Page 14

CHAPTER 14

Frankie

I slammed my car door, annoyed for no fucking reason. I’d spent all day ignoring Soren, but it didn’t feel like it was working.

He was just too good at his job.

After working out, I’d gone back to catching up on all my paperwork, and he’d quietly worked on his new computer like he didn’t care that I was ignoring him.

That should have made me happy, but it was seriously pissing me off.

Because no matter how much I tried to pretend I didn’t want his attention, I did.

I wanted him to look at me – waiting for me to give him a smile or maybe ask him to look something up for me like I would have if it was Lucy sitting there instead of Soren.

Ugh, why did I have to be like this? I fucking hated it.

Rolling my shoulders back, I took a deep breath and jogged up the stairs to my father’s house, reminding myself I had other things to worry about.

He’d called me out of nowhere and asked me to join him for dinner tonight instead of on Sunday like normal.

There had to be some kind of progress on the shit with my uncle or he wouldn’t have called me in like this.

Was he finally going to ask for my help, or was this just an update?

I entered my code into the door and it unlocked, swinging open before I could do it myself.

“Francesca,” Peter said, bowing slightly in deference to my rank. “Come with me.”

My father’s beta assistant also worked as his butler and I followed him through the house to the formal dining room, wondering why he was putting on this performance.

Yeah, we were legacy alphas in a pack that was nearly as old as the city itself, but we never did this kind of shit unless there was a reason for it.

I really hated these games my father liked to play.

Whatever was going on, it was more than just a dinner.

It was also a test.

Peter opened the door to the formal dining room and turned to take my jacket before I could say anything.

Something felt…off.

I didn’t like the way Peter was keeping his gaze on the floor. That wasn’t like him. “Why are you being so weird?”

Then I turned to the dining table and froze when I saw it wasn’t just my father sitting there.

Shock filled my veins with ice before I buried it down. It was only a split-second reaction, but I’m sure they both noticed despite how miniscule it was.

No matter how good I was, they’ve always been better.

I rolled my shoulders forward to settle my jacket back into place and flipped my ponytail over my shoulder before making my way to the massive dining room table. It was large enough to seat twenty-six people, but there were only three chairs.

One for my father, one for me, and one for…him.

I fixed my gaze on my father’s forehead and forced myself to smile as I made my way across the dining room.

“Francesca, glad you could make it.”

As if I had a choice.

I bent down and kissed his cheek before grabbing my chair. Peter tried to beat me to it as he always did, but the beta was no match for my strength. He tsk ed and set my napkin on my lap as I sat before disappearing behind me to grab the pitcher of water.

“It’s not Sunday,” I reminded my father, forcing myself to keep the smile on my face.

Peter poured water into my glass and I reached for the stem, plucking it from the table like none of this bothered me.

“Is it a crime to ask my daughter to have dinner with me?”

I don’t know why he had to pretend like there wasn’t an ulterior motive for this, but it was exhausting.

All of this was exhausting.

I took a sip of water and then carefully set the glass down on the table as Peter started bringing out the serving dishes, placing the food on my father’s plate first…then mine. I refused to let my surprise show that he didn’t serve him before me and I rested my elbow on the table, propping my chin on my fist so I could stare at my father.

His red eyes flashed when he smiled slightly. “I heard new recruits were hired at Genesis.”

“You heard right.” Why the fuck was he bringing this up? And in front of him?

“How’s that going?”

“Fine.” I sighed and grabbed my fork, dropping my gaze to the food on my plate.

All my favorite foods.

My father was trying to bribe me.

“Francesca just closed a case all on her own,” my father stated proudly.

“Did she?”

I froze when his deep voice rolled through the room like thunder. He sounded exactly the same. But older.

That deep voice was an echo of the one that used to chat with my father as effortlessly as he did now, in this very same room.

Even the décor was exactly the same and it almost felt like he never left.

“She and Lucy solved what they’re calling ‘the murder of the century’ earlier this year,” my father bragged. “The whole country knows just how smart my daughters are now.”

I stabbed my lasagna with my fork, cutting into it without bothering with the knife.

Francisco Lopez was a capricious motherfucker to the rest of the world, but he’s always been a doting father to his children.

There was nothing we could do wrong. Nothing he wouldn’t do for us.

My father was one of the strongest, most ruthless alphas in the country but he was genuinely proud of everything we did and never missed an opportunity to brag about us.

Despite all that, we had a complicated relationship.

I loved him, but I hated him for never asking me to be more – asking for more had always been my job.

“Frankie’s even engaged to River Steele. Did you hear?”

“I did.”

Why the fuck would he tell him that?

“My daughter deserves the perfect omega…don’t you think?”

Ah, so this was what he was trying to do.

I set my fork down and reached for the glass of water again, ignoring the wine that Peter poured for me. I couldn’t stomach food right now, and I had to pretend like nothing was wrong or everything would fall apart.

“She deserves anything and everything she could possibly want,” he told my father, his deep voice softening.

I couldn’t stop myself from looking at him then, even when I knew it was the last fucking thing I should do.

Leonidas Koen Lopez.

