Page 10 of Two For the Show (Trapped On The Tightrope Duet #2)

She’s here.

Dexter’s plan worked.

He’s going to be a smug little shit about it, but it’s worth dealing with that to know that she’s here with us and she’s safe.

The older woman follows me in her car as I carry Alex, shaking and sobbing, toward my trailer. I motion for her to park, and she opens the door and unfolds herself from the driver’s seat.

Her curly gray-streaked red hair is pulled back at the base of her neck, and she’s got this kind, matronly air about her that makes me immediately feel a bit more comfortable around her.

But I still need to know how she ended up driving Alex here.

“Come in, let me make you a cup of coffee,” I say, using one hand to clutch Alex, who is still shaking with her head buried in my neck, tightly to me, and the other to open the door .

She chuckles softly and follows me up the stairs.

A sense of rightness fills me as I get Alex back into my home. Immediately, some of the stress I’ve been carrying since she left leaves my body. But if I’m going to make this woman who brought me my Omega a coffee, I need to put her down.

When I try to set her on the couch, Alex whines and clings to me, refusing to let go of me.

The woman pats me gently on the arm. “I’m quite capable of making my own coffee. Keep hold of your Omega. We need to chat.”

While the stranger putters around my kitchen, I pull out my phone and open the pack group chat. Instead of sending a text, which would be hard to do one-handed, I snap a picture of Alex pressed against me and shoot that off to them before shoving my phone back in my pocket.

Maybe it’s not the best way to announce her return, but this way I know that they won’t doubt that she’s returned to us.

The Doctor’s head is sweaty as I brush her bangs away.

Her body is shivering, and she’s still crying softly, so I focus and force a rusty purr out to hopefully calm her.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever done this before, but it feels right.

She must think so, too, because some of the tension that she’s carrying loosens.

The smell of coffee blends with Alex’s muted chocolate, and I’m momentarily mad at the beverage for drowning out her scent.

The door to my trailer slams open, and Alex whimpers, burrowing further into my arms.

“She’s… It’s… Alex!” Matteo is the first here, throwing himself onto the floor at my feet. He grabs for her, pawing at me to get me to let her go. I have to swallow back a growl and remind myself that Matteo is pack, he has a bond with her, and has been suffering. I know I need to let him hold her.

But I can’t make myself let her go.

“I can’t,” I whisper, tightening my arms around her. “I’m sorry, Matteo, I know you need her too, but I can’t.”

He understands, thankfully, and wedges himself beside me on the couch before weaving his fingers through her hair.

“Alex,” he says softly. “You came back. I always knew you would.” He leans down and rests his forehead on hers, and even though it leaves him awkwardly positioned and scrunched into the couch.

“I forced her back, more like it,” the older woman says, sitting down at my table and holding a cup of coffee in her pale hands. “I’m Sylvia.”

“Jude. She didn’t want to come back?” It’s hard to believe that the whimpering, whining Omega curled up in my arms didn’t want to be here.

“Well, she did. But she didn’t think she could. She was embarrassed about leaving, afraid to put you in danger-”

The door slams open again, and Dario and Quinton tumble in, pushing and shoving at each other.

“She’s back?”

“Alex!”

Their words overlap as the two of them fight to get to me first.

“Calm down,” I bark. “You’re going to scare her.”

They both freeze, chests heaving as they stare at our Omega. She feels so small in my arms. Matteo whispers something to Alex and slips off the couch, guiding Quinton to take the spot he was in.

Knowing how hard up Quinton has been with the Rot, I shuffle Alex a bit in my arms so her head rests on Quinton’s bicep. I can’t let go of her entirely, but I can give him that much. The relief shines in his eyes immediately, as if that was all he needed in the world.

“As I was saying,” the older woman says, sipping her coffee slowly.

How can she drink that without wincing? I know how bad the coffee I stock is.

“Lexi started working for me almost three months ago and has been living with me. I’ve been trying to convince her that this was where she was supposed to be, but it wasn’t until one of those awful Alphas showed up at my truck that she finally admitted she needed to come back to you all. ”

She smiles and crosses one leg over the other, her flowy gray skirt moving gracefully with her. “We saw the performance you put on. Very moving.”

“Dexter’s idea,” Dario says softly, sinking onto the floor in front of me and reaching up to place a hand on Alex.

“How did they find her?” Matteo asks, moving to my kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee.

“Someone called the tip line,” Sylvia tells us. “I sent them in the opposite direction, but I know it’ll only last so long.”

“Good thing we’re constantly on the move.” I stroke Alex’s cheek, and she quiets, her face going slack.

She’s fallen asleep.

“She’s… asleep?” Confusion must paint my features thoroughly because Matteo huffs.

“I’m not surprised. If I’m exhausted from the sickness I’ve felt in our bond, she must not have been sleeping well for weeks.”

