Page 8 of Roman (Destined Paranormals #7)

Chapter 8

Beau

“ Y ou seem very upset this morning,” Konrad said. “I would think you would be over the moon after finding your mate. Roman is such a gentleman. You will find life with him quite fulfilling, I’m certain.”

I stopped what I was doing and looked down at the worktable that I was standing in front of before I burst into tears again. I’d fought with Evan yesterday evening, something we rarely ever did, and now I had the choice of choosing my brother or my mate. How did one choose between those two?

Arms wrapped around me, and I felt myself being moved to the other side of the room. I sat, blindly trusting Konrad that I would land in a chair. The sudden feeling of soft tissues in my hand had me bringing it to my face instinctively. I wiped at my eyes and nose and somehow managed to look up into bright blue eyes that were filled with concern.

“What’s all of this? You have your mate. Why are you crying so?”

It took some effort to finally get myself calmed down enough to talk. “Evan and I fought,” I got out first. “He says Roman will make me give up everything to take care of his babies.” I started crying in earnest again. I wanted my brother in my life, but I wanted my mate more. He was my mate. I heard Konrad say something but didn’t understand because I was crying too much. He disappeared for most likely not long, and then he was back.

“Aleric is coming, and he has someone that I’m sure you need to see.” Konrad reached out and wiped at my face, and I realized he had a damp cloth. I looked up and tried to calm myself, but it was no good. “There, there. It’s going to be all right. I don’t know what happened between you and Evan, but I know Roman, and that man would never ask that you give up everything to raise his babies. He dropped everything to raise his twin brothers. The last thing he would ever do would ask you to give up something for babies.” Konrad sighed as he wiped at my face again.

“I have to choose,” I told him, my voice coming out in a whisper.

“No you don’t. You can have it all. That’s the beauty of life here. There’s no need for choices. Well, beyond when the two of you get around to doing the deed and exchanging bites. But that’s not what we’re talking about at this very moment. No, we’re discussing the fact that you think your brother would ever make you choose.”

I looked at Konrad and nodded before I wiped my face and then blew my nose. “That’s what we were fighting about last evening. He told me if I chose Roman, that he was going to forget I was his brother. That I’d have to give up all of my dreams after he worked so hard to get us a better life. Which is true. He worked a lot in our village to give us a good life. And he pleaded with the fates to take not only him but me as well. Which they didn’t have to.”

Konrad shook his head. “You were supposed to be here all along. You were brought with your brother because Roman was here waiting for you.”

The door out front chimed, indicating that someone had come in. That was a bit of a surprise because we weren’t open yet. We were still baking the day’s goodies.

“Don’t worry. That’s just Aleric. I unlocked the door, and he will relock it once he’s inside.”

“Who is he bringing?” I asked. If I had waited only a few seconds longer, I would have known that he was bringing Evan. I absolutely did not want to see my brother though. I couldn’t help it—I burst into tears again, and without a thought, I used magic and popped myself back into Lukan’s spare bedroom. It wasn’t the most mature thing, but I absolutely did not wish to be berated by my brother again. It was too soon, and I just wasn’t ready to deal with having to choose between my brother and my mate.

I had nowhere to go. Not really. I lived with Evan, because Evan was all I had, and he had been given a place to live. Sure, Lukan would let me stay with him for as long as I needed; he’d already said as much. But I didn’t have anywhere to call my own. I never had. And now? Well, if I were to accept Roman as my mate, I would be moving into his place. Again, not my own. Which I understood was part of Evan’s issue. But wasn’t it like that for all omegas? Well, most? Didn’t most rely on their mates, their alphas, to take care of and provide for them?

Knocking sounded from downstairs. More like pounding, actually. But it stopped just as quickly as it had started. I didn’t think anything of it until I heard footsteps pounding up the stairs. Before I could react, Evan came into the room.

“Don’t,” he said before I even stood from where I’d been sitting on the bed. “I’m not here to argue. I want to talk to you and apologize.”

That had me stopping. “For what?”

“Being unfair, mostly. I’ve put you in an impossible and unfair position. I have no right to ask that of you. That was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

I sat there, staring at my brother. There were so many emotions going through me at the moment, but the one that stood out the most was anger. How dare he?

“I appreciate your apology, but I don’t feel as if I can talk to you at the moment, Evan. You…what you did and said was unkind, and I’m not ready to talk to you.”

“Beau. Come on. I’m sorry.”

I nodded. “I get that. But just because you’re sorry doesn’t mean I’m ready to forgive. I will. We both know I will. But I’m not ready yet, Ev.” I stood, and after running my hands down the front of my jeans, I took a deep breath. “Now, I really need to get back to work. Thanks for the apology.” With those last words, I popped myself back to the bakery. I found Konrad and Aleric standing in the kitchen, talking. At my appearance, Konrad immediately rushed to me and wrapped me in a tight hug. If I had to pick an omega father for myself, I would have wanted one like him. He was amazing, and his sons were both incredibly lucky to have such a loving omega dad.

