Page 24

Tensions were running high despite Vin using his compulsion on Blaze to prove he hadn’t set the Lunettis up, but the wedding preparations swept on, regardless.

In theory, he and Rocco were sleeping in the same bed.

In practise, Emilio’s artwork and his work for Marco kept him out all hours, and they were like bikes passing in the night.

From time to time, he would feel that familiar tug inside his soul that meant Rocco was near, and the text messages never let up, but they’d had very little time to talk since the arms deal went wrong. Rocco seemed just as busy as he was, although he wasn’t sure with what.

It was just as well because Emilio was struggling with the conflicting desires inside him.

His wolf was desperate to complete the bond.

His human side was reminded why that was a terrible idea every time one of his packmates turned away from him when he visited.

Despite the mixed feelings, he hadn’t found a way to avoid the wedding that would be happening the next day.

“Have you found anything on Brand yet?” Emilio asked Luca, tucking his phone under his ear as he placed servings of the risotto he’d just made into the fridge with a note on it so Rocco would know one was for him.

Feeding his mate was the simplest way to keep his wolf happy when they were apart so much.

“He’s good at covering his tracks. I can’t find anything in his accounts, and his movements are mostly as expected for the MC’s treasurer.”

“Only mostly?”

“He seems to be dating your mate’s ex,” Luca said. “They’re trying to keep a low profile, but my facial recognition software picked them up on the other side of the city.”

“He’s dating Andy ? The police chief’s son who everyone was so upset about Rocco getting involved with that they forced him to marry me?”

“Seems so. I hacked his phone. Looks like Andy’s real grateful for Brand stopping Rocco stalking him after they split,” Luca said.

“He wasn’t fucking stalking him after they split. And if he was, all Andy would need to do is text him his safe word and he would’ve stopped.”

Luca huffed a laugh. “You seem pretty confident about that for someone refusing to bond their mate.”

“What if someone accused Cal of playing Daddy without consent?” It was a low blow.

He only knew about their dynamic because he and Luca used to speak on the phone all the time when he was overseas. Emilio had been a safe, distant person to talk it through with.

Luca growled. “Point taken. And shut the fuck up.”

Emilio sighed. “Sorry, cuz.”

“All good. Sorry I don’t have more for you.”

“I need to see if I can plant a bug in Brand’s room or something. ”

“You’re living in the same clubhouse as him one night a week. It wouldn’t be hard if you stopped running off every time you’re supposed to stay there. Are you even getting any sleep?”

Emilio sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Stop stalking me with your cameras. I get enough of that from my fiancé. I could use a nap, though.”

“Nope. No, you don’t. You’ve got brunch with the in-laws in like fifteen minutes. Go get your shoes on and leave already.”

“Okay, Dad ,” Emilio said, both of them falling silent as the playful words reminded them of what they’d lost with Gio’s betrayal.

“Despite everything, I still miss him,” Luca said softly.

“Me too.”

“Give Rocco’s family a chance. They can’t replace him, but they could be something.”

“I don’t need a new set of parents in my life. Especially not ones that would send their son away to save face.”

“I don’t think it was like that, Emmy. I think he chose to leave for them.”

“Then they should have fought harder to make sure he knew he didn’t have to,” Emilio snapped.

“Don’t judge them until you meet them.”

Rocco was waiting for him outside the diner they were meeting at for brunch. It was one of those old-school, comfort-food type places with booths, bottomless coffee, and all-day breakfast.

His mate was leaning on his Harley, his face a little flushed from the cold, as Emilio pulled up alongside.

The leather jacket he was wearing accentuated how cut his muscles were, as did the sinful way his jeans clung to his thighs.

Add in the riding boots and Emilio’s thoughts dropped right into the gutter.

“Hey, puppy,” Rocco greeted him, tugging him into his arms.

They were almost the same height like this, and Rocco took full advantage, pressing kisses into his neck before biting down gently on his collarbone.