The woman hums and tilts her head as she looks at Matteo. “The bonded Beta. How have you been holding up?”

“Barely,” Quinton answers, scooching closer to me to get more contact with Alex. “He’s been sick almost every night. I’m assuming aftershocks of her Foresaken Omega Syndrome.”

“The Alpha with Rot,” Sylvia remarks. “You look like shit, boy.”

“Wow, I appreciate that,” he drawls. “I didn’t have much of a choice here, did I?”

She’s not wrong. His eyes are purple underneath, and his cheekbones poke out a little more than they used to. The bloodshot eyes let me know he’s been self-medicating today.

“But you’ll both get better now,” Matteo says hopefully. “You need each other to get better.”

Dario’s hand brushes my arm as he reaches out to stroke Alex. He looks at her with such devotion and care. Is that what I look like, staring down at her? I know they say absence makes the heart grow fonder, whoever “they” is, but this is different.

It feels like a part of my soul that I didn’t know was missing has been returned to me.

Matteo takes a sip of his coffee and makes a pleasured sound, pulling it away to look into the mug. “This is fucking good. You’ve never made a good cup of coffee in your life, Jude.”

I snort. “Didn’t make that one, either.”

Sylvia waves and smirks at Matteo. “I made it. I own a mobile coffee bar. Big man over there didn’t give me a lot to work with, but I was able to get us something tolerable.”

“So, she’s back for good?” Dario asks hopefully. “She said that?”

“Well, not in so many words. But she knows this is where she’s supposed to be.

” The woman stands and moves to my kitchen, rinsing the cup and putting it in the sink.

“I need to get going. It’s a long drive back, and I don’t think she’s going to wake up any time soon.

Which one of you strong, virile men is going to help me bring in her luggage? ”

Dario hops to his feet and follows her out of the trailer. He returns a few minutes later with the same beat-up suitcases Alex had first arrived with, and Sylvia has a small, worn duffle thrown over her shoulder. She gently places it on the table and unzips it.

Slowly, she unpacks it and spreads the contents out on a table.

Two worn pillows, the covers clearly in need of a wash.

A blanket that looks like it’s seen better days.

Two t-shirts.

And an eye mask.

“I thought you all should see what she kept in her bed. I have a feeling she was going to try to hide it from you.” The meddlesome, but helpful Beta woman, who took care of our Omega, smiles cheekily. “Wanted to make sure she couldn’t.”

She crosses the room and reaches down to stroke Alex’s head, despite how it’s awkwardly wedged between me and Quinton. “Lexi, don’t give up, girl. On them, or yourself.”

With those parting words, she slips out of my trailer and pulls the door closed. The silence she leaves behind is suffocating. All of us have so many things to say, but the only person we want to say them to is the Omega sleeping in my arms.

I finally get a good look at her. She’s lost weight, her pallor is pale, and her hair even looks a little thinner, but I could be mistaken, there. Her nails are chipped, like they’ve been sucked of nutrients.

In short, she looks just as bad, if not worse, as Quinton does.

“How are we going to get you both better?” Matteo asks, echoing my thoughts. “You need each other, but you don’t have enough pheromones right now to help her.”

“We’re going to figure it out.” My voice is stern, leaving no room for argument. “We’re not going to fail her again.”

“You didn’t fail me,” Alex murmurs, wiggling his body to lie across Quinton and me more comfortably. “If anything, I failed you. I should’ve trusted you could take care of me.”

“How could you have, though, when the clowns were still here?” Dario climbs onto his knees so he can see her face more clearly. “But we did it. We found them. They’re gone for good. You’re safe here, now.”

She smiles, and though it’s weak, it still makes my chest ache with happiness.

“Yeah, Matteo helped Jude interview everyone to nail it down, and then Dario trailed them. Jude snuck into their trailers and found the masks, then we implemented Dexter’s plan to get the message to you. A real group project,” Quinton tells her, stroking her bangs off her forehead.

“Sounds like it.” Her voice is a little raspy, no doubt from the amount of vomiting she’s been doing, if Matteo’s toilet embraces are anything to go by.

She wiggles in my arms, and reluctantly, Quinton and I allow her to slide between us and sit up on her own.

She blinks slowly, eyes lingering on each of us.

When she spots Matteo, she rubs her chest and then reaches out to him. He takes her hand and, with a surprising amount of force, she pulls him down to smush her into the couch.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers into his ear. “I’m so sorry I did this to you.”

“I’m not,” he responds, stretching out and lying across Alex and Quinton. “I was able to keep track of you. I would’ve known if they got you, and we would’ve found you.”

She hums, her hand rubbing through his hair before dropping down to stroke the bite mark under his ear. After a few quiet moments, she does another sweep of the room.

“Where’s Dexter?”