Page 22 of Toxic Revenge, Part Two (Mafia Omegas #2)

Chapter

Twenty

CONRAD

Mercer and West had rushed off first thing in the morning, barely waiting for Talia to wake up and give them each a half-asleep goodbye kiss. They’d left me cuddled up in bed with her. Alone.

If I’d been more awake myself, I might have stopped them. We hadn’t been alone together since before I’d gone feral.

It felt risky.

What if I went feral again?

Why did they trust me when I’d almost hurt her?

From the moment the realization of our alone-ness struck me, I’d been an anxious mess. There had been no sleeping in late for me—I was wide awake as I held my resting omega in my arms.

I felt completely in control of myself, had made it through last night’s sex marathon without any feral traits reemerging, but that could change in an instant. It could happen so fast I wouldn’t be able to separate myself from her.

I held her tighter to my chest, trying to stop the anxiety spiral from getting out of hand.

She yawned, blinking up at me. “Good morning.”

I managed a half smile. “Morning.”

Talia let out another yawn, then sat up halfway, concern in her eyes. “Are you alright?”

It should have been easy to lie to her. She shouldn’t have to worry about my concerns, not when they were tied to traumatic memories for her too. But I wasn’t West. There was nothing about me that I wanted to hide from my omega, not even this.

“They left me alone with you. I’m just worried,” I admitted.

“About what? Didn’t they say they were off to talk to Lavinia?”

“Not about them, princess. I’m worried about me. Last time we were alone together… didn’t go so well.”

Understanding softened her expression. She cupped my cheek in her hand. “I don’t blame you for that.”

“I know you don’t.” Sometimes it felt like she should blame me. “But no one has ever seen a drug like that before. What about potential side effects?”

“The doctors have said you shouldn’t have to worry about going feral again unless you have more contact with the drug. They tested your hormone levels to confirm it.”

She was being rational, but this fear wasn’t rational. They could tell me I was forever immune to the effects of the drug, and it wouldn’t make me less nervous. My neck still hurt like a bitch whenever my painkillers ran out, which served as enough of a reminder of what I’d done.

“I trust you, Conrad,” Talia murmured, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. “Even if the doctors are wrong and there are unexpected long-term effects, I know you’ll do everything you can to keep me safe.”

Hearing that from her was a small comfort.

I kissed her deeper for a second, before pulling back with a sigh.

“Thank you, princess. Now you’re awake, I desperately need a shower. Be right back, OK?”

If I was lucky, the shower would wash away some of my worries and leave me fresh and optimistic for Talia today.

Talia’s phone rang while she was taking her turn in the shower. I answered it without even thinking.

“Hello?”

What I didn’t realize before the fact was that it was a video call I was answering, and I was lying shirtless in bed.

Also, the person on the phone was her sister. Emilia—one of the ones I hadn’t met.

As reality sank in, my cheeks went pink and I tugged the blanket up until it covered me to my chin. Why were all of my first impressions fucking terrible? My luck was failing me epically.

On the small phone screen, Emilia hid her laughter behind her hand.

Talia had described her as the bookworm and tech genius of the family, and she looked the part. Her hair was up in a messy bun on top of her head, and she was dressed in a comfy looking sweater. Glasses sat on her nose.

“Sorry. Answered without thinking,” I mumbled. “I’m?—”

“Conrad St. Pierre. I know a lot about you already.”

“Yeah, uh, that makes sense. Talia said that you’re the brains of the operation.”

Emilia grinned. Was I winning points for flattery? “That’s me. Is Talia around?”

“In the shower. Should be almost done.”

She reclined in her chair, and I adjusted my blanket shield to make sure no part of my chest was on display. The silence grew awkward after we’d moved and adjusted, but at least the shower had turned off. Talia was done. She’d be out soon to save me from myself.

“I’m not usually the one who doles out the threats,” Emilia said suddenly. “But you’d better take care of her. She’s going to insist on running after the information I’m about to give her, and she’ll need you.”

“I’ll do anything for her,” I promised with two huge nods. “You don’t have to worry with me around.”

My neck injury ached as if saying she should worry. Everyone should worry. I wasn’t trustworthy.

Yet Talia trusted me, and that was all that mattered.

Exhaling deeply, I focused on the scent of her layered onto the nest. Cranberries and roses, the scent that hooked me from the second I smelled it. She was here with me even when she wasn’t, and I couldn’t let myself think too hard about the past.

“Conrad? Are you talking to someone?” Talia called from the bathroom.

With the shower off, she must have heard. “Your sister is on the phone.”

She stepped out of the bathroom while pulling a t-shirt over her head. My gaze tracked down the bare expanse of her torso as it was covered by the cotton fabric, then I looked up to meet her eyes.

Talia smirked at me knowingly, and my cheeks flushed hot yet again. Shoving the phone in her direction, I tried to at least save my dignity in front of Emilia.

“Hey, Emmy.” She grabbed the phone from me but didn’t let me get up to grab clothing. Talia hopped right up onto the bed and snuggled against my blanket-covered chest. “Have you found something?”

Emilia launched into an explanation of her process. It went completely over my head. All I gathered was that she somehow tracked Benjamin to find where he went after bonding Talia.

“And then he ended up at Ronald White’s mansion. He went in with a messenger bag and came out without it.”

“Then there must be something important in that bag.” Talia came to the conclusion while my brain was still catching up.

“Exactly what I thought,” Emilia agreed. “Obviously, that house isn’t going to be easy to sneak into, but we’re in luck. He’s hosting a gala.”

