Page 9 of Bound to the Mafia Guard (Mated in the Mafia #5)

8

ROWAN

“Okay, so we need all the details. Don’t leave anything out!” Connor tucked his knees under him and pulled the fleece blanket around his shoulders as he settled onto the couch. He, Joey, and Jermiah had arrived earlier with a carafe of hot chocolate and a beautiful new monogrammed robe for me, telling me it was a mating present and we were having an omegas’ night. I wasn’t sure what an omegas’ night entailed, but I was down for it.

My cheeks heated, and I took a sip of the hot chocolate; apparently we were keeping our omegas’ night fairly tame. Thank goodness. I couldn’t handle anything crazy.

Jeremiah and Joey sat on the two large wingback chairs that gave off mafia boss vibes, especially with the roaring fireplace in the background.

“I don’t… There’s not a whole lot to tell,” I said, knowing full well that they were not going to let me off the hook that easily.

Though I wasn’t deeply ingrained in the family, since I was a distant cousin, not by blood, Jeremiah and I had always been close. Of the four Ferrini brothers, he was the closest in age to me. Plus we were both omegas. I’d been shocked when he’d come home from his time in college with a mate on his arm. Even though the two of them had talked and texted over the years, he hadn’t mentioned Felik until he brought him home.

If the rumors were correct, his mate had been sent to spy on him for his mafia boss brother, only he’d switched sides once he fell in love with Jeremiah.

“There is always something to tell. Apparently Ferrinis don’t do boring love stories.” Joey held his coffee mug in both hands and wagged his eyebrows at me.

“Catch me up then. I never get the stories, I just get the rumors,” I said. “How did you and Andro get together?”

“Well, Andro kidnapped me and convinced me to get married.” Joey shrugged like that was totally normal.

“Wait, what? I thought that was just a rumor. That part was true? Were you really part of a rival family?”

“Oh yeah. Louie helped him kidnap me from a party. He held me hostage and proposed. Then when I moved into the mansion after our whirlwind wedding, Connor and I became friends. My family were small-time crooks. I wouldn’t consider them rivals, just not allies.”

I turned to Connor. “So you were really part of the harem then?” My face burned just saying the words. Was that an offensive thing to ask? I wasn’t sure that I’d ever met an omega who worked in a harem. I had nothing against sex work, as long as it was the job the person wanted and not something they had been tricked or coerced into. I had learned about the omega harem by accident when my father was talking with Uncle Vern about it. My father’s advice to his stepbrother had been to find an omega from the harem and get laid. I’d run away from that conversation. TMI.

“Yup. But I pretty much was only ever visited by Louie. Once he staked his claim, everyone else stayed away. Then I got pregnant by accident–damn Ferrini swimmers are strong–and I had to run away because I was worried that they wouldn’t let me keep the baby.”

“And he found you?”

“Oh yeah, he did. Trev was there too. You can’t hide from these guys. Not that I really wanted to anyway. I missed Louie something terrible. Being apart sucked.”

Holy fuck. These two were making my romance with Trev sound like a walk in the park. Unexpected heat in a dorm room was pretty boring compared to kidnapping and a runaway omega.

Jeremiah remained silent through it all. Then he reached over and grasped my hand.

“Rowan.” His voice was serious, and I gave him my full attention. “Trev’s really important to us. I think you know that I owe him my life. He took a bullet for me, saving my life.”

I nodded. I’d seen the scars. I’d brushed my fingers over the wounds that had nearly taken my alpha’s life.

“We want him to be happy, no matter what.”

It wasn’t hard to read between the lines. Jeremiah wasn’t going to toss out direct threats like Andro might, but it didn't make his words any less impactful. If I hurt Trev, things wouldn’t go so well for me.

“I love Trev, Jer. I do. He’s amazing. I know that this thing between us happened quickly, god knows I didn't intend to go into heat in my dorm room. It was the least romantic space ever. But I don’t regret it. Sure, I wished we’d had a bit more time to get to know one another and maybe gone on a few dates before he got into my pants, but I’m not complaining. I’m lucky to have Trev, and I will not take him for granted.”

Jeremiah nodded and patted my forearm. “Good. Andro will give him the same warning. Trev’s not going to hurt you either. You’re good for one another. Trev needs someone to loosen him up. I think you’re just the omega for the job.”

