Page 17 of Toxic Revenge, Part Two (Mafia Omegas #2)

Chapter

Sixteen

TALIA

Before I could check on the guys and their meeting with our fathers, Mira and I ran into Violet. She’d shyly offered to give us a full tour of the Residence facility—ballroom and rooftop garden included—and I hadn’t been able to say no.

I was pissed off at West for leaving me, anyway. He deserved to sweat under my fathers’ scrutiny.

The other two, not as much, but I was sure they’d come back unscathed. Mostly. Maybe a tad more nervous than usual.

We’d wandered the ballroom first, with Violet giving descriptions of how it was set up for the yearly gala. All the residents helped with setup, even if they didn’t attend the event itself. It was easy to envision it in all of its grandeur.

Maybe I would attend the next fundraising gala here.

The thought had sent a shiver of anxiety up my spine, so I hadn’t spent too much time considering it.

I missed the scents of my nest and my mates but found that as long as I kept moving and stayed distracted, I could keep Benjamin out. His dark emotions settled on the edges of my mind, but they weren’t able to manifest into that soul-sucking black hole from before.

Especially not once I stepped out onto the rooftop garden.

I’d fallen in love immediately with the jungle of plants, even while they were nothing more than leafless versions of themselves, hibernating for the winter. I could imagine it in spring in all its glory, a utopia of life and light.

Violet had headed back downstairs to grab a jacket, but I hadn’t been able to leave. Not for a second. The only thing that would pull me from this haven was my mates and the lure of another long night of sleep in my temporary nest.

“I bet Mom loves this place,” Mira mused. We sat on a porch swing with a view of the entire garden, gently rocking back and forth. “She visits here once a year to donate, right?”

“I think so. Last I remember, she usually visits in the spring.”

She didn’t attend big events like galas much, so I doubted she came to the fundraiser. Mom wouldn’t feel comfortable donating blindly without ensuring her money was going to a good cause, though.

I kicked my legs back and forth, the swing going faster with every kick. When we had good momentum, I brought my legs up onto the swing and tucked them under me, sitting cross-legged.

Closing my eyes, I paid attention to the rocking motion, the faint breeze, the sounds of birds and the burgeoning chirps of crickets as they began to wake up. The garden’s natural aroma reminded me of Conrad’s scent, and I honed in on the connection to ground me.

By the time the swing slowed to a halt, I scented a hint of smoke in the air. I opened my eyes to see West standing a distance away, a brooding expression on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.

Mira snickered and stood. “Are you planning on telling him off?”

His eyes narrowed. He wasn’t far enough away that he couldn’t hear us.

“Yes. If he wants to run, he should do it now.” I lifted an eyebrow at him.

He didn’t move closer, but he didn’t leave the garden, either.

Mira rubbed her hands up her arms. “Well, if he’s staying, I’m getting my ass inside. Not all of us have excess body heat from being post-heat. It’s freezing out here.”

I glanced down at my outfit of sweatpants and a t-shirt. My arms didn’t have a single goosebump. “Come see me again tomorrow.”

“Of course. Don’t let the asshole bully you.” She gave him a teasing wave.

When she’d said things like that about Benjamin, she’d always meant them. They’d been a warning that I hadn’t heeded. I hoped I knew her well enough to be right when I said she approved of my mate choice this time.

“I would never bully her,” West huffed under his breath.

As she retreated, he wandered closer until he was leaning against the post that held up the swing. He wouldn’t look me in the eye. I got the swing in motion again, taking comfort in the swaying.

I hoped he would speak first, but he didn’t.

“You didn’t stay with me,” I said after a long, awkward silence.

“Might have made things worse if I had.”

“How?”

He kicked his toe against the gravel, shrugging. “If Conrad is the pack’s good luck charm, I’m its curse.”

I planted my feet on the ground, stopping the swing. “That’s bullshit. Who the hell told you that?”

“It doesn’t matter, Talia. Just forget I said anything.”

He turned toward the path, about to leave me again , but I darted up and stood in his way. I saw his chest move with his sharp inhale, noticed the dilation of his pupils as he caught my scent.

The man wanted me. He’d always fucking wanted me, and during my heat I thought I would be able to have him for good.

And then the heat had ended, my needs weren’t as potent, and he went right back to being the same dumbass he’d been since the beginning.

I placed my hand on his chest, pushing him backward.

He could have stayed where he was with very little effort, but he let me move him.

I didn’t stop until his back was pressed against the tall concrete wall that blocked off the rooftop garden.

I was standing close enough that I had to tilt my head up to see his eyes.

His arms hung by his sides, but I knew he wanted to grab me by the hips. He could easily switch our positions so I was the one stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“What are you trying to accomplish by staying away from me?” I asked. “Mercer and Conrad—they’re already all in. You told me during my heat that you wanted me. Was that a lie?”

“I want you. I can’t have you, though. I would?—”

“Shut up, West.”

He swallowed down the rest of his words.

“You want me, and I want you.”

I almost told him I loved him—the words were on the tip of my tongue, but I worried they would scare him off. With my horrible bond still fresh, I couldn’t risk that amount of rejection. I would break.