A fucking gala? Like with champagne towers and ice sculptures? I’d never heard of Ronald White, but he must be some kind of billionaire.

“You think we can sneak in the back while security is busy with the gala?” I asked.

Emilia chewed on her bottom lip. “Not exactly. It’s still going to be locked up tight.”

“But if I’m inside at the party, then I’ll be able to sneak around the estate.” Talia curled closer to me.

“I know it’s not an ideal plan.” Emilia twirled a stray strand of hair around her finger. “Alternatively, we could have Jurah send a team to break in and search the place.”

“That sounds like a better idea,” I said. “Why not do that instead?”

Shaking her head, Talia disagreed. “No, they won’t know what could be important. I know Benjamin. I’ll be able to spot things they won’t, and we only have one shot. Even if we don’t get caught in the act, they’ll find out we were there afterward.”

“They might not?—”

My denial was firmly cut off by Talia. “Ronald White is as paranoid as they come. He might not know who breached his security, but he’ll know someone did.”

Shit. She was set on this.

I needed to grab Mercer—he might be the only one capable of actually changing her damn mind.

Fishing my phone out from under the blankets, I sent him a quick text to come back. Talia raised an eyebrow at me, seeing what I’d done, and I shrugged. “They might have input.”

“They might try to talk me out of it.”

“Maybe it’ll be because they actually have a better idea.”

Shaking her head, Talia refocused on Emilia. “How am I getting an invite?”

“Benjamin was invited, and a lot of his coworkers and bosses are going. You can RSVP with his name.”

I held Talia tighter against me. A comforting purr rumbled up when I caught a slight souring of her scent. I could understand her not wanting to use his name—or have anything to do with him at all.

To catch him, she shouldn’t have to play his prim and proper mate. But the world wasn’t fair, and my luck really had run out.

The door burst open, and Mercer and West kicked off their shoes at the door. I felt my packmate’s anxiety, and they would be feeling mine. None of us wanted Talia to have to deal with this mess, but it was inevitable.

“What’s going on with new information about Benjamin?” Mercer stood beside the bed with his arms crossed over his chest.

Emilia sighed. “The gala is this weekend.”

That was too soon after everything that had happened, but none of us would be able to talk her out of it.

“Gala?” Mercer looked to me after being completely ignored by Emilia.

I explained what she’d told us—without the overly technical bullshit. West started pacing, anger coming off him in waves. Mercer had a hard set to his eyes, the wheels turning in his head. He wanted a different plan more than any of us.

He didn’t seem to come up with anything, though.

“RSVP for me,” Talia told Emilia.

I upped the intensity of my purr. She’d tensed when she said those words.

“Will do. Are you going to come home before then?” Emilia paused, gaze sliding off to the side awkwardly. “Mom wants you to be assessed by Dr. Jalisco before you leave the Residence.”

Talia coughed. “Assessed? Does she know I’m not really a patient here?”

“Yeah, I told her that. Want to know what she said?”

“Not really, but yes.”

“You ended up at the facility because you were an omega in distress. That’s exactly the criteria to become an Omega Haven resident.”

Talia groaned. “She’s going to set me up with some random psychiatrist if I come home without talking to Dr. Jalisco, isn’t she?”

With a shrug, Emilia started tapping away at her keyboard. “According to her call history, she’s already reached out to four different omega trauma therapists.”

Damn . Talia’s mom had to be about as protective as West was.

Cursing, Talia shook her head. “No way. I’ll see Dr. Jalisco and come home after I’ve attended the gala. And you haven’t told our fathers about this, right?”

“Should you be attending any large event before—” West tried to complain but was shut up by a fierce glare from our omega.

He attempted to glare back, but it looked more like he was pouting.

“Lav knows, but our fathers?” Emilia scoffed. “If I’d given them this info, they would have already had a team in and out. Of course they’re in the dark. If you’re staying there, Odetta will have all the stuff sent over.”

“Stuff?” I asked.

“Dress. Shoes. Makeup and jewellery. You know, the stuff so she can fit in at a high society gala,” Emilia explained.

“Can Odetta send me stuff too?”

“You won’t be able to attend.”

“Wait, we can’t attend the party at all?” I clutched Talia closer, taking in a deep breath of her cranberry roses. Who was going to keep her safe if we weren’t there?

“A motorcycle club pack going to an event like this would raise a lot of suspicion.”

“Isn’t she going to be sneaking around this place? She can’t do it alone .” I glanced at Mercer, hoping for some damn backup.

He was focused on watching our omega. Gauging her reactions, probably.

“She won’t do it alone,” he said. “But Emilia is right—they wouldn’t let us into that kind of event, no matter how much we cleaned ourselves up. Can you get us the floor plan?”

“Of course.” Emilia nodded. “I’m assuming you have an idea?”

“Talia can sneak out of the event just long enough to unlock a window for me to climb through,” Mercer explained. “Then we can search the rest of the place together.”

I still didn’t like it.

She would be alone for long enough that it could be dangerous. And we wouldn’t all be there to protect her—was Mercer going to be enough to keep her safe if they got caught?

Not that I didn’t trust him, or thought that I would do any better. I’d do worse, actually. Stealth wasn’t exactly my forte.

Ugh .

Maybe I was the one being overprotective this time.

“Sounds like a good plan,” I said grudgingly.

West muttered something similar to agreement.

“Talia? Do you agree?” Mercer asked, arms crossed over his chest.

She sighed, her body relaxing ever-so-slightly against me. “We can do it your way.”

Mercer leaned in to give her a kiss on the nose. “Perfect. Then let’s get to work going over the blueprints before this weekend.”