I bit my lip. I wished I could borrow some of his confidence. I wasn’t like these omegas. I wasn’t as strong or capable as them. I knew so little about the world they were so comfortable in. “What if I’m not the right omega for him? Trev’s job is important. He’s important to Andro and the whole…organization.” Was that the right word? Ugh. I was already doing a shit job of even talking about what it was that the Ferrinis did.

“You love him?” Joey asked.

I nodded. “Of course. I’ve been attracted to him forever. Not that he ever knew that.”

“Really?” Jeremiah gave him an incredulous look.

“Yeah, it was silly because he worked for Andro, and I’ve always been told that anyone who worked for Andro or Uncle Vern were off limits. I never talked to him directly, but I’d see him at family events. He always wore his leather jacket and those sunglasses. Giving off hot alpha vibes.” I leaned back into the cushions as I recalled the last few times I’d seen Trev at family dinners. He was always so sexy, standing in the background, protecting the group.

A pillow hit me smack the face, pulling me from my daydreams.

“Fantasize on your own time,” Connor teased.

“I guess Uncle Vern’s lecture to stay away from the bodyguards didn’t really matter in the end, did it?” Just because I wasn’t involved in the business, didn't stop me from being caught in the crossfire.

“You should talk to Trev about your time with Russo,” Connor said as if he could read my mind.

I shook my head. “I don’t love talking about it. Between talking to Andro, my father, and a counselor, I’m all talked out.”

“I’m sorry,” Joey said.

“Don’t be. It’s in the past. I still work with my counselor on a lot of things, and being with Trev is amazing. He makes me feel safe.”

Just then the door clicked open. Orsino’s omega Ethan, whom I hadn’t met yet, came into the room. “Sorry I’m late. Marcella refused to be put down. She’s going through a phase where she only wants me, but then the next day she only wants Orsino. Of course today was my turn.”

“Oof. Both twins went through that phase, separately, of course,” Jeremiah said.

I reached out a hand, and Ethan shook it. “It’s nice to finally meet the omega that tied Orsino down.”

Ethan laughed. “I understand congratulations are in order for you as well. I’m glad I’m not the only omega still learning about…you know…the business.”

Joey and Connor laughed. “It’s not as exciting as ya’ll make it out to be. Mostly they just look scary. Our alphas are all softies when it comes to us.”

“I have a hard time picturing Orsino being a softie. But it is nice that I’m not the only newbie. You’d never guess I’d known the Ferrini brothers since they were kids.”

“Oh, I bet you have good stories! Jeremiah won’t share any.” Ethan stuck his tongue out at his brother-in-law.

“Hey, I need something to hold over Andro’s head so I can get my way. We’ve got years together, guys, the stories will all come out in time.”

I grinned. “I never thought about it that way… I do have a few stories.”

“Do tell.” Connor leaned closer.

“Have you guys visited the house in Aspen? Does Uncle Vern still own that?”

Jeremiah nodded. “Yeah, we haven’t been there in years, though. We should make it a family trip! You guys can see the mountains. The kids will love it.”

“You have a house you haven’t visited in years?” Ethan asked.

Jeremiah grimaced. “Yeah. Probably a few of them, if we’re honest.”

“We used to do Christmases there,” I said. “One year there was a blizzard and we were snowed in. But it was so cold you couldn’t even go outside. Orsino and Andro were so pissed because they couldn't go skiing. I think they just wanted to meet omegas on the slopes.”

“Orsino skis?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, he was pretty good too. Louie was terrible, but he liked hanging around the hills to meet omegas.”

“Of course he did,” Connor said.

“What did they do since they couldn’t go outside? Sounds like a recipe for trouble. Andro doesn’t like being told what to do.” Joey crossed his arms as if he was annoyed. He’d probably tried to boss his alpha around once or twice.

“Oh! I remember this!” Jeremiah exclaimed. “So funny.”

“They had the bright idea of skiing down the stairwell. It worked the first few times, but eventually they realized they were scratching up the wood floor badly. Like really bad. There was no way to hide it. Uncle Vern was so mad.”

“They had to work alongside the kitchen staff for six months! Rowan and I didn’t get in trouble because the alphas wouldn’t even let us try.”

I grinned. “That’s right. They kept telling us they didn’t want us to get hurt.”

Joey snorted. “Glad some things never change.”

“No kidding. Those guys are buzzkills.”

We all laughed at that.

It was great to have friends on my side. We might’ve been an unconventional group, and our alphas were all slightly overprotective, but we were family, and that was all that mattered.