His red eyes sucked me in just like they had the first time I saw them, drowning me in blood. His facial features were still sharp enough to cut, but his hair was pink now instead of black.

Leo wasn’t a teenager anymore, but a fully grown man.

I looked down at my water and the sound of my father’s voice faded away. I had no idea what he was saying, and I couldn’t be bothered to care. All I could do was force my body to sit here and do my best to play the part I’ve been assigned.

But all I could think about was him .

The last time I saw Leo was a little over ten years ago.

We’d had an argument and I’d yelled at him – told him to leave. Shockingly, he did. Walked right out of my room. And my life.

I couldn’t blame him though. Not when I did everything I could to push him away – did everything in my power to remind us both that we could never be more than friends.

Why I was surprised when he never came back…I’d never know. It should have been obvious when I was the one who broke him.

Destroyed him beyond repair.

My father had brought this man into our pack as a damaged, traumatized child. His alpha father may have been a family annihilator but Leo was a stubborn asshole who refused to die even after being shot twice.

He’d watched his father kill his whole family right in front of him at the tender age of thirteen.

I was only ten years old when my father took me to the hospital to visit the boy he was trying to save.

When they brought this boy to the hospital, he apparently had green eyes, but when I stepped into his patient room, he’d opened them to show the whole world a new legacy alpha was born.

I still remembered the way he’d looked at me first, ignoring my father completely.

His intensity had scared me even back then. I’d hidden behind my father, peeking out at the boy covered in gunshot wounds.

Too stubborn to die, Lopez declared proudly.

That statement held true even after all these years but I still worried about him. Even when I knew I shouldn’t.

That stubborn boy had told Francisco he wouldn’t join our pack unless I asked him to – insisted that he’d let the system take him if he couldn’t stay by my side. That was the moment I’d fallen hopelessly in love with him.

My father had been hesitant to agree, but I’d walked toward the boy as if in a trance and asked him to join my pack and never leave my side.

There was something about him I’d needed even then, and he just…gave it to me.

He didn’t even care that he scared me despite the fact that I was completely enamored with him.

And Leo was gentle with me, even after what had happened to him.

He’d taken it upon himself to care for me even though I didn’t need it…I just wanted it. Desperately. And he somehow knew it. Leo picked up on my smallest tells even faster than Lucy had.

It didn’t take long until it felt like he was the only person in the world who really knew me, at least, until I became an alpha.

After that, I couldn’t be his sister, but I couldn’t be his friend either.

Not really.

Unfortunately, that was all I could offer him.

I was a fucking idiot for thinking someone who’d survived his father’s attempts to kill him would be able to stand losing the only love and affection he had left.

Leo was dangerous.

“…isn’t that right, Francesca?”

I had no idea what my father was talking about and I couldn’t pretend to listen anymore. Not when it was all I could do just to breathe.

“Actually, I’m not feeling well. May I be excused, Lopez?” Using my father’s formal title was cheating, but I needed to get the fuck out of here before I freaked out and they all knew just how weak I was.

“Of course. I hope you get some rest and feel better.”

Shoving back from the table, I got up and headed for the door. I knew my father meant well, but it was hard to believe he was actually this dense.

Did he really not know about our history? Did he expect me to welcome Leo back with open arms after everything that happened? Was I supposed to treat him like my brother, or maybe my best friend?

How could I after what I did to him?

My body knew this house intimately. Even still, I felt my hip collide with the buffet table hard enough to bruise before I pushed through the door.

Every hall looked the same and I had no idea how I got from the dining room to the front door, but I managed it.

I struggled to undo all the locks with how badly my hands were shaking, but I got them all open before shoving my hand against the scanner. There was a beep and the second the door swung open I was shoving my way through it – jogging down the stairs like someone was chasing after me.

Stopping in the center of the courtyard, I looked up at the night sky, my chest heaving. The fresh air made the strange cocoon around me disappear and suddenly everything felt so loud.

I could feel every drop of sweat on my skin as well as every single place my gear cut into my body.

He was back.

Ten years later Leo was back in Acheron like nothing happened.

It made me feel…scared.

Every day since he left, I’ve wondered what it would be like if he ever came back.

Sometimes I dreamed that I would apologize to him – that I’d be happy to see him.

Maybe I’d even feel closure because I could finally make it all up to him, but this? This emptiness and fear was the last fucking thing I’d expected.

I closed my eyes and forced my breathing to regulate.

This wasn’t a big deal. I had my own life now.

Whether my father changed his mind and declared Leo as his heir or not, it didn’t matter. I had the Genesis Agency. I had Lucy and River. Even Liam and Cassius might fall into the friend category, not just my in-laws.

Leo coming back changed nothing.

I opened my eyes and headed to my car, freezing mid-step when I saw him leaning against my Chevy Impala like he’d been there the whole time, waiting for me.

When did he get there and how the fuck did I not hear him?

Leo gave me a slow, sinister style. “I missed you.”

My heart lurched and cold sweat slid down my spine.

He tilted his head to the side like a cat, his red eyes bright despite how dark it was. “Did you miss me?”