Page 56 of The Omega's Fake Mate

When the shouting continued, I looked up.

“...better not believe you can do that in this house!” I heard the end of an angry sentence.

What was that all about? A spousal disagreement?

When the voices stopped, I glanced at Nick again, but he was still sleeping. Of course. He'd always been able to sleep through anything. Sometimes when we were children he slept over at my place and he never heard my parents' late-night fights. Nothing could disturb him. In a way, I was glad of that. I never wanted him to know how much my parents hated each other, not whilehisparents had such a picture book marriage.

Trying to fall back asleep, I used to tell myself that when Nick and I were grown-ups, we would never fight like my parents did. A child's fantasy I almost forgot. I hadn't thought about those nights in ages.

Gently, I placed Nick's head on the pillow instead of my shoulder and then I got up from the bed. After throwing on some fresh clothes, I stepped out into the hallway. The fighting just now hadn't sounded friendly at all, and something told me I should check up on our host. It was the decent thing to do—and it was what Nick would have wanted me to do.

He'd broken my heart a little last night when he told me his brother wouldn't listen to him. He cared so much. Rhys and Nick weren't identical, not by a long shot, but they were always close even when they didn't have the same friends, or hobbies, or even interests. Seeing his brother stuck in this sort of community must be tearing Nick apart.

Following a quiet sobbing sound, I entered the living room. I spotted Rhys hunched over on the couch, knees drawn to his chest. There were shards of broken china on the floor next to the couch and when Rhys heard me step into the room, his eyes snapped to me, wide in panic.

“It's only me,” I said quickly, holding my hands up.

He exhaled and rubbed his face. Then he sat up straight. “I'm sorry. You surprised me. I didn't think anyone was up yet.”

“Well, you and your husband were obviously up.” I sat on the edge of the couch, as far away from Rhys as I could, so as not to startle him. I very much doubted he wanted another alpha to intrude in his personal space right now.

He shook his head. “We always get up early for morning prayer.” As he moved his head, the light streaming in through the window illuminated his face. He looked just as tired as he had the day before and I wondered if he’d slept at all.

“I'm sorry I startled you,” I said, trying not to stare at the broken china on the floor. I’d have trouble sleeping too, if I was living in a house where plates went flying. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Just a small fight.”

I shot Rhys a dubious look.

“Having strangers in the house makes Jeremiah nervous,” he added.

“So, this isn't normal behavior for him?” It better not be, but it took Rhys a moment too long to reply.

“It isn't,” he said after a small pause. Then, “Please don't tell Nick about this. He'll take it the wrong way.”

“You want me to lie to your brother?”

Rhys bit his lower lip. “I'm not asking you to lie to him. I'm asking you not to mention it.”

“He’d want to know. He came here because he’s worried about you.”

“And that’s exactly why you can’t tell him. He’d freak, even though no one got hurt.”

“You could have gotten hurt.”

Rhys shook his head. “He wasn’t really aiming at me. It was just… It was stupid. He wanted to wake you so you could take part in our prayers. I told him to let you sleep. He said everyone in the house had to pray if we didn't want to be damned. I told him that was silly. We started fighting. He threw the plate. He didn'tmeanto hit me. He wouldn't do that. You have to believe me.”

I could tell by the look on his face that he truly believed the words he was saying. Nick was right; there was no swaying him, even though I kind of wanted to pack Rhys into my car and drive off with him and Nick both.

“I'll believe you under one condition,” I said instead, because I wasnotthe kind of alpha who dismissed an omega's wishes.

“What's that?”

“You have to promise me that the next time your husband threatens youin any way, you tell me. I don't care what time of the day or night it is. I will come here and get you out.”

Rhys was quiet for a long time. I couldn't tell if he was simply thinking or stunned. Eventually, he nodded. “Okay.”

“All right.” I gave him a smile and got up from the couch. “I'll go put on some coffee. I'm sure someone's gonna need it when he wakes up.”