Page 11 of Toxic Revenge, Part Two (Mafia Omegas #2)

Chapter

Ten

TALIA

I had to leave Conrad’s side eventually, if only because my stomach growled in protest.

I’d wanted to stay, hopeful he would wake up soon, but Mira had appeared with our doctor in tow. He needed to be checked over, and having his omega in the room with him might influence his vitals.

That sounded like a lie to get me to the Omega Haven cafeteria, but as a nurse I knew it was true. It may not apply since I wasn’t technically his bondmate, but he did treat me like I was.

My skin itched being away from him, but everyone had promised I could head right back after eating. West had even rushed ahead to plate up food for me so we didn’t have to wait an extra second.

Mercer remained by my side, his arm wrapped around my shoulders to keep me close. I wore my frumpy, borrowed clothes like an additional shield, hiding me from prying eyes.

Even entering the cafeteria, I didn’t feel put on the spot. No one here stared too long, despite the bandage on my neck and the alpha at my side.

The room was a large space hosting long antique-looking wood tables with both bench and chair seating. Around the edges were small circular tables with chairs, most of them occupied by omegas with laptops or papers spread out in front of them, along with pastries and coffee.

A painting of the sun setting over a mountain range took up the entirety of the far wall. It was more of a mural than a painting. From what I could tell, it was painted directly onto the wall, with golden trim placed around it to look like a frame.

Along with the glassed-off food service area, staffed by three women in white aprons, there were tiered displays of pastries and various dispensers holding juice and coffee. It was easy to tell which were the most popular pastries, because those tiers were picked clean.

I scanned the space for West, finding him seated on a bench at one of the long tables, across from a woman with silver hair and a wide grin.

That must be Violet.

They didn’t look much alike, but that might be entirely because of their drastically different dispositions.

West was grumpy and stone-faced, always looking like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Violet was bright and excitable—at least from my first impression.

Mercer placed his hand on the small of my back, leading me over to where our plates of food waited.

“Kyra is going to be performing at a bar in Seamouth next month.” Violet was animatedly gesturing with her hands when we got within earshot. “She invited me, and Dr. Jalisco thinks it’ll be good to try going out.”

“A bar?” West grunted. “That’s too risky.”

Violet’s hands dropped to her lap, her smile flickering. “Why do you say that?”

“What if something upsets you?”

“I’ll have people there with me, and I’ve learned a lot of coping mechanisms. We’ve gone on excursions before. Nothing quite like a bar on a weekend, but other crowded places.”

“I just don’t think?—”

“I don’t think you have the right to make me doubt myself after you abandoned me for half a year.”

Violet snapped at West so abruptly, I almost felt sorry for him. I would have, if I didn’t agree with her.

“She has a point, West,” I said.

Their attention swung to me. Mercer gestured for me to slide down the bench first, and I sat with my thigh pressed against West’s. When Mercer wedged himself onto the bench seat on my other side, I felt both of their warmth.

They’d made me an alpha sandwich to go with my grilled cheese lunch.

I smiled hesitantly at Violet, and she beamed back.

“I’m Violet, West’s half-sister,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you, Talia.”

I inhaled, and the first breath was like stepping into a bakery. Her scent was freshly baked almond cookies, warm and comforting. It reminded me of how I felt when I was near my sisters and mother. A sense of solidarity, and a hint of protection.

I liked her immediately.

Especially because she’d told West off in no uncertain terms.

“I wish I’d known he had a sister before I got here.” I side-eyed West.

She rolled her eyes. “He likes to pretend I don’t exist.”

“Vi, that’s not true.”

“Isn’t it? We’re not going to have this discussion right now, but maybe take some time to think about why I might think that.”

With her smile firmly back in place, she ignored West’s next attempt at a rebuttal and focused her attention on me.

“I hope you like it here. All the doctors and nurses are wonderful, and you can stay as long as you need. It’s good you’re not in heat anymore, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave. ”

But it did.

My fathers would be furious about what happened, and they were probably already waiting just off the property to haul me back to our mansion. With or without my mates—it would all depend on what they thought of the pack I’d chosen and how intensely I begged to have them come.

Benjamin was waiting somewhere, I was sure. He had to have a reason for bonding me and leaving me out in the cold, but with the empty cavern where his soul should be, I doubted it was as simple as revenge for the pain I put him through.

The real world was waiting for me, with all of its horrors.

I managed to pull myself out of those depths and attempt a smile. “My family probably wants me home.”

“And you’re not required to go until you want to.”

“My fathers are a bit too overprotective to wait until I’m ready.”

She scoffed. “Then they’re assholes, and you don’t need to listen to them.”

Explaining that I had mafia bosses as fathers was going to be a bit too complicated, and I had a feeling Violet’s opinion wouldn’t change anyway.

I took a huge bite of my grilled cheese to put off answering, the savoury flavour exploding on my tongue. West had been right to get me the ultimate comfort food.

“Maybe I’ll stay for a few days. It feels… comfortable, here.”

I might be able to have Lavinia convince our dads that it was safe. This was a secure facility, after all, and it didn’t technically fall into the territory of any of the major mafia families. It was too far outside the confines of the city.

“They make it very relaxing. Low stress. I’d tell you to take a walk through the gardens, but they’ve been muddy and brown recently. Wrong time of year for it. You should go to the ballroom, though.”

My ears perked up at her words. “There’s a ballroom here?”

“This is a heritage building. Used to be a castle, or something. They’ve kept as many of the original features as they could, while bringing it up to modern standards. The ballroom is in all of its original glory. A massive gala is hosted once a year as a fundraiser for the Residence program.”

“Wouldn’t that be… stressful? For the residents, I mean?”

