? We need to talk about Mia.”
My heart sank. “Do we really, though?”
He pressed into my space, all looming alpha presence and spicy musk. “This situation is shit, and you know it.” One hand came up, a finger pressing into my chest for emphasis.
My breath caught on a fight, flight, or freeze response. I wanted to surge forward; I wanted to cringe back. I wanted to snarl at him for being an asshole; I wanted him to cage me against the alley wall and put his mouth on mine.
None of those things would be happening.
I stood my ground. “Yes. I had, in fact, noticed that ruining my marriage and driving my wife into the arms of a pack of alphas is an all-around shit situation. For me, at least.”
The finger poked again. “It’s shit forall of us.”
This time, I knocked the offending hand away, not being terribly gentle about it. “What do you want from me? This may come as a shock to you, but if I knew how to fix the situation, I would have done it already.”
“That’s exactly what you need to do,” Byron snapped. “Fix it. Either fix your mistake and win her back, or get a fucking divorce and let her have her freedom!”
I stared at him, feeling like I’d missed some vital element of this conversation.
“I already offered her a divorce,” I hissed. “I promised I’d make it as painless as possible for her. Head off into the sunsetwithout a fuss. She refused, and put me off until after things were settled with the restaurant!”