Page 25 of The Forgotten

However, the way that he both dominates and soothes Olivia is something I’ve never seen from him.

“She’s going to cock block me, isn’t she?” I grumble.

“You cock blocked yourself.”

“Gareth, she can’t be here,” Maddox tries again. “Dad is coming for a visit.”

“What?” Cai, Gareth, and I ask together.

“He texted me as we were coming back into the house, following Gareth’s tracker on a wild goose chase,” Maddox sighs.

Gareth grins wildly at the tail end of Maddox’s words. “I attached the fucker to a drone and let it do the dirty work for me,” he says. “If you want any of the trackers to last, they’ll need to go underneath my skin, asshole.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Maddox says, grunting as Gareth shoves his shoulder against him as he passes by. “Did you hear me? Dad is coming.”

“He can’t care if I marry her,” Gareth shrugs.

My stomach flips so fast, I’m surprised by the taste of bile as I swallow it back. Gareth has always been mine. Why do I have to share?

“I forbid it,” I call after him.

“Suck my left ball!” Gareth yells back, exiting the kitchen.

“I would if she wasn’t keeping me from it!”

“Are you done?” Maddox asks, looking around the messy kitchen. “Both of you clean this shit up. I have to attempt to avoid a war with the Irish mafia now.”

“I’d much rather clean,” Cai says, heading for the supply closet. “What are we going to do with the girl?”

“We may be stuck with her,” Maddox breathes. “If Dad meets her, he’ll want to know when he’ll have heirs for his empire.”

“That’s why we rejected her,” I remind him.

Our father has very odd ideals. His father fucked every one of our mothers before he allowed his son to marry them, regardless of how long the marriages lasted. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s why my mother couldn’t handle remaining married to my father. In my father and grandfather’s eyes, it was important that the children be “legitimate”. There’s a lot of twisted aspects in our family, which is why Dad has never blinked over my relationship with Gareth.

Since Gareth is a man and my dad’s adopted son, there’s also not a chance in hell that the “marriage ritual” will ever happen between them. Shuddering, I avoid my brothers’ glares.

“I’m well aware of all the complications this omega will bring,” Maddox says. “This is fucked.”

“Our carefully built house of cards is crumbling,” Cai says sagely, the broom in his hands, as he deftly begins to clean up. My shock is palpable at how serious he is as he blows out a breath. “She means nothing to us, right? So why don’t we just give her to Dad and be done with it?”

“Because we don’t trade omegas in exchange for our own skin,” Maddox rumbles. “Especially one that has clearly been traumatized so much that she nonchalantly talks about killing herself to get away from us.”

My brothers are shocking the fuck out of me at every turn. Usually Maddox would be the one to throw someone under thebus to save us, and Cai is the bleeding heart. I’m the scared youngest child who hates having the status quo change.

I like my life the way it was, and it’s all changing too damn fast.

“Clean this shit up yourself,” I say, walking toward the door. “I have to call the doctor to stitch up my leg. The blood is already soaking through my pants.”

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Cai says.

Of course he would.Limping, I pull my phone out to call the doctor. I swear, this alpha hates to see me coming.

GARETH

Olivia is hyperventilating by the time I get up to my room, and I rip off the dish towel shoved in her mouth as a gag.

“I’ll pull off all the tape and release your arms,” I say, my heart pounding wildly. All I want to do is help calm her down, but I can’t take her home. This house is where she needs to remain. “Will that help?”