“That’s enough to start,” I continued. “Any problems, we work through together. All of us. And I mean problems inside and outside. You helped me through the heat from hell, so I want to help you with whatever is stopping you from giving in and being with me properly.”

His eyes glistened, and I knew he wouldn’t want me to see. I pressed my cheek to his chest, arms wrapping around him.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” He whispered it like he was voicing a sin.

“You’re only hurting me by pushing me away.”

I felt his body relax, and his arms came to wrap around me. “Fucking hell, that’s pretty much what Violet said too.”

“Maybe because we’re not lying.” I failed to keep the sarcasm out of my tone.

Luckily, he chuckled. “Yeah, that would explain a few things.”

He kissed the top of my head. West was mine for real, it seemed. Which was good, because I didn’t know how many micro-rejections I could take. I wanted to strengthen my barrier against Benjamin—I wanted to prepare myself for the idea of killing him to take back my freedom.

But I was past the point of being able to do that alone.

I needed my pack to be with me through every step.

A throat clearing behind us made me jump. Heart racing, I spun around to face the pathway, only for my face to heat to obscene temperatures.

“Nico! Hart!” I exclaimed, my voice unnaturally high-pitched. “You’re here.”

Nico rested a hand on his hip. His fingers were within touching distance of some kind of weapon. They didn’t have any visible guns on them, probably out of respect for this being a trauma care facility, but the weapons master of the Alfieris wouldn’t go without a line of defence.

Or offence.

He was looking at West like he wanted to use his hidden weapon as a murder implement.

“Jurah and Penn wanted to come.” Hart stepped forward, a smile on his face. “Your mother said we would overwhelm you, so you only have to deal with two of us.”

I was surprised she’d managed to talk them out of swarming me like a cloud of overbearing bees. But thankful, especially because of the position we’d been caught in.

We hadn’t been doing anything wrong. Not really.

It just felt like we had, especially from Nico’s exaggerated reaction.

I cleared my throat, and my next words came out in my normal voice. “He didn’t hurt Mercer and Conrad, did he?” I jerked my head toward Nico.

Hart laughed. “No, they’re fine. He took your warning to heart. How are you feeling?”

I shuffled from foot to foot, a renewed throbbing starting up from my bondmark. Whenever someone asked about it, Benjamin made his presence known.

West wrapped his arm around my waist and tucked me against his side. I blushed and leaned into the comfort.

“I’ve been better,” I admitted. “I’ll live, though.”

“We’re going to find your bastard scent match,” Nico promised darkly.

“And then let you decide what to do with him,” Hart tacked on. “Your mother told me to tell you to stay here as long as you want. And her phone is always on if you want to talk.”

Nico gave West a long up and down glare. “But we’d prefer it if you came home.”

“We’d prefer it if you stayed here until you were comfortable,” Hart gently corrected. “You’ve been through a lot.”

I couldn’t help but smile at the very typical back and forth. Nico wouldn’t dare speak up against Mom if she were here, but when she wasn’t present, it created a grey area that he was happy to dance in. My other fathers did what they could to keep him mostly in line.

“Thank you,” I murmured. “I think… I think I’ll stay at least one more day.”

“My sister lives here,” West said. “She’s made sure Talia knows her way around.”

Hart and Nico looked like they had questions, but they didn’t ask them. They’d surely be digging around into Violet’s backstory when they got home later, but at least they didn’t pry in person. Small victories.

“She’s really great,” I agreed. “And with Mira and Lavinia here too, I have a nice little haven.”

“That’s perfect.” Hart outstretched his arms for a hug. “We should go. Is a hug OK with you?”

From my fathers, anytime. I grinned, throwing myself at him. Hart gave the best hugs of them all, full of love and life and warmth. He held me tighter than usual, only letting go when I dropped my arms and stepped back.

Nico had wandered suspiciously close to West. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I caught a glint of metal in the dimming sunlight.

He was definitely uttering threats.

To his credit, West was impassive, not outwardly reacting.

“Nico, do you want your hug or not?” I asked.

He flipped a switch, his threatening expression turning to a self-satisfied grin. “I definitely need a hug for the road. Come here.”

His hug only lasted a second, but the familiarity of it brought me the same amount of comfort. When we parted, he gave West one last hard glare.

“Take care of her while she’s here,” he said.

“Will do, Sir.”

Nico was unimpressed, but with a final goodbye, he let Hart lead him out of the rooftop garden. The door slammed shut behind them.

“He won’t do whatever he threatened you with,” I promised West.

West cocked an eyebrow. “He seemed pretty confident in his ability to flay me alive if I ever made you cry.”

I cringed. That had been a knife he’d flashed to my alpha after all.

“Uh, sorry about that. You’ll just have to make sure you don’t make me cry.”

“And if I understood what you said earlier correctly, that means I have to stay with you when you want me?” He took a step closer, placing a hand on my hip.

I blushed. “It’s that simple.”

“I’ll make sure to follow that rule from now on, then. Not just because your father might subject me to a fate worse than death if I don’t.”

“Because you want to?” I confirmed.

West leaned down, his nose brushing mine. Our lips were a hair’s breadth apart, but I was frozen, unable to be the one to start the kiss. I wanted him to do it.

“Yes. Because I want you,” he said huskily, and then his lips were on mine.

And my world was complete.