“We’re sorry,” Konrad said.

I pulled out of the hug a bit before shaking my head. “There’s no need,” I said. I tried to look over Konrad’s shoulder, but he was taller than I was, and I couldn’t meet Aleric’s eyes. Instead, I leaned around to make sure the alpha dragon knew I was including him. “I appreciate what you did and Evan apologizing, but I’m not ready to forgive him just yet. I’ve told him as much, but I need to leave it at that for the time being. If I were to talk to my brother right now, I would say something I would regret later.”

I nodded again and glanced around. There was a lot to do before we opened, and although I hadn’t planned on it, this morning was going to require a lot more magic than I had wanted to use. After my upsetting night, and now this morning, I didn’t quite trust myself completely with all of the magic I was about to expend, but it must be done.

“What can we do to help?” Aleric asked.

I slowly looked over the disarray that was the kitchen’s current status. “Well, if you truly wish to help, you can start taking trays out and placing them in the display cabinets.” I looked over at Konrad. “Is Elias going to be in this morning?”

Konrad shook his head. “He’s going to be gone for several weeks. I thought I shared that news with you?” Konrad glanced at Aleric. “He and Claude are grandfathers again. They’ve gone to spend time with their family’s newest little addition.”

“Oh. That’s such wonderful news.” It truly was. “If you talk to him before I do, please tell him to pass on my congratulations.” Babies were always a reason to celebrate in our village. Which was why I didn’t quite understand Evan’s harsh comments about me and Roman eventually having babies of our own.

“We will,” Konrad said. “Did you want me to put these in the oven?”

I blinked a few times before I focused on the worktable he was standing in front of. Aleric came back into the kitchen and grabbed another set of trays that were already loaded before he disappeared back out front.

“No.” I took a deep breath. Maybe go out front for a sec? I don’t want you to get caught in any possible mishaps.”

Konrad’s eyes widened. “Is your magic not working?”

I shrugged. “It seems to be, but I’m upset and tired, and emotions play a big part in our magic. It should be fine; I just want to be certain.”

Konrad nodded before he left the kitchen area. I took several deep breaths with my eyes closed before opening them and focusing on everything I needed to do. I gestured to the room with first my left arm, then the right, and let out the breath I’d been holding when the day’s goodies were suddenly occupying every available surface. I couldn’t help but let out a little happy dance before I remembered that Konrad and Aleric were waiting for me in the outer room.

“It’s safe to come in,” I called out. They were dragons, and I knew they would no doubt hear me. The door pushed open, and first Konrad’s and then Aleric’s heads peeked in. “It’s safe.” I glanced at my work. “And it looks like the day’s baking is finished.” I guess on some level, I didn’t want to have to come back to prepping things because there were pastries and breads that I hadn’t intended on making until later in the day. Oh well. It wasn’t as if anything would go bad throughout the day.

“Should I continue filling the cases?” Aleric asked.

“Would you mind? Konrad knows where everything goes. I’ll get things staged on the racks for later in the day.”

“There’s a line forming out front already,” Konrad told me.

I stopped my forward momentum. “Already?” A glance at the clock on the wall told me that we were supposed to be open in under five minutes. “Oh, wow. All right. We’ll get everything put out and go ahead and let them in. I don’t want to keep anyone waiting. Especially not if they have to get to work.”

Those ended up being the wrong words to say because as soon as the doors were unlocked and opened, there was a steady stream of customers all morning. Aleric left as soon as he finished helping to fill the cases with all of this morning’s choices.

Konrad started serving customers, and I pasted a smile on my face while I took over the cash register and rang them out. The pastry request cup filled up as the day went on. It wasn’t until there was a bit of a lull around midday that Konrad and I were able to take a moment to slow down.

“You need to eat,” Konrad said.

“So do you,” I told him. The bakery had a few people sitting at the small tables, enjoying their purchases, but for the moment, there weren’t any new customers waiting to be served. “This isn’t a one-person job. There is no way I’ll be able to do this alone. It’s not even a two-person job. How did the previous proprietors run it with only three of them?”

“You will have help. Aleric mentioned how the council is working on sending some this way to see if they are a good match. As for the family that used to run this place, they worked immensely long hours, and they didn’t offer nearly as many selections.” Konrad indicated the glass cases that were half-full. “Also, this is new again after being closed for a bit. The freshness will wear off in a few weeks, and things will slow down.”

The door chimed, and I sighed. There would be no lunch break for us just yet. I smiled as a young man came in toward us.

“Hello, Sean. Are you enjoying your summer break?” Konrad asked.

“I am,” he said as he looked down at the case and then up at me. “I’m here to see about a position. I attend college down off of the mountain, but I’m off for the summer. This fall, I won’t be able to work mornings, but all of my classes I’m enrolled in are finished by one.”

I glanced at Konrad, who nodded at me. Oh, this was a me thing. I was the one who would have final say. That was still something I was going to have to get used to.

