Page 16 of The Forgotten

“See, we should have known that before confronting her, Cai. This is why we had to reject her as a pack. Olivia Quinn is adistraction,” I say, standing as Aled opens the front door. “Get up.”

“Fine,” Cai mutters, standing and brushing off his suit. We just recently got home, and I’m unsurprised that these people have found where we live.

The rules of the mafia don’t seem to apply in terms of coming over without an invitation. Striding to the front door, I watch as several alphas step inside. I recognize Cian Sullivan and his right hand man, Hayes standing beside him.

The other four men behind them I don’t know, but by the way Cai stiffens infinitesimally next to me, I can tell they’re the men we were just talking about. Fucking awesome.

“I don’t believe we’ve formally met,” I say, my lips moving by rote. My breaths are even, and any hint of anxiety over how pissed I am that they’re here is hidden. “Please, come into the living room so that we can have the chat that I seem to have delayed too long.”

“You mean that one you forgot to have when you moved into our city over a year ago?” Cian Sullivan asks, appearing at ease as he strolls behind me. “You see, I can do my research too.”

Fuck, he’s not going to make this easy.

“Our business is legitimate, so while I was setting everything up, it did slip my mind,” I reply, my body angled to watch both the men behind me and everything else.

It’s awkward, but it works.

“It’s very difficult to go completely legitimate when crime runs through your veins,” Hayes chuckles under his breath. I know him well from Cai’s initial research into the crime heads of the city. He is Cian’s right hand man, and rarely goes anywhere without him. “My understanding is that you didn’t want us to find out.”

“Not before I could make the time to make an appointment, no,” I allow, sitting on the couch.

Aled and Cai spread out across the room, forcing Cian and his men to do the same.

“Is that why you threatened my mother-in-law?” an alpha with his blonde hair in a top knot says.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are,” I say, smiling apologetically.

Cian’s eyes pinch slightly, but he introduces Cerenity’s pack before he leans forward.

“Olivia Quinn is off limits,” he says. “You cross the street if you see her, and don’t look back.”

“It sounds like a little omega squealed loudly,” Aled says, looking bored.

Cian’s scent sours slightly, and I can tell that we’re pissing him off. What’s so fucking special about this woman anyway?

“The little omega has more trauma stored inside of her than one person has any business being able to survive,” Cian says. “As it is, someone is going to have to check on her.”

“Maybe it’s not safe for her to be out of the mental facility,” Cai mutters under his breath.

I know we seem like spoiled men, and that’s exactly what I want. There’s nothing dangerous about us, we simply want to coexist.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jasper snaps. “Mama Quinn was hiding from her pack. Think before you speak. Does she look like someone who is unstable?”

The name he uses for Olivia doesn’t escape my attention, and I force my face to remain impassive. It’s clear they adore her. I can’t allow myself to think that we may have made a mistake.

What’s done is done.

“No,” Aled says. “That’s why I can’t seem to understand why she was there. What pack does she have?”

“We killed them,” Augustine says, his green eyes sharp as he gazes at my brother. “Maybe that should be an important lesson you all learn today. We protect our own.”

“Do you?” I drawl, smirking. “What would have happened if we’d chosen simply to take her?”

“What? And force her to work as your slave?” Cian snorts. “Olivia would rather die than be taken by anyone…ever again.”

There are too many disjointed clues being thrown at me, and I feel like an asshole. Dropping the facade, I raise my brow.

“So she’s someone who regularly gets kidnapped? That sounds like someone with a victim complex.”