A horrifyingly pornographic moan left Emilio’s mouth, and he gritted his teeth to cut it off.

“Don’t you dare make me hard right before I meet your family.”

“Too late,” Rocco said with a smirk, pulling at his hips in a way that had Emilio grinding into his mate’s erection despite himself.

At least they were both suffering the same problem.

Rocco wrapped an arm around his waist as he manoeuvred them inside the diner.

It was so … domestic. His mate sensed his discomfort and winked at him before searching the diner for their table.

Emilio couldn’t help but press a kiss to his mate’s shoulder as his wolf responded to Rocco’s proximity and the obvious way he was claiming Emilio as his for everyone to see.

There was no mistaking the five people waiting for them at one of the long tables as anything other than Rocco’s family.

His mother had clearly handed down the copper hair gene to all her children, and Rocco’s beautiful hazel eyes stared back at him from the kind face of the older man standing to greet him.

“Everyone, this is Emilio. Don’t scare him off. Emilio, everyone. Don’t scare them off,” Rocco said.

“Sirocco Kelly McCarthy, that is not how you introduce your fiancé to us,” his mother said, getting to her feet .

Emilio figured she was going to hug her son, so he was caught by surprise when she pulled him into her arms instead. He froze as the tall woman wrapped her arms around him and held onto him for a solid six seconds.

“Welcome to the family, Emilio. I’m Beth, but you can call me Ma. My pronouns are she/they.”

Emilio was still trying to gather himself when Rocco’s dad did the same thing, pulling him into another hug.

“So nice to meet you finally, Emilio. I’m Connal, he/him.

I was worried when I heard our Rocco was getting involved with the shifter Mafia, but just watching you walk in together, I can see how much you care about him.

I guess I’ll save the ‘ if you hurt them, they’ll never find your body ’ speech for the next one of my kids who brings someone home. ”

“Hey. No fair! I was gonna bring Rex over next weekend,” one of Rocco’s siblings called out from the table.

Rocco’s arm wrapped back around Emilio as his dad stepped away. “The whiney brat complaining is my sister, Sorcha. She’s always like that. Next to her is Mads. Their pronouns are they/them. And my brother Brad is at the end.”

“Hey, man,” Brad said, giving him an up-nod in greeting.

Mads waved at him, a smile on their face. “My family’s a lot. Feel free to just sit quietly and let them insult each other. It’s what I do.”

Emilio’s mouth twitched into a smile. He was no stranger to a large family, especially with the wider pack right there around the packhouse. This was different, though. These were parents and siblings . He didn’t know what to do with those.

Sitting down at the table, the seven of them put their orders in before everyone turned their gaze on him as Rocco’s mum started speaking.

“So, Emilio. Tell us about you. What do you do? Do you have any siblings? Who’s going to walk you down the aisle tomorrow?”

“Ma, too much,” Rocco warned, placing a hand on Emilio’s leg and squeezing gently.

“It’s fine,” Emilio said, turning to face his inquisition. “I’m an artist. No siblings, but my cousin Luca was raised with me, so we’re basically brothers. I’m guessing my Alpha Marco is planning to spring an aisle walk on me. He’s another cousin of mine. I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“Is that a pack thing? Your Alpha walking you down the aisle instead of one of your parents?” Beth asked.

Huh. It was almost refreshing that they hadn’t heard about his dad’s betrayal and death already. Or they hadn’t linked it to him, anyway. It also meant they hadn’t used their Council resources to stalk him before they came, which was interesting. Rocco really was the black sheep of the family.

“Ma!” Rocco snapped.

Emilio reached out and gripped behind Rocco’s neck, massaging until he felt some of the tension leave his mate. “My dad died recently, and my mum died a long time ago after she left us when I was little.”

“Oh, son. I’m so sorry,” Beth said. Wait. Were those tears in their eyes? For real?