Violet glanced at West. “I haven’t participated yet. Wasn’t ready. But the goal of every omega here is to eventually feel comfortable at a big event like that, with supports in place. So it’s stressful, but in a good way.”

“How do you know if you’re ready?” I immediately realized my question might be super inappropriate and my cheeks heated. “Not you specifically. Sorry, I’m not meaning to pry into your personal situation. All I meant was how the omegas here in general know that they’re ready.”

What I really wanted to ask was how I would know if I was ready to go back out into the world. Not necessarily to a massive gala, but in general.

I didn’t know what would happen if Mercer and West were both outside the room right now. It felt like there was a constant chill down my spine—someone watching me from the shadows. That was the effect of Benjamin’s presence in my head.

I would panic without them, but the trauma was fresh. Maybe I could recover quickly.

“The doctors and counsellors help.” Violet watched me intently. She had to know why I’d asked. “And sometimes you fuck up and you aren’t actually as ready as you thought.”

“What happens then?”

“You flee.” She laughed lightheartedly. “Back to comfort, and you talk to the counsellors about what went wrong. What part were you unprepared for? What feelings did it bring up? All those awkward questions that you really have to think hard about when you’re recovering.”

Fleeing sounded horrible.

It sounded like failure. Didn’t you only flee if you failed?

At the same time, it was comforting to know it was an option. A recommended option, even.

I leaned against West as I scarfed down the rest of my grilled cheese. He was stiff as a board. Probably still upset at being called out for his lack of visits to Violet. There had to be a reason behind that, and I wanted to ask, but there were more pressing things to deal with.

Right now he just needed to know I cared about him despite maybe preliminarily taking his sister’s side over the visits thing.

Everyone ate in silence for a while, but when Violet was done with her burrito bowl she piped up again. “How is Conrad doing? Not awake yet, right?”

Mercer shook his head. “Soon, hopefully. He had a lot of drugs pumped into him.”

“I would ask for details, but knowing your profession, I probably don’t want to know how he was injured.”

“Better if you don’t know,” West grunted.

Violet narrowed her eyes at him before turning her attention back to me. “I visited Conrad for a bit before you were out of heat. Wanted him to have some company. I hope that was alright.”

I hadn’t noticed her scent in his room at all. It should have lingered, considering all the seating was made of fabric. “Why wouldn’t it be alright?”

She cleared her throat awkwardly. “Unfamiliar omega in his space, and all that. I know omega scents around their mates really irks some of the girls here, especially around their heats. I tried to be respectful and sprayed scent eliminator everywhere I touched. He’s like family to me, so I couldn’t bear to not visit.

I would have asked first if you’d been available, but, uh. ..”

I couldn’t help but smile. She was sweet to have considered it, but her worry was for nothing.

“I like your scent,” I admitted. “It reminds me of home, of my sisters and mom. You don’t have to worry about getting rid of it around me.”

Violet flushed. “Yours makes me think of home, too. The home I wanted, I mean, not the one I had—I don’t know how much West has told you about my past.”

“He hasn’t told me anything, don’t worry.”

She glanced between us. “I wouldn’t be upset if he did tell you. Might help you understand him better. But that’s for another day when there isn’t so much else going on.”

It was obvious that his overprotectiveness of me stemmed from Violet. My guess was he thought he was to blame for her being here. I could assume she disagreed, and I probably would too.

“It’s your story, Vi,” West mumbled. “I can’t tell it.”

“Tell your part in it, then.”

He grumbled something unintelligible. Mercer sighed, wrapping his arm around my waist and stealing me to lean against him instead.

“Are you and Lavinia getting along?” he asked.

Violet grinned. “She’s like the ultimate older sister.

Pretty sure she thinks I’m annoying, but what older sister wouldn’t?

” She must have noticed my confused forehead wrinkle, because she elaborated.

“Lavinia is staying in my room with me. When she’s not having terse conversations with mafia people on the phone, anyway. ”

Ah, so I didn’t need to be concerned about explaining my mafia heritage to Violet. Lav had already taken care of that.

“Ultimate older sister is a good way to describe her.” I laughed.

“Kind of like the female version of West, too. She’s super protective over you.”

I shrugged. “Always has been. We love her for it, though.”

“Sounds like we might get along,” West muttered.

Violet chuckled and stood up, stretching her arms over her head. “You’ll meet her soon, I bet. She’s itching to see Talia. I have some garden chores to do, but if it’s alright, can I come visit Conrad again after?”

“Definitely. We’re going right back to see him too,” I said.

My stomach was content after my grilled cheese, leaving me anxious to return to my mate. He would be awake soon—he had to be—and I didn’t want him to wake up alone surrounded by people he’d never met.

Violet waved goodbye, taking her bowl to the dish drop-off. I tried to stand, but West’s hands landed on my thighs and kept me seated.

“I have my reasons for keeping my distance from her, you know. I didn’t abandon her for no reason.”

His eyes begged me to understand, and I did. Didn’t mean I agreed, but I knew him by now—he thought it would be better to stay away. Same as he had with me.

“Having your reasons doesn’t make it right, but I can’t judge you. You haven’t told me your side of the story yet.”

Leaning in, I gave him a gentle kiss. His body relaxed into mine.

Mercer got up from the bench seat on my other side, clearing his throat. “When he does tell you his side, just know that Conrad and I did our best to talk him out of that mindset. He’s really fucking stubborn.”

West broke the kiss to growl and glare at his pack lead. Mercer was unfazed, offering me a hand up off the bench.

“Back to Conrad?” he asked.

“Please. I want to see him as soon as he wakes up.”

They both kept one hand on me as we strode down wide hallways, doing their part to keep a tentative smile on my face.