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Connor’s completely unfazed. “Daphne’s family is our family.”

And I believe he means it. I’m just not sure I trust him to mean it forever.

PIPE DREAM

DAPHNE

Two weeks later,I’m somewhere deep in sleep when my phone goes off. Shoving up, I lean over a passed out Dez as much as I can with Nate trapping my legs to the mattress.

“Don’t go,” he mumbles, holding me tighter. It’s a habit of his, one that breaks my heart every time. He and Dez are flying out to pick up parts for their asshole client and a few they actually like. They won’t be back until tomorrow, and it’s made Nate a little needier than usual.

I pet his head, soothing him. “Just need my phone.”

More grumbling. Getting untangled from my alpha is like battling an octopus, even when he’s sleeping, but I manage enough freedom to snatch the device off the nightstand.

“Hello?” I whisper, wincing at my voice in the dark.

“Hey, Daphne. It’s Mark.”

Dread pools in my stomach. There’s no good reason for Nymph’s building manager to call me at three in the morning. “Hi. Give me one second.”

“Daph?” Dez reaches for me, and I can’t help but cringe as I mute the phone. Neither man needs to be awake when they’re leaving in a few hours.

“Everything’s fine. I’m just going to take this quick,” I whisper, throwing back the covers and hoping he can’t smell my stress.

“You sure?”

“Yep. Go back to sleep.”

He kisses my hand as I move away. Not sure he believes me, but he’s too exhausted to fight much. I may or may not have ensured my alphas remember what they’ll be missing while they’re gone.

I wait until I’m downstairs to restart the conversation. “Sorry, Mark. What was that?”

“I said a pipe burst at Nymph.” I can practically feel him blushing as he says the name. Normally, it’s the highlight of my day, but not this time.

My hands shake as I pace the length of the room to keep my nerves manageable. “How bad is the damage?”

“It’s pretty bad.”

I try to convince myself that it’s good that it happened now. Even a few days later and thousands of dollars of mannequins and toys would be destroyed, but all I can think of is warped floors and ruined shelving after all the fucking work I did to get the building ready. My dream crumbling in front of my eyes.

Then my stomach completely plummets.

Dez’s sketches are at the store. I haven’t framed any of them yet and the water…

Please don’t let it all be ruined.

My throat tightens with a whine, but I hold it back. “Where is the damage? Is the back room okay?”

There’s some muffled movement and then, “Seems dry in here. It’s mostly the front that got soaked. Probably from the renovation crew.”

My knees buckle, forcing my drop to the couch. Losing the store would be hard, but my alpha’s courting presents getting destroyed would be cataclysmic.

As soon as I know the drawings are okay, my mind settles. “I’ll get dressed and head over now.”

“For liability purposes, you can’t come in until we’re sure the floor’s stable,” Mark says kindly. “We’ve already turned the water off, and we’ll start drying the floors as soon as they’re cleared.”

I hate it. Every fiber of my being wants to go fix it, but he promises to update me later, assuring the building owner will help as much as they can before hanging up.