Page 15 of His Snowbound Omega

Nerves that shot through the roof the second he stepped into the living room and saw what awaited him there.

Baal wasn’t alone.

There were five other mafia members with him, lined up around the room like sentries. They kept their hands clasped in front of them, and their eyes downcast, but the air was tense, and the mood was palpable.

The underboss was the only one not dressed in black, his crimson suit standing out against the faded tan of Thorn’s ancient couch. His presence was imposing, his body seeming ten times larger than it had previously been. He had one arm restingover the back of the ratty piece of furniture, and his gaze roamed down Thorn’s form in obvious inspection before flicking up to meet Thorn’s frightened stare.

To his credit, Thorn tried to mask it, but his fear must be apparent, because the corner of the alpha’s lips tipped up cruelly, and he grunted.

“Did you really think you’d get away?” Baal asked. “You took the car but left the flowers. That hurt my feelings, omega.”

Was he here for the car?

Thorn held out the key. “I was going to drop it off in the parking lot later. Thanks for letting me use it.” He would have driven to Frost Loans and then taken the bus home.

“Was that going to be before or after you spent the money?”

He frowned. “Money?”

Did he know about his brother’s surgery? How?

“Espen,” Baal kept his eyes on Thorn while he spoke to the man nearest the door, “go get the bag from the car.”

Wordlessly, the mafia member left to do as he was told, leaving the rest of them to wait there awkwardly for his return.

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Thorn admitted when the silence got to be too much for him.

“You will,” Baal promised, just as the sound of the front door opening reached them.

Espen appeared at Thorn’s side, dropping a heavy leather bag to the floor between him and the underboss. He bent and unzipped it, then stood and moved off to the side, so everyone in the room could see the stacks of cash practically overflowing from the bag.

“Are you still going to deny it?” Baal’s expression was calculated.

Having owed money to the mafia before, Thorn was used to their intimidating looks. Typically, they came off angry andthreatening, but this alpha…There was something hidden in the humor in Baal’s eyes and the way he kept fighting back a smile.

“You’re trying to say I took this?” Thorn pointed to the bag of money. “No way!”

“It was found in your driveway just now,” he stated. “Kind of hard to deny it with evidence like that in my corner.”

“In my…” The car. His frown turned to an accusatory glower. “You left it there on purpose. You’re setting me up.”

Why? Why would he do that?

“I don’t think you can afford anger, frosty omega,” he warned, though even that fell flat. He wasn’t really warning him at all. Whatever this was, the alpha was having a good time with it.

“What game are you playing?” And why did it have to be at Thorn’s expense? “I thought—” he caught himself just before completing that sentence, but of course, the alpha wasn’t going to let him get away with that.

“Thought what?” Baal urged. “Tell me.”

“Or what?”

Espen took a threatening step closer, and unlike with the underboss, the warning felt very real. He paused when Baal lifted his hand, but Thorn had gotten the message.

“I assumed…” Gods, could he really say this out loud? His eyes shifted awkwardly to the other people in the room, but they were still dutifully staring at the scuffed floorboards. “I figured last night had been all right for you, all things considered.”

“What are all things?”

“The car,” he tugged at his shirt, “and the clothes.”