Page 2 of The Kingpin’s Omega Lover (River City Omegas #2)

Baby came first. From now on, baby always came first.

The water shut off, and a few more long minutes passed—marked by that precious clock that would probably disappear whenever Dr. Luther left for the day—before she returned with Junior wrapped up in a white cotton blanket, his head adorned with a tiny white cap.

Malori was eager to hold his son again, but she simply stood there.

“We need to get you cleaned up, Omega,” Dr. Luther said, her voice clearer now that she’d removed her mask. “Mr. Yovenko, if you will please excuse us? You can wait in the Omega’s bedroom, if you wish.”

“All right, thank you.” Aleks carefully climbed off the bed and then accepted Junior with gentle hands. “We’ll be fine, I’m sure. Thank you, Dr. Luther.”

“You’re welcome.”

Malori did his best to assist the doc in getting cleaned up with a combination of wet wipes and a few washcloths dipped in a basin of soapy water.

It wasn’t as good as a shower, but he felt less sticky and gross, and then she helped him into incontinence underwear.

“You know this process,” she said stiffly, “but I will leave a package of these garments in your bathroom. Change them as needed.”

“Right.”

“I’ll help you to your room now. Someone will be along to clean this room properly.”

“Thank you.”

Walking twenty feet from one side of the apartment to the other, roughly an hour post-partum, was one of the most difficult things Malori had ever done, but he managed without falling over or whining too much.

He collapsed into his own bed, happy to see Aleks standing by the barred window, gently rocking Junior in his arms. Once Malori was settled comfortably, Aleks handed the newborn over.

Malori held him close and inhaled Junior’s fresh, baby powder scent. “Hello again, little man.” The baby was asleep and barely twitched.

Dr. Luther did a quick check of Malori’s vitals, then typed on her tablet for a while.

Malori ignored her, his focus on Junior and the attentive way Aleks hovered by them both, always watching.

Dr. Luther collected her things and left the bedroom.

Maybe a minute later, she returned and placed a square white object on the small table beside the bed.

“This is a panic button,” she said. “If you feel any severe cramping or experience excessive bleeding, press it. Don’t let the child sleep too long, he will need to feed. Do you remember how?”

Malori resisted the urge to growl. “Yes, I do.” One of his greatest sorrows from losing his daughter so young. She hadn’t even been weaned off his breast milk when she was taken. They’d only gotten ten days together.

“Good. I will return tomorrow to make sure the infant is eating and to exam you.”

“We’ll be here.”

Aleks chuckled. Dr. Luther’s bland expression never changed.

He also wasn’t used to seeing her entire face.

She usually wore the paper mask during his exams, as if afraid of revealing her true self.

It should have worried him, but his heart was too full of love, his mind too enamored of his son to care.

“Mr. Yovenko,” she said, “when your time is up, you will hear the warning alarm in the outer room.”

“Yes, I know, thank you,” Aleks replied dryly. During Malori’s final trimester, Aleks had been allowed once-a-week visits to the apartment, usually lasting an hour or so, and they were both familiar with the “time’s up” alarm.

Dr. Luther left the bedroom. Moments later, the buzzer for the apartment door went off, followed not long after by the elevator’s buzzer.

All-too familiar sounds.

Aleks stood from his side of the bed, smiling broadly. “I’ll be right back. I have something for the baby.” He was gone and back again before Malori could miss him, and he had a small blue bag in his hand.

Malori’s eyes prickled. “A gift?”

“Of course.” He pulled out something that resembled a stuffed donut in various pastel colors and shook it. A rattle. Malori laughed.

Both noises woke Junior, who began a precious, wailing demand that, with a bit of maneuvering, Malori silenced with a nipple.

He’d never get used to the sensation of his nipples being sucked on (not in any way imaginable, but certainly not to distribute milk), and this was just as uncomfortable.

At least today, no one was paying for him to pretend he liked it.

But Malori would suffer anything, as long as it meant his son thrived.

Master must have been feeling generous today, because several more hours passed, marked by the setting of the sun and eventual darkness outside.

Junior ate, then slept, and then woke with a stinky diaper.

Aleks didn’t know how to change it, so Malori walked him through the process on the changing pad that had been left on his dresser, along with all the necessary supplies.

Basic supplies with no brand packaging to suggest where he might be, or even if he was still in the States.

He assumed yes, based on the meals he was served and the hygiene products he was given, but he couldn’t be sure.

The only thing he was sure of was this moment, these two people—his family.

Two dinner trays were sent via the dumbwaiter.

Aleks brought them to him so they could picnic in bed, and Malori enjoyed the novelty of sharing a meal with another person in years, while Junior napped in the mobile bassinet nearby.

It was too much, too surreal, and entirely too perfect.

The meal itself even had flavor, compared to the bland, protein-rich, nutritious food he regularly received.

But the illusion couldn’t last. Almost as soon as Aleks loaded their empty dishes into the dumbwaiter and closed the door, the alarm blared.

Time was up.

Junior came awake with a squall, and Malori shushed him as best he could. Aleks kissed Junior’s forehead, and then brushed a gentle, promising kiss to Malori’s mouth. “I’ll visit again as soon as I’m allowed,” Aleks said. “Everything will work out, Mal. Our son will want for nothing, I swear.”

“I believe you.” He hugged Aleks with one arm, wishing he could hold him better, but he had Junior in the other arm. “I love you.”

Aleks kissed him again. “I love you both. Rest as much as you can.”

“We will.”

Malori wanted to walk him to the door, but that was out of the question.

Getting up to change Junior that one time had been exhausting enough, and now he was his newborn’s sole caregiver for at least the next twelve hours.

Maybe longer. After his daughter was born, Dr. Luther had shown up every day for the first five days, until she decided Malori had no post-birth complications and the baby was eating just fine.

And then his baby girl (he couldn’t think of the name he’d given her without wanting to sob) was gone. Taken.

Not this time, not with Junior. Aleks wants us.

From the moment he first encountered Aleks downstairs, he’d been enamored of the man in a way no other client had ever captured his attention.

Aleks had been gentle, kind, so different from the other men and women who paid to use Malori’s body.

Malori had fallen for him almost against his will during their sessions, so when Aleks had agreed to pay the exorbitant price to bed Malori during his fertile period, he hadn’t been scared.

When the pregnancy test came back positive and Aleks was proved the father, he’d almost been overjoyed.

Aleks had sworn he would find a way to keep their family together, and he had. He’d been there every step of the pregnancy, and he’d been there for the entire labor and delivery process. Aleks had promised he’d be back, that they’d both want for nothing.

Soon.

Soon, Malori Cann would finally have the family he’d always wanted.