Page 51 of Storm

I flash him a wicked grin, picking up my cards. “I will if I have to.”

"You werethe only guard who ever played cards with me," I say now, watching him deal just as he had that first day. "The only one who treated me like a person, not just an omega designation."

Frankie looks up, surprise flashing across his face. "I was just doing my job."

I shake my head. "No. Your job was to keep me in line, to enforce the rules. Playing cards with me for four years? That was friendship."

He smiles then, a real smile that lights up his warm brown eyes. "Best part of the job," he admits quietly. My heart beats a little faster at those words.

We play in comfortable silence for a while, falling into the familiar rhythm we'd established over those years of card games. It hits me suddenly how much I relied on those games to get through my time at the Omega House. How much I relied on him.

"How old are you?" I ask, realizing I've never bothered to find out. He's been a constant in my life for four years, and I don't even know his age.

"Twenty," he answers, not looking up from his cards.

I blink in surprise. "Twenty? But you were a guard four years ago. You would have been?—"

"Sixteen," he finishes. "I lied about my age to get the job. Said I was eighteen."

"Holy shit," I mutter, staring at him with new understanding. "Why would you want to work at that hellhole?"

He shrugs, rearranging his cards. "Didn't have much choice. My mom got sick when I was fifteen. Needed the money for her treatments. The Omega House paid better than most places willing to hire a beta teenager."

"I never knew," I say softly. "Is she..."

"She died two years ago," he says, his voice holding an old pain. "Lung cancer."

"I'm sorry." The words feel inadequate, but they're all I have. I wish he had told me when it happened. Was that when he was away for a few days and he returned and I teased him that he was cheating on me with another omega?Oh god.

He offers a sad smile. "It's okay. She'd be happy to know I'm still using her card skills. She taught me everything I know. I told her about you. I wasn’t supposed to, but I wanted to tell her about my friend. She loved my stories about how strong you were and the things you did to drive Veronica and Miranda crazy. She laughed a lot at those. I wish she could have met you in person. I know she would have loved you."

A lump formed in my throat. He told his mom about me? She sounds like the most amazing woman. And she raised Frankie to be the sweetest, most compassionate man I had ever met.

“She sounds like the most amazing person, Frankie. Your mom did a good job raising you.” I want to comfort him, hug him and tell him that it’s okay to cry. His been so strong all those years and I want to be there for him if he needs. Hell, I need it.

I move to the couch beside him, close enough that our knees almost touch. He tenses slightly but doesn't move away. The apartment feels even warmer now, my skin flushed, my omega instincts humming beneath the surface. I try to ignore it, focus on the cards, on Frankie's presence.

"Thank you," I say quietly.

"For what?"

"For being there. For the past four years. For..." I gesture vaguely, unable to articulate everything he's meant to me.

He looks up, and the warmth in his gaze makes my breath catch. "Always," he says simply, and it means everything to me.

The sudden ding of the elevator breaks the moment. We both spring to our feet, cards forgotten as we turn toward the sound, expecting Reed or Jonathan to come storming out.

Instead, a figure strolls into the penthouse who is eerily familiar yet somehow entirely different. He's tall and broad-shouldered like Jonathan, with the same sharp features and vivid green eyes. But where Jonathan radiates ice and power, this man carries an easier vibe, his stance less rigid, his expression less severe.

He freezes when he sees us, surprise flashing across his face before it's replaced by a warm smile that I've never seen on Jonathan's features.

This must be Alexander.

Chapter16

Alexander

"I'll be back in three days," I promise, cupping Fox's face in my hands. "Just long enough to make an appearance, calm Jonathan down, and come home."