“It’s fine,” Emilio said, grateful when a plate of waffles was set down in front of him so he could pretend to focus on eating.

“No, it’s not. But we’ll be there for you right alongside your pack now,” Connal said, his words sparking a loving smile between him and his wife and a whispered ‘ love you ’ as she leaned in to kiss him.

“Ew, gross. We’re trying to eat,” Brad said, but Emilio could see he didn’t really mean it. All three McCarthy children looked more indulgent than exasperated at their parents’ antics .

Emilio wasn’t sure exactly what he’d expected, but it wasn’t this. He’d been prepared to just tolerate Rocco’s parents after the way they’d made him move across the country to save face, but maybe Luca was right, and Rocco had done that himself. It still didn’t mean they should’ve let him, though.

“What about you all? Rocco mentioned you work for the Council?” Emilio said.

It was the right thing to ask to take the attention off him.

The five talked at length about their work with the Supernatural Council, which was obviously more of a calling for them than a job.

Their anecdotes were filled with inside jokes and references he didn’t have a hope of following, but it was still …

nice. One look at Rocco’s slightly glazed expression and he realised his fiancé wasn’t following it either.

He knew all about feeling like an outsider in his own family, but he didn’t want that for Rocco.

“Why didn’t you tell Rocco he could stay?” he asked when Brad brought up Rocco’s cross-country move.

Brad’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and the five of them exchanged significant looks.

“We’d never stop him from pursuing something he wanted to do,” his mum said.

“Leave it, Emmy,” Rocco said softly.

“But he didn’t want it. He only moved because the Council negotiated for the MC to take him,” Emilio said, confused.

“I said, leave it!” Rocco snapped. It was the first time he’d ever directed that kind of anger at Emilio, and he looked over at his mate in surprise.

“What do you mean? Rocco had a friend here. That’s why you came, isn’t it?” his dad asked.

Rocco shrugged uncomfortably. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“It does matter. Did the Council ask you to leave?” Beth asked, her brow furrowing and the beginnings of true anger marring her sweet features.

“They arranged a safe place to move. It was that or look over my shoulder the rest of my life for retribution from the gang I testified against.”

Beth and Connal looked at each other and then back at Rocco. “As much as I love working for the Council, they don’t do that kind of thing out of the goodness of their hearts. What else did they say?”

Rocco looked down at his plate, pushing a stray mushroom with his fork. “They might’ve mentioned what my presence was doing for your reputations and re-election chances.”

“Darling, no! They had no right to do that!” Beth cried.

“Can you honestly say it wasn’t true? It’s fine. It was for the best.”

“I’ll be having words with those responsible when I get home,” Connal said, anger clear in his voice. “We’ve given them decades of service, and they repay us by stealing our son? I don’t fucking think so.”

“Da, it’s fine . I’m happy here. I’ve got Emmy now,” Rocco said.

Emilio fought to keep his expression neutral and avoid giving away more than he accidentally had. Rocco wasn’t happy here. The MC didn’t treat him as one of them, and Emmy himself had been clear he wasn’t going to do more than their contract required.

“I’m sorry,” Emilio said a little while later as they watched Rocco’s family drive off from outside the restaurant. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

Rocco sighed and tugged him into his arms. “It’s okay, puppy. It was kind of nice to hear they didn’t want me gone.”

Emilio’s wolf, who’d been a ball of rumbling anxiety in his chest at the idea they’d hurt his mate, finally settled down.

“Come on, let’s go home,” Emilio said .

“I’m going to stay at the clubhouse tonight, puppy. I have some things I need to do.”

Emilio stared up into Rocco’s eyes, trying not to feel disappointed. Why did his mate suddenly look so shifty?

“What kind of things?”

“You’ll see tomorrow,” Rocco said, bending down to give him a quick, filthy kiss that left him panting on the side of the street as he watched his mate swing a leg over his bike and rumble off into the distance.

The next time he saw him, they’d be getting married.

Fuck.