“That’s, uh…I’m not sure what to say,” I said as I looked at Konrad for help.

The dragon shifter chuckled at me. “You ask what hours he’s interested in, what days, and when can he start.”

I nodded absently and looked back at Sean. He couldn’t have been more than twenty. Not that I was much older.

“Yes. All of that. I’m not the best at this. I’m obviously in over my head, and I really don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to hiring others.”

“I can work any hours this summer. Come August, it would have to be afternoons and evenings.”

I nodded. That sounded good. The door chimed again, and I felt the breath leave my lungs.

“Hi, Professor Nelson.”

I looked between Sean and Roman and realized that Sean knew my mate.

“Sean. Where is your sidekick?”

Sean sighed. “Longwei went to Russia, I think. Maybe? I don’t know. He’s going to be gone for at least a month, and my dads wouldn’t let me go with, so I’m stuck here trying to find something to keep me busy this summer.”

I stared at Roman while he stared back. Sean hadn’t yet realized that Roman’s attention had left him the moment the question had been asked.

“Do you know Sean?” I asked. “He’s one of my new helpers, and he’s going to start tomorrow,” I said.

“He is?” Roman asked and then looked back at Sean. “That’s good. Sean is a good kid. He could have put a little more effort into his final paper in history, but he still did well enough.”

Sean’s cheeks turned red. Konrad snorted.

“Sean, come on back, and I’ll show you around. Roman is here to see Beau.”

There was some movement and then hushed words before Konrad and Sean disappeared into the back. Roman gave me a sinful smile, which caused weird things to happen to my body.

“Did you want something?” I asked.

Roman stared at me, his eyes suddenly darkening. “Absolutely,” he whispered before he leaned closer. “But I don’t think the others in here really want to know what exactly it is that I want.” Roman’s eyes traveled downward before moving back up. “But I’m sure you can figure out what I’m here for.”

It was suddenly very hot in here. I felt my cheeks burning, and I had to take a step back. Roman stood up and smiled at me.

“Have dinner with me? I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”

I nodded slowly. I wanted dinner. I wanted breakfast too, but if Roman was going to be a gentleman, I figured I wouldn’t be having breakfast with him just yet.

“Umm…yeah. Dinner will work. Did you…where…”

Roman chuckled. “I’ll pick you up here once you’re finished. Does that work for you? Or I could pick you up at your brother’s place? Or are you still staying with Lukan?”

I blinked at him. “How did you know I was staying with Lukan?”

“I talked to him last night. He was outside while I was out for a bit of exercise.”

I nodded slowly. I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but it didn’t matter. “Here’s good,” I told him. I didn’t want to go home just yet. If I did, Evan would want to talk, and although I’d calmed quite a bit, I wasn’t ready to have that conversation with him yet. And if I went back to Lukan’s, well, he would have a bunch of questions. Or maybe some advice that I really didn’t want to hear yet.

“Six?” Roman asked. “That’s when you close?”

I nodded but then shook my head. “Yes. I think so.” The hours were still being worked out since there was nobody to help beyond Konrad.

“Five will work, Roman,” Konrad said. I turned to look at the dragon shifter, who was standing in the doorway with Sean. “Four would be better since he’s had a rough night, but that’s something he can share with you later.”

Roman nodded. “Yes, I heard about it last evening and a bit more this morning.”

I looked back at Roman and wondered where he’d heard about my night. Lukan, right. I needed to go yell at him, apparently.

“What time would you like me to pick you up?” Roman asked.

“Umm…” I looked at Konrad for help.

“Four,” Konrad said. We’ll probably be out of goodies by then anyway. The enforcers are most likely eating lunch now, but give it an hour at the most, and we’ll be slammed again.”

I looked back at Roman.

“Four it is, then. I’ll see you then.”

Roman winked before he turned and left. I could only stand there and watch as my mate left. The tingling in my body subsided, but the heat didn’t. I took several deep breaths, trying to get myself under control. Konrad was a shifter. As was Sean. They would be able to scent my arousal, and it wasn’t as if I was ashamed of it. I simply didn’t wish to spend the next few hours horny for my mate.

“That was…just weird,” Sean said as he came up to the counter with Konrad. “I get it. He’s your mate.” Sean tilted his head to the side. “Konrad told me. But he’s always just been Professor Nelson to me. And before he was Professor Nelson, he was the guy who ran the council’s store.” Sean shook his head.

I looked at Konrad in question. “I’ll share it all this afternoon. I told Sean to be here at six tomorrow. We’ll see how things go then though.”

I could only nod because at the moment, my mind was full of thoughts of Roman and the fact that I was going to have dinner with him this evening. Just the two of us. There would be no watchful eyes around to keep anything from happening. Well, except for the fact that Roman had said he would be a gentleman. I had no doubt he would. But that didn’t mean there was no possibility of me experiencing my first